Background[edit]

The Desert Sessions began in August 1997 at the Rancho De La Luna in Joshua Tree when Josh Homme brought together musicians from the bands Monster Magnet, Goatsnake, earthlings?, and Kyuss.^[1][4][5] The ranch, located in the Mojave Desert, has an old house filled with rare and unique recording equipment and instruments, and was owned by Dave Catching and the late Fred Drake.^[6][7] With the large numbers of musicians arriving to the ranch over time, and with many albums having been produced there, the setting has been described as creating a unique "desert sound" comparable to the grunge rock of Seattle in the early 1990s and the acid rock of San Francisco in the 1960s.^[8][9]


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.^[10][11] Since then, the Desert Sessions have become legendary, growing in intensity and artistic merit.^[12] Homme said: