Palm Desert Scene
Queens of the Stone Age performing in London, England, in November 2017
Stylistic origins	Hard rock heavy metal alternative rock stoner rock blues rock psychedelic rock acid rock grunge hardcore punk
Cultural origins	Early 1990s,Palm Desert, Southern California, U.S.
Other topics
Sludge metal doom metal neo-psychedelia Paisley Underground

ThePalm Desert Scene is a group of related bands and musicians fromPalm Desert, California.^[when?] Theirhard rock sound – sometimes described asdesert rock – contains elements ofheavy metal,psychedelia,blues,punk,alternative,grunge, and other genres. It often features distinctive repetitive drum beats, a propensity for free-formjamming, and "sludgy" or "trance-like"grooves.^[9] The involved musicians often play in multiple bands simultaneously, and there is a high rate of collaboration between bands. The Palm Desert Scene is also notable for fosteringstoner rock pioneersKyuss. The term "stoner rock" is sometimes used interchangeably with the term "desert rock".^[10] However, not all Palm Desert scene bands are "stoner rock" and not all stoner rock bands sound exactly like those in Palm Desert.^[7] Palm Desert has been named byBlender magazine as "one of the top seven rock n' roll cities in America".^[11]

The scene evolved from various Palm Desert bands' (especiallyYawning Man's) marijuana-driven instrumentaljam sessions in thedesert.^[2][when?] It is largely known for its heavy, grindingriffs and association with the use of illicit substances, particularlymarijuana,peyote,LSD, andmagic mushrooms.^[3][10] These jam sessions inevitably contained somepsychedelic rock influences.^[1]

Palm Desert bands built a large local following by frequently performing at bars and parties in and around the isolated towns ofSouthern California's desert areas.^[when?] The bandKyuss, specifically, performed shows at desert parties known as "generator parties".^[12] These shows consisted of small crowds of people partying in the desert, beer drinking, drugs, and the use of gasoline-powered generators to provide electricity for the musical equipment.^{[3][13][when?]} Kyuss andQueens of the Stone Age memberJosh Homme commented that playing in the desert "was the shaping factor for [Kyuss]", noting that "there's no clubs here, so you can only play for free. If people don't like you, they'll tell you. You can't suck."^{[10][12][14][15]}

One project within this scene are theDesert Sessions, in whichJosh Homme invites a group of musicians, most of whom are from the Palm Desert scene, toRancho De La Luna, a studio in the desert, where they write, rehearse and record some 10 songs in one week's time.^[when?] The songs are recorded and then never played again by the same lineup, though a number of Desert Sessions songs have later been covered on albums byQueens of the Stone Age and become part of the QOTSA live repertoire. The Desert Sessions series has now yielded 12 volumes, which have been released in pairs on CD but individually in 10" vinylEP format. Though the series is commonly associated with the Palm Desert Scene, not all artists in the scene have participated, and there have been other artists to contribute to the project who are clearly not from the scene, such asJohn McBain ofRed Bank, New Jersey'sMonster Magnet,Dean Ween of Pennsylvania'sWeen andEngland'sPJ Harvey.^[3]

• Stoner rock
• Paisley Underground
• Neo-psychedelia

• Stoner rock
• Music scenes
• Musical subcultures
• Music of California

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