The Desert Sessions are a musical collective series, founded by
Josh Homme in
1997. Artists such as
Brant Bjork,
PJ Harvey,
Jeordie White (a.k.a. Twiggy Ramirez),
Dave Catching,
Nick Oliveri,
Mark Lanegan,
John McBain,
Ben Shepherd,
Josh Freese,
Chris Goss,
Alain Johannes, Karl Doyle,
Dean Ween and many others from the
Palm Desert scene have contributed as songwriters and musicians.
The Desert Sessions began in August 1997 at the Rancho De La Luna in Joshua Tree when Homme brought together musicians from the bands Monster Magnet, Goatsnake, earthlings?, Kyuss (his own band, which had split in 1995) and Soundgarden.[citation needed] The ranch is an old house filled to the brim with rare and unique recording equipment and instruments and was owned by Dave Catching and the late Fred Drake. Songs are written "on the spot", and in matters of hours. Many stories have grown around the Sessions. For example, the song "Creosote" from Volumes 9 & 10 was written by Dean Ween and Alain Johannes on the ranch's front porch within four minutes of meeting each other.[citation needed] Similarly, Chris Goss and PJ Harvey wrote the song "There Will Never Be A Better Time" for I See You Hearin' Me after going out onto the porch of the ranch for four minutes with an acoustic guitar; they re-entered the house and recorded the song in one take, the only time the song was ever played by the collective.[1]
The first Desert Session was not actually a "session" per se, but Homme and his band at the time (The Acquitted Felons) playing for three days straight on psychedelic mushrooms.[citation needed] Since then, the Desert Sessions have become legendary, growing in intensity and artistic merit.[1]