Well, yeah. I mean, who was really expecting Desertfest London to roll out this Spring like nothing happened? It’s a nice thought, and I wish we lived in that world, but I also wish we lived in the world where 2020 happened as scheduled too. We’re just not there yet.

So 2020 becomes 2021 becomes 2022. If you’re the type of person to hold this against those putting on the fest, or even the type to bitch about money or whatever, fuck off. Consider yourself lucky they’re talking about next year.

I want to be there when this happens. I don’t know anything they’ve got in store in terms of lineup, but I know that when Desertfest returns to Camden Town I want to see it. Don’t care if it’s out of my pocket. I want to go. I’ve marked my calendar for April 29-May 1, 2022, and I’ll hope to see you in London. I mean it.

From the Desertscene crew:

Desertfest London moves to 2022

Hello!

Thank you for bearing with us over the last few tricky months, we hope you are all keeping safe & sane! It’s with huge sadness, but probably no surprise, that we announce the 2021 edition of Desertfest London will be unable to take place in its full capacity this year, due to the on-going COVID-19 restrictions.

The next edition of Desertfest London will now take place April 29th – May 1st 2022 and we are thrilled to reveal will host a monumental TWO days at Roundhouse, alongside your most beloved venues Electric Ballroom, The Underworld, The Black Heart & The Dev. We might have a couple of additional surprises and stages to reveal over the coming year too…

This is going to be the biggest, loudest & most diverse Desertfest to date, we cannot wait to finally see you all and celebrate in style. The first acts for 2022 will be revealed on April 30th 2021, with general weekend tickets on sale at this time. We hope you understand the practical hurdles that we, and many other festivals, are facing with rolling over an entire line-up for two years in a row. There will be some changes (plus a tonne of amazing additions) for the 2022 line-up but trust us, you will not be disappointed with what’s to come.

All tickets and festival vouchers purchased in 2020 & 2021 remain valid, you don’t need to do anything but hold on to them! Our friends at DICE will handle the transfer to 2022 and no further action is required from you at this stage.
We hope you’ll stick with us, but if you’d prefer a refund please contact help@dice.fm by April 30th 2021. Those who purchased day tickets will be updated on their options via DICE in due course.

Thank you for your patience, understanding and phenomenal support of independent music over the past 11 months. We’re truly lucky to be part of such an amazing community of heavy music lovers & getting together in 2022 is going to feel utterly incredible.

See you soon!
– Sarika, Reece, Jake

http://www.desertscene.co.uk/support
https://www.facebook.com/DesertfestLondon
https://www.instagram.com/desertfest_london/
https://twitter.com/DesertFest
https://www.desertfest.co.uk/

Colour Haze, Live at Desertfest London 2019

The statistics of COVID-19 change with every news cycle, and with growing numbers, stay-at-home isolation and a near-universal disruption to society on a global scale, it is ever more important to consider the human aspect of this coronavirus. Amid the sad surrealism of living through social distancing, quarantines and bans on gatherings of groups of any size, creative professionals — artists, musicians, promoters, club owners, techs, producers, and more — are seeing an effect like nothing witnessed in the last century, and as humanity as a whole deals with this calamity, some perspective on who, what, where, when and how we’re all getting through is a needed reminder of why we’re doing so in the first place.

Thus, Days of Rona, in some attempt to help document the state of things as they are now, both so help can be asked for and given where needed, and so that when this is over it can be remembered.

Thanks to all who participate. To read all the Days of Rona coverage, click here. — JJ Koczan

Days of Rona: Reece Tee of Steak & Desertfest London (London, England)

—

How are you dealing with this crisis as a band? Have you had to rework plans at all? How is everyone’s health so far?

Desertfest: We had been watching this Covid cloud looming for several weeks and fearing the worst. To make life more difficult for us, the UK government wouldn’t put a ban on mass gatherings but just advised people not to go to any! It was very difficult for us to make a decision straight away as we had a lot of financial issues to resolve. What to do regarding deposits for bands and venues and what we could do for people that had purchased a ticket, should we try and do something later 2019? Although there was some pressure on us to announce earlier, we wanted to get everything sorted so we could announce a clear plan for Desertfest 2021 and allow people to roll their ticket over and offer donation packages so people could show their support. I have to say we were blown away by the reaction from everyone and it has helped us so much in planning for our 10 year anniversary edition in 2021. The Desertefst team are fighting fit and we are working hard to make 2021 our best yet.

Steak: Before Covid kicked off we were working hard on the next album, we had a large portion of it recorded already but we decided to go back to the drawing board, we could do better, we could push ourselves as musicians, it was too comfortable so we took the best of it and reworked some stuff. Since covid we have had to retreat to our homes so other than passing ideas around digitally we haven’t managed to get together, it’s been frustrating to say the least although it’s given us plenty of time to play around with ideas. We are all healthy and focused on releasing a great album and we can’t wait to get back to it.

What are the quarantine/isolation rules where you are?

We are on lockdown and not really allowed out other than some exercise and getting food, it’s such a strange world right now, people are all dealing with it in different extremes and judging how to interact with other people becomes tricky. Things change weekly though and people are out and about more as the weeks go on — cabin fever is setting in! In the UK we have been told that we will lock down for another 3 weeks but then hopefully we can gradually get our normal lives back.

How have you seen the virus affecting the community around you and in music?

It has totally stopped live music on the UK, all events and gigs have been cancelled or postponed until later in the year or to 2021, it’s such a surreal situation and difficult for musicians and promoters alike. I do believe there are positives though. Life is so fast paced, especially in London, so to be able to lock yourself away and focus on music is great and something I haven’t managed in quite some time. I’m playing so much more guitar, and listening to more music, there are so many bands that I haven’t spent enough time on which I can now. I’m finishing other musical side-projects and it’s allowing me to focus on what I love. It’s a really important time and never again will get this opportunity to step away from the world for a while.

What is the one thing you want people to know about your situation, either as a band, or personally, or anything?

Desertfest: Desertfest will come out of this crisis stronger than ever and what has been the most beautiful thing for us is the support from the fans. Sometimes it feels that people may be getting tired of the festival and should we change it to keep it fresh, but this situation has really strengthened the community and I think people realise what a cool thing we have all created. Only when you lose something do you really appreciate it so I believe the hunger for Desertfest is stronger than ever and can only be a good thing for the future. Thanks’ you lot!

Steak: A lot of people have been asking when the new album is out. It was going to be the end of 2019 but as mentioned before we scrapped the first recording of it. Not because it was bad — in fact I listened to it again last week and it’s really good and the best stuff we have done by far — but we believe we can take the songs to the next level. We questioned rushing it. We want to jam with these songs some more. Let’s see where it takes us, and pre-Covid it was proving to be the right decision. This album will surprise some people, it’s had time to evolve without trying too hard and it’s becoming a beast in its own time.

https://www.facebook.com/steakuk/
https://steakmusic.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/events/464163361105416/
http://www.desertfest.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/DesertfestLondon
https://www.instagram.com/desertfest_london/