It’s good to see you again, Desertfest London. The 2022 lineup of the esteemed British edition of Desertfest brings some returning presences who were to have been at the 2020 edition, then the 2021 — both of course gone the way of corona. But we see Electric Wizard, Shellac and Witchcraft in headlining spots, while Corrosion of Conformity will bring their delayed 25th anniversary of Deliverance to Camden Town, and returning kingpins Orange Goblin will play, along with YOB, Truckfighters, Earthless, My Sleeping Karma, Mos Generator, Conan, The Obsessed, the reunited Josiah, Lowrider come for a Refractions victory lap well earned, along with Elephant Tree, Elder, Steak, Deathrite and a ton from the UK’s own ever-blossoming underground scene — Blind Monarch, The Brothers Keg, King Witch, the more established Alunah and Trippy Wicked, and so on and so many.

Note Slomosa. Note Wolftooth. I would expect both to be touring Europe around this time. Green Lung too, for that matter.

There’s no way this isn’t going to be one to remember and it is my sincere hope to be there for it. Maybe I’ll see you there. Maybe we can hug.

Kudos and thanks to the Desertscene crew — Sarika, Jake and Reece — on and for a job well done.

Here’s looking forward:

DESERTFEST LONDON ANNOUNCE FULL LINE-UP FOR 2022 ·

A DECADE IN THE DESERT
CELEBRATING TEN YEARS WITH THE BIGGEST & MOST DIVERSE LINEUP YET

EXCLUSIVE UK PERFORMANCES FROM
WITCHCRAFT
(FIRST UK SHOW IN OVER A DECADE)
and
SHELLAC

As the home for all the things truly heavy, leading independent UK festival Desertfest have announced their full line up for 2022, which will take place in Camden, London from Friday 29th April – Sunday 1st May.

Celebrating their tenth year, next year’s festival promises to be their biggest and most diverse yet. Covering six venues across the heart of Camden and now including a full line up at The Roundhouse on both Saturday 30thApril and Sunday 1st May.

Founding owner of Desertfest Reece Tee comments, “Desertfest is 10 years old! I’m so proud that our independent festival has stood the test of time. What we have created is special, a decade of great bands, great friends and amazing memories. This year’s line up is a true reflection of how diverse Desertfest has become and with such a loyal audience, Desertfest can champion the underground for decades more to come.”

Headlining the Friday will be Swedish heavy rock masters Witchcraft, with a UK exclusive performance and their first UK show in over a decade.
Saturday’s headliners are none other than Chicago’s Shellac, who in another UK exclusive will be bringing their experimental post-hardcore sound to the Roundhouse. Fronted by the iconic Steve Albini, Shellac are one of those bands we all need to experience live, at least once. Whilst closing the festival on Sunday will be UK doom legends Electric Wizard, whose heavy sound encompasses the spirit of Desertfest.

Other acts confirmed include the likes of Corrosion Of Conformity, Orange Goblin and Truckfighters who all played the festival in its debut year in 2012 and there are further UK exclusive performances from hardcore-punks Integrity and the Ukrainian psych space rock trio Somali Yacht Club.

The festival will also see desert legends Brant Bjork and Nick Oliveri’s new band Stoner, who will be playing the Electric Ballroom and doomed heavy metallers Khemmis making their UK debut at The Underworld.

Please see below for the full Desertfest 2022 line up / stage splits.
Tickets are on sale now and are available at www.desertfest.co.uk

NEW TICKETS FOR 2022
Weekend Ticket (all venues) – £132 +fees
Friday Day Ticket (all venues) – £45 +fees
Saturday Day Ticket (all venues) – £50 +fees
Sunday Day Ticket (all venues) – £50 +fees
Saturday Roundhouse only – £35 +fees
Existing ticket holders from 2020’s postponed event have a number of options as the festival is now larger, with an added Roundhouse line-up on Saturday 30th April & Sunday 1st May.

