Interviews: Desert
1. Where did you get the idea for the band name? Did you plan it or came out just like that?
We’re called DESERT - that’s because the band started out in a small town in the middle of an actual desert, with camels and sand, so that’s what was around us, and 1 day before the first show, the promoter asked what we were called; we just said “desert”. But after some years, the title accumulated more meaning than we initially put into it. Desert is a bare place, where all unnecessary gets stripped away. It’s beautiful, but also unforgiving, and you must survive it by continuing to move forward. After all the challenges and changes the band has been through, the name fits us perfectly.
Also, we think it fits our musical style - desert is both mysterious and dangerous; it can be scorching hot, have sandstorms, but also be ruthless and cold. Just like we mix ambiences and atmospheres - sometimes it’s epic and loud, sometimes it’s aggressive and fast, and sometimes it’s intimate and naked.
2. Why did you want to play this genre?
Metal is the best music ever, and inside it, we were looking to have this big sound, with many different textures - so we had to have keyboards, and we like epic music, so we had to have big clean vocals, and also when you have electronics and multiple singers, you can experiment a lot, and not be stuck inside one sound for years…
We love the freedom our style gives us. With two clean vocals, keyboards, complex twin guitars, and vocal harmonies, there’s a huge palette to work with. One song can be aggressive and ultra fast, another can be more cinematic and emotional, and they all still live on the same album.
It’s important for us because we don’t keep rewriting the same song or recycling the same riffs just because that’s what our genre is supposed to sound like. We must have enough room to experiment. For us, having a recognizable sound doesn’t mean working with a clear formula.
3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?
Not really; we’ve come together as musicians and became friends later. Being in a band, especially an independent band, teaches you a lot about relationships - because it’s a weird mix of business, friends, family vibes; you must work out differences and work as a team. It’s really an ultimate exercise in making the best version of yourself - if you want the band to last.
The current lineup is a major chapter for us; it’s the biggest change the band has ever done, but we’re definitely not starting from zero - there’s a lot of history behind the band.
4. Each band member's favourite band?
We all come from different musical backgrounds; that’s what makes it really cool to make songs together. Each one brings their own perspective; it’s like a big puzzle.
Our bassist Sergei Metalheart is a die-hard Judas Priest fan; lead guitarist Alex loves modern Swedish metal; the keyboardist is into pop; he loves 80’s music - his favorite is old school Japanese pop. Our lead singer Lada Red is really into this theatrical gothic metal, stuff like Dark Sarah.
Put all those answers together, run it through a guitar amp, and you get something that sounds like Desert…
5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?
People. Not epic heroes, but ordinary people who find themselves having to become something more than they thought they were. A lot of our songs are about struggle - pride, faith, responsibility, addiction, loss, doubt, or simply having too much to handle on your hands. We may tell those stories through metaphors of war, famous historical figures, even mythology, or some huge cinematic background, but ultimately it’s about the human experience. It’s probably the core of DESERT - when you struggle with something, it’s an epic battle for you, even if it’s an “ordinary thing” like making a huge mistake or betraying a friend’s trust, and we try to find ways to make an epic song that ultimately tells this kind of story, underneath all the glorious power-metal facade.
6. Where was your last gig?
Just this week we played an awesome open-air festival in Israel - it’s called Metal Meeting, and it’s a traveling fest. We don’t play a lot of open-airs, and it was really cool for us to get to run around and chant those choruses under the stars. Big stage, big sound, loved every second of it. It’s refreshing to not hang out in a dark room for 8 hours.
7. Where would you like to act?
We love traveling. We love doing tours, one town after another, meeting new people, seeing how different countries react differently to live music. Played in many countries, maybe 20-25 countries already, and some of the most memorable shows were small clubs in small towns where we made some lasting connections. It’s always fun to play a big festival, like Rockstadt or whatever, but the place matters not that much. Ultimately, when somebody comes to our show and spends an hour singing and headbanging with us, and maybe having a beer and a chat after, that’s all we want to see; if it’s a 100-person tiny club or a fancy festival stage, it doesn’t matter.
I guess we'd love to go on tour to Japan. They’re really appreciative of music there, and of course it’s such an amazing country!
8. Whom would you like to feature with?
Someone who changes the song, rather than putting a famous name in the title.
We’ve done quite a few features, mostly with singers from big European bands, even with Joakim Broden, a while ago, Chris Boltendahl from Grave Digger, those types of guys.
We’d want someone with a distinctive style and musical persona, so the music comes out unexpected and different, rather than making a feat that looks good on a social media ad.
It would be interesting to try something different, maybe Devin Townsend; it’d be cool to see how his big vocal style jams with our riffs and orchestras. Or maybe Misstiq, she’s really amazing, you should check her out if you haven’t already!
9. Whom not?
Probably someone who takes themselves too seriously. Metal is serious, and we care enormously about every note we play, but it doesn’t mean we must walk around pretending like we’re RPG game characters all day.
10. Have any of you ever suffered from stage fright? Any tips for beginners on how to beat that?
Yes, and yes. The biggest mistake is to think you must eliminate the fear before you walk on stage. Even if we’re 300% ready, and still heart beats like crazy until the show starts. There are a lot of “what if” questions in the head. Being brave is not being fearless; it’s about doing stuff you’re afraid of despite the fear.
This applies to everything we do, not just playing a show, and even outside our musical careers.
We’ve all been doing this for a while, and learned to live with stress or doubts at this point. Still getting butterflies just before the downbeat.
Our best advice is - be prepared. They say, when things get stressful, you don’t rise up to the level of your abilities - you descend to the level of your preparation. So be prepared - not just learn the songs - test the gear, prepare extras and spares,
rehearse on how to set up the gear fast (nothing is more stressful than fighting with a guitