Locals to flock to Lake Perris for SoCal's psychedelic music festival, Desert Daze 2021
Desert Daze, a music festival for the locals, as Californians will gather lakeside for the psychedelic concert experience of a lifetime this Fall. Southern California’s music festival, Desert Daze, will be hosting a trippy weekend in the desert in November. The socially distanced event will host live performances, art and video installations, and camping on the grounds of Lake Perris. The three day music festival will feature live performances by Devendra Banhart, Weyes Blood, Crumb, Ty Segall, The Black Angels, DIIV, Kikagaku Moyo, Deap Vally, SASAMI, La Luz, JJUUJJUU, The War On Drugs, Kamasi Washington, Toro y Moi, Japanese Breakfast, and more!
Desert Daze music festival will take place on November 12th through November 14th in Lake Perris, California. Every Fall, local and national music lovers look forward to October for this iconic music festival, which is now taking place a month later. This large scaled festival will shift to an intimate setting by abiding to COVID-19 state guidelines. The festival organizers are prioritizing safety with reduced crowd capacity, one main stage for live performances, and live sets taking place in the afternoon.
Experience a preview of Desert Daze’s upcoming festival with featured artists and rewind to the Desert Daze 2019 experience, pre-pandemic, with our previous festival coverage: DESERT DAZE 2019: WHAT TO EXPECT FROM SO-CAL’S TRIPPIEST FESTIVAL — SoundBite (soundbitemagazine.net).
Here is a sneak peak of five artists performing at Desert Daze music festival this Fall: SASAMI, Deap Valley, JJUUJJUU, La Luz, and Devendra Banhart.
SASAMI
Sasami Ashworth, known by her stage name, SASAMI, will be performing on the third day of Desert Daze music festival. She has previously performed with a fellow artist on the Desert Daze lineup, Japanese Breakfast. Along with Japanese Breakfast, she has performed on tour with King Tuff, Blondie, Soccer Mommy, No Joy, Baths, Menace Beach, Mitski, and Snail Mail. A Los Angeles native and music teacher in the city of Angels, Ashworth pursued a musical education at Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. Early in her musical career, she joined the group, Cherry Glazerr which paved the way for her ambition to pursue her solo music career. Along with creating and releasing her solo albums, Ashworth has created orchestral music for films, commercials, and collaborated on artists’ albums. She teamed up with another featured artist performing at Desert Daze, Devendra Banhart, and released their track, “Free.”
During quarantine, SASAMI worked on her music along with her musical renditions of various cover songs. She recorded an acoustic version of System of a Down’s track, “Toxicity.” Also, she recently debuted her heavy rock version of Daniel Johnston's track, "Sorry Entertainer." Accompanying the cover song, SASAMI released a psychedelic video featuring herself, Ashworth was a former music teacher, playing heinous pranks on students. She collaborated on the trippy music video with comedians Patti Harrison and Alan Resnick from Adult Swim.
For more information on SASAMI, visit www.sasamiashworth.com. Catch SASAMI on tour this Fall 2021 on the follow dates and venue locations:
10/29 - Dallas, TX @ Canton Hall
10/30 - Houston, TX @ White Oak
10/31 - Austin, TX @ Stubb’s - Levitation music festival
11/03 - Tucson, AX @ Club Congress
11/04 - Tempe, AZ @ Coca Cola Sun Deck
11/07 - Berkeley, CA @ UC Theater
11/09 - Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
11/11 - Sonoma, CA @ Gundlach Bundschu
11/12 - San Luis Obispo, CA @ Madonna Inn
11/13 - Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst
11/15 - Pomona, CA @ Glass House
11/16 - Pomona, CA @ Glass House
DEAP VALLEY
Los Angeles natives, Deap Vally’s band members, Lindsey Troy and Julie Edwards hail from the Valley, San Fernando Valley, California. The musicians met while attending school at their Silver Lake crochet class which was the inception of their musical career. The duo released their first symbolic track, “Gonna Make My Own Money,” in 2012 and made their music debut in the United Kingdom. Shortly after their musical debut in London, England they performed at UK music festivals such as Reading festival and were signed to the New York record label, Island Records. Staying close to their California roots, Deap Valley recorded their first album at the recording studio, Infrasonic Sound, in Los Angeles, California.
The musicians collaborated with record producer, Lars Stalfors, who has worked on several Cold War Kids’ albums. Also, he has collaborated with band such as Foster the People, Electric Guest, White Lung, HEALTH, Alice Glass, Saint Motel, Local Natives, and more! Deap Valley’s debut album, ‘Sistrionix,’ was released on Island Records in 2013 and reached the United Kingdom charts. This album was also nominated by the World Music Award for ‘World’s Best Album.’ Earlier this year, the duo released their EP, ‘Digital Dream.’ They have released a second EP in June of this year, ‘The American Cockroach.’ On their latest EP release, Deap Valley collaborated with Jennie Vee of Eagles of Death Metal and Ayse Hassan of Savages. Catch their live performance on Friday, November 12th at Desert Daze music festival in Lake Perris, California.
For more information on Deap Vally and upcoming tour dates, visit www.deapvally.com.
Check out SoundBite Magazine’s previous coverage of Deap Vally’s concert here.
JJUUJJUU
Desert Daze music festival is produced by Moon Block and Knitting Factory Entertainment and curated by Desert Daze and Moon Block founder, Phil Pirrone. Pirrone is also the lead singer, guitarist, and the psychedelic mastery behind his music project, JJUUJJUU. JJUUJJUU entices their audience with melodic tribal spacey sounds that stirs up the ground beneath the audience’s feet and vibrates up into their chest. The psychedelic collective consists of band members: Andrew Clinco of groups: Incan Abraham and Drab Majesty and Phil Pirrone of groups: A Static Lullaby and Casket Salesmen. Whether JJUUJJUU’s performance takes place during the day or evening, the audience is in for a galactic musical experiment filled with mad scientist lab coats, liquid light shows, and heavy sonic sounds at extra high volume. The group works together seamlessly highlighting each band member’s talents from cliffhanging guitar riffs, jolting drum solos, and jazzy bass lines. Pirrone will perform with his group, JJUUJJUU, along with his wife, Julie Edwards, dynamic drummer of Deap Valley.
For more information on JJUUJJUU and upcoming tour dates, visit jjuujjuu.org.
LA LUZ
Originally formed in Seattle, Washington, La Luz, now ‘Angelinos,’ they have adopted the surf culture and always sunny climate into their rock infused tracks. Influenced by Surf Rock legends such as Dick Dale, known as the founder of the Surf Rock movement, La Luz align the West Coast feels in their coastal riffs and electronic synths. The band is compromised of lead singer-songwriter and guitarist, Shana Cleveland, keyboardist, Alice Sandahl, and bassist, Lena Simon. The artists have collaborated with another recognized artist performing Desert Daze, fuzz rock legend and DIY influencer, Ty Segall. Segall produced La Luz’s album, “Weirdo Shrine,” which incorporates Segall’s notary style of heavy fuzz guitar music. The album also likens to the producer’s of style of staying true to the original sound of the song take and incorporates his DIY process of music production.
La Luz have recently released their latest single and music video, “Watching Cartoons.” They will be releasing their self-titled album, “La Luz", on October 22nd through Hardly Art Records. Catch La Luz in their ghoulish Beach Boys costumes at their live performance at Beach Goth music festival, coverage here: BEACH GOTH 2018: BACK IN THE HANDS OF THE GROWLERS & ANOTHER UNFORGETTABLE YEAR — SoundBite (soundbitemagazine.net)
For more information on La Luz, visit laluz.bandcamp.com. Catch La Luz on tour this Fall 2021 on the follow dates and venue locations:
9/11 - Sacramento, CA @ The Red Museum
9/24 - Dana Point, CA @ Ohana Fest
10/29 - Austin, TX @ Cheer Up Charlies (Levitation music festival)
11/6 - Mexico City, MX @ Festival Hipnosis
11/11 - San Diego, CA @ Music Box
11/13 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent Theater
11/14 - San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel
11/15 - Sacramento, CA @ Harlow’s
11/16 - Santa Cruz, CA @ Moe’s Alley
11/18 - Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
11/19 - Seattle, WA @ The Neptune Theatre
DEVENDRA BANHART
Poet, visual artist, actor, and singer-songwriter, Devendra Banhart, will be performing the second day of Desert Daze. The multilingual lyricist blends English, Spanish, and Portuguese into his dreamy psychedelic folk melodies. Banhart, a poetic nomad, has lived in various states and countries such as South America, Texas, California, and New York. A world traveler and touring artist, Banhart, incorporates foreign culture and vivid landscapes into the imagery of his album covers, poetic lyrics, and stage design. He draws and paints and has incorporated his artwork for the album cover stage backdrop and of his 2019 album, “Ma,” and tour. His live performances are highly energetic as the charismatic musician, Banhart, displays his playful nature with banter with his band mates as he transitions from singing solo to delicately stroking an acoustic guitar. His intimate live performances encompass an array of fan favorite tracks from his albums such as “Oh Me Oh My,” “Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon, “Mala,” “Ape in Pink Marble,” and more! Banhart may even make an impromptu performance and ask for song requests from the audience during the set.
Devendra Banhart and his collaborator, Noah Georgeson, have recently released their latest record, “Refuge,” which took twenty years to complete due to natural disasters and other worldly tribulations. The album is available on all streaming platforms. You can experience the album at the Getty Center on the following dates: August 21st and 22nd. To obtain admission to the Getty Center, register for tickets prior to the date to guarantee your entry. For more information, visit the Getty Center at getty.edu/visit/center.
For more information on Devendra Banhart and upcoming tour dates, visit instagram.com/devendrabanhart.
Prepare for the desert festivities with SoundBite Magazine’s Desert Daze themed playlist. Check out the full Desert Daze 2021 Spotify playlist here.
To obtain tickets, parking, and camping passes, visit desertdaze.org. The ticket prices are $75 for single day tickets and $225 for three day tickets. Payment plans are available for three day tickets. Desert Daze’s capacity will be limited due to COVID-19 safety measures. Grab your tickets in advance to guarantee your entry into the festival. For more information on Desert Daze music festival, visit desertdaze.org.
Coverage and Photography by Veronica Potes // Instagram: @veropoteart
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