EXISTING WEEKEND + DAY TICKET HOLDERS OPTIONS
Full refund
Weekend roll-over to 2022 without Roundhouse upgrade (access only to Electric Ballroom, Underworld, Black Heart & The Dev)
Weekend roll-over to 2022 with Roundhouse upgrade – £15 +fees
Day ticket holders can upgrade to a full weekend ticket – £92 + fees – or will be issued a refund. Upgrade options only available until May 7th ’21.
For any ticketing enquiries please contact sarika@desertscene.co.uk

Desertfest 2022’s artwork is hand drawn by legendary artist Arik Roper who has created illustrations for the likes of Sleep, Earth, Sunn O))), High on Fire, Kvelertak, Windhand and many more. As always, posters and other merch will be available to buy at the festival.

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Electric Wizard, Live at Desertfest London 2016

Hey, if you’re feeling like you’re having the year you expected to have in 2020, congratulations on your success as a supervillain. For the rest of us, it’s improv-mode, trying to make the most of whatever we’ve got to make the most of. For London heavy rockers Trippy Wicked and the Cosmic Children of the Knight that means stepping back from putting together their third long-player and instead working at home, remotely, on putting together properly recorded versions of the backlog of acoustic versions of their own songs and covers that they’ve built up over the years. The third of these is Crowbar‘s “The Lasting Dose,” which premieres below.

The original Crowbar song was the lead cut on 2001’s landmark Sonic Excess in its Purest Form and I don’t think I’m speaking out of turn when I say it’s one of the band’s best tracks — something of a landmark in their increasingly vast discography. As with the other acoustic cuts they’ve unveiled thus far, guitarist/vocalist Peter Holland (here on ukulele and vocals) and drummer Christopher West (here on acoustic guitar) did a live take on “The Lasting Dose” some eight years ago. Seated at what appears to be a backyard picnic table, they manage to hold it together as a car horn honks and neighbors start chatting loudly in the second half of the song. If you think that doesn’t add charm, I’ll invite you to watch that clip after the premiere of the new one and revisit your position.

In listening to the two back-to-back, one might notice a bit more embellishment from Holland on the vocal melody, but the basic form is consistent, and despite taking a very, very heavy song and taking out the tonal weight, the emotional burden of the tempo remains. I’m not sure what the plans are for Trippy Wicked — generally completed by bassist Dicky King — to release the acoustic material they’ve put to tape at this point. I don’t even know if they know. But again, they’re making the most of what they’ve got, and I think once you listen you’ll agree it’s worth the effort.

Please enjoy:

Trippy Wicked, “The Lasting Dose” (Crowbar cover) premiere

The Lasting Dose is the third in a series of acoustic singles we’re putting out in 2020.

We were recording our 3rd full length album at the beginning of the year when coronavirus happened and we had to stop working on that.

Without any work and not able to continue with the album we started recording and releasing some acoustic songs because we can record them remotely from each other.

The songs are a mix of acoustic covers of heavy songs and also acoustic versions of our own songs that we have worked on over the years.

Check out the playlist of acoustic singles here: https://youtu.be/CUfW5RioWDQ

Trippy Wicked, “The Lasting Dose” (Live in 2012)

Trippy Wicked on Thee Facebooks

Trippy Wicked on Instagram

Trippy Wicked on Bandcamp

Trippy Wicked website

Does this mean we’re going to get an acoustic recording of Trippy Wicked‘s take on Crowbar‘s “The Lasting Dose” too? Because that’d be just fine as far as I’m concerned. I went back and looked, the Trippy Wicked‘s acoustic take on Sleep‘s ultra-classic “Dragonaut” dates back to 2011, so when Chris West says he’s been meaning to properly record them “forever,” he’s at least talking about nine years’ worth of time, which certainly isn’t nothing. I’ve posted the original video under the new version at the bottom of this post, because after all this time it still brings me joy, and I’m glad they’re using the lockdown time to get these to tape, because they’re quality beyond novelty.

Here’s the news and the audio:

Trippy Wicked Launch Series of Acoustic Singles With Their Cover of Sleep’s Dragonaut

In early 2020 the band had to suspend recording of their third full length album due to Covid-19 lockdown measures. Out of work and with a lot of time on their hands they decided to start remotely recording some of the acoustic material they have worked on over the years.

This material includes some cover songs and some acoustic versions of Trippy Wicked songs.

Chris West commented:

“Both myself and Pete are currently out of work and recording these acoustic songs has been on my to do list forever so now is the perfect time. Recording the album was going well and this is a way of not losing too much of the momentum with the band. We’re gonna start putting them out as singles to start. Mostly they’re light and they’re fun and I just want people to hear them. I wasn’t sure about putting an album together at first but I think we probably will because I’m having more and more ideas around that as I work on the songs.”

The project kicks off with their acoustic cover of Sleep’s Dragonaut which is now available most places.

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Trippy Wicked, “Dragonaut”

Trippy Wicked, “Dragonaut” (live take)

Plenty of familiar stuff here if you’ve been hanging around the site lately, but there’s some stuff I haven’t written about yet too. The theme, such as it was — and man, themes are loose with this show anyway, but this one felt even more so — was just good stuff that happened in April. Today’s May 1, and it feels like last month was just lost on so many levels, that I wanted to highlight a few of the good things that happened despite the chaos and the dire feelings that defined so much of the time.

My point is the same as ever: Music still sounds good. If you’ve got that, you’ve got something to hold onto. If there’s nothing else, there’s music. That’s all I’m ever really saying. Sorry to spoil it. Now you don’t have to look at The Obelisk anymore. You’re all done.

You should still listen to the show though because I recorded the voice tracks for it on my phone while I was going to buy fresh mozzarella, and considering New Jersey’s got over 100,000 cases of COVID-19, the sheer Jersey-ness of the endeavor really I think shines through. Plus in the second break, if you stick it out, I say the word “awesome” like 50 times and sound like a total doofus, and that’s worth hearing. I overuse “awesome” anyway, but really, it sounds silly here. I listened back and heard it and decided to leave it in. Hell, at least it’s real.

Thanks for listening if you do.

The Obelisk Show airs 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at http://gimmeradio.com

Full playlist:

The Obelisk Show – 05.01.20

The Obelisk Show on Gimme Radio airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is May 15 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.

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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: Christopher West of Trippy Wicked (St. Albans, United Kingdom)

—

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?

Everyone’s health is good and we’re all following the advice to help reduce the spread of the virus. Jamming and recording is off for the foreseeable and some of our plans have changed a lot. We all live in different places and currently cannot meet up. Since December last year we’ve been recording various songs written over the last couple of years. Some of those are for an album and that is now on hold. Some of the songs are for other releases though including this upcoming single we just announced.

We have a few gigs booked for the year but I think everyone is just waiting to see what happens now. Understandably Desertfest London has been cancelled and that is a major blow for the bands and especially the organisers, considering how much work must go into getting that up and running.

I’m going to start looking back at the archives to see if there’s any more old stuff we can put out and I think this could be a good time to start recording/releasing some of our acoustic music properly. I just need to post Pete’s uke to him and we can record at home no problems.

What are the quarantine/isolation rules where you are?

I’m in the UK and we’re currently in week two of a fairly strict lockdown [as of April 1]. You’re only supposed to leave the house for essentials — shopping as infrequently as possible, exercise, and work if you are a key worker. If you get symptoms then stay inside for seven days and anyone else in the house stays in for 14 days.

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

There are a lot of people signed up to help deliver food for those that can’t get out and those sort of things and that is really good to see. Obviously the closure of pubs and the like is having a significant effect on businesses but some are able to operate by selling takeout beer and food still so that’s good for them.

Live music is gone of course and there’s been a huge shift to online and live streaming. I’m in a couple of Facebook groups where people are sharing music and art that they’ve made. I don’t think many will be able to make any money of note from this but it sure beats a lot of the politics that’s been weighing us all down online.

I think most underground and non-mainstream musicians are being hit hard right now. Sales are down because people have lost jobs, money, security. Streams are down because people are gaming, or on Netflix.

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

Don’t worry about us. We’ll get back to working on the album when we can and there’s plenty to do outside of that. Look after yourself, your family and your friends, help them and your community if you can.

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If you were to take Trippy Wicked (né Trippy Wicked and the Cosmic Children of the Knight) at their word from their last three studio releases, they might be one of the least predictable heavy bands on the planet. Yes, last year they had the Movin’ On Singles compilation (discussed here) out through APF Records, and in 2017, there was Lost Songs (discussed here) rounding up other recordings, but in 2018 they had the unplugged Stakes and Scale EP (review here), and that was preceded by a 2016 split/collaboration with GURT (review here) and 2013’s Underground (review here), which cast off heavy rock almost entirely in favor of a more clearly metal sound. So what the hell is coming on their new single, Three Leaves, which is out next Monday, April 20, as a two-songer with its title-track and the eight-minute “Green Memories” accompanying?

Hell if I know.

Okay, actually I do know. As they did when guitarist/vocalist Peter Holland and drummer Chris West brought bassist Dicky King back into the lineup last year, and as they did by putting together the Movin’ On Singles — which was preceded by a series of individually-issued videos of the songs (as seen here, here and here) — they’re going to ground. It’s not about expectations, or about making some grand stylistic statement. It’s about getting three friends, each with their own life and whathaveyou outside the band, in the same place to revel in a long-established collaboration for the simple joy of it. “Three Leaves?” It’s stoner sludge with lyrics out of the movie Friday. And “Green Memories?” It’s newer, a bit moodier and offset by acoustic interludes. Neither contains an ounce of pretense either in its structure or presentation, and both sound like the work of a band who’ve realized how much they want to write these songs.

Not to belabor the point, but as you watch the “Three Leaves” video with Holland, King and West filming their commutes to and from rehearsal, including train rides and pre-practice beers, there’s hardly a statement to be made that could seem more poignant at this present moment. These guys are a band, and they have been for more than a decade, but as they stand in the rehearsal room and goofily wave goodbye to each other, it’s clear they’re also friends and it’s clear that friendship is something cherished by each of them. Sitting in social isolation under the omnipresent threat of plague, perhaps that resonates all the more than it otherwise might. Or maybe I just don’t have any friends. Ha.

Either way, enjoy the clip for “Three Leaves,” and here’s hoping for more Trippy Wicked to come soon, whatever form it might take upon arrival:

Trippy Wicked, “Three Leaves” official video

Trippy Wicked & the Cosmic Children of the Knight announce the upcoming digital double A side single ‘Three Leaves’ and ‘Green Memories’.

Out on April 20th Three Leaves is a stoner doom homage to the cult classic movie ‘Friday’ and the song has been a permanent fixture in the band’s live set for several years.

Green Memories is the first new music written and released since the longest serving line up of Pete Holland, Chris West and Dicky King announced they were playing together again in early 2019.

Drummer Chris West commented:

“Originally we were just going to release Three Leaves as a single on its own. We’ve been recording songs for an album and we’re getting down everything we’ve been working on including some songs not set for the album. Green Memories wasn’t going to be on that and once we started working on it, it became one of those songs that grows to be greater than the sum of its parts. The direction of the band’s sound is a touch darker since we started jamming and writing again and we wanted to share something new with fans as soon as we could.”

Three Leaves / Green Memories will be available to download on April 20th from the band’s Bandcamp as a name your price download. It will also be available on all streaming and digital platforms.

https://www.trippywicked.bandcamp.com
https://open.spotify.com/artist/75eUbiAO7Iee6Vu9T3EtDv

Trippy Wicked are:
Pete Holland – guitar and vocals
Dicky King – bass
Chris West – drums

Trippy Wicked on Thee Facebooks

Trippy Wicked on Instagram

Trippy Wicked and the Cosmic Children of the Knight on Bandcamp

Warms the heart, this one does. Specifically, The Black Heart, most likely, which is where I’d imagine Trippy Wicked and the Cosmic Children of the Knight would end up doing the release show for what will be their first outing through APF Records. Earlier this year, the kinda-reunited-but-we-never-really-broke-up-but-everybody’s-been-really-busy-with-life-and-stuff-and-you-know-how-it-is-and-also-Pete‘s-in-Elephant–Tree-and-Chris-has-like-50-projects-and-Dicky-can’t-really-tour heavy rockers began issuing digitally a series of singles recorded a decade ago as a way of honoring the 10th anniversary of the sessions for their 2009 debut full-length, Movin’ On (review here). Speaking as someone who still thinks of that record fondly, it was a fun way to relive it without doing the standard reissue thing and getting something previously unheard from the band, if not something actually new.

Well, because every now and then the universe bends its will to my druthers, APF Records has picked up the series for what will be aptly-titled Movin’ On Singles as a compilation and released on Oct. 30, which also just happens to be the same day Movin’ On came out those 10 years ago. Like I said, warms the heart.

Trippy Wicked have a couple shows lined up, including — now that I look — The Black Heart in Camden Town on Oct. 25, and Sophie Fest in Manchester on Nov. 23. They also just played this past weekend at Ripple Music‘s London Ripplefest along with Stubb, War Cloud and a host of other cool bands.

Here’s APF‘s announcement of the signing:

APF Records – Trippy Wicked and the Cosmic Children of the Knight

I can’t even begin to tell you how thrilled I am to confirm that Trippy Wicked have signed to APF Records.

Their first APF release will be a limited edition digipak CD of their “Moving On Singles” on 30th October – which is the 10th anniversary of the release of the Moving On album. More info coming soon.

Chris, Pete, Dicky – a warm welcome to the APF family.

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Trippy Wicked, “Things Go Up”

Alright, I’ll go ahead and admit I didn’t know who Seasick Steve was. The third in a seemingly ongoing series of singles from Trippy Wicked and the Cosmic Children of the Knight that were recorded along with what became their 2009 debut long-player, Movin’ On (review here), “Things Go Up” is indeed a take on the Seasick Steve song of the same name, and I suppose if you’re more down than I am with your modern blues — as no doubt you are — you might already know it comes from the Oakland country bluesman’s 2006 album, Dog House Music, but yeah, I’d never heard it. Hey, I never said I knew everything. Usually I say the opposite.

Trippy Wicked‘s “Things Go Up” gives the slide-acoustic groove of the original version a thickened-fuzz treatment while guitarist Peter Holland toys with a Southern US accent as heard on parts of the album itself. And “toys” is the operative word. They’re clearly having a good time, and with all the American singers who’ve pretended to be from London over the last century of recorded music, it seems only fair. Two-way street, and so on.

Some comment from bassist Dicky King and the track itself follow, courtesy of the PR wire:

TRIPPY WICKED RELEASE NEW SINGLE

Trippy Wicked & The Cosmic Children Of the Knight have just released a doomed out cover of Seasick Steve’s “Things Go Up”

Bassist Dicky King commented “I had never heard the original by Seasick Steve, but when Chris and Pete played it to me I loved it. We ran through this version and straight away it had that “Trippy touch” to it, while keeping close to the original. Pete’s vocals worked really with that southern sound and the riffs and drums were full on heavy with a hint of groove. I used to forget the name of the track and always say “let’s do Up & Down” which of course set me up for taking some stick. The song would go down well in a live set too and many a time people would be shouting out for us to play it, so we must have been doing something right with our take on it.”

Listen to the track here: http://smarturl.it/ThingsGoUp?IQid=c

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Trippy Wicked, “Things Go Up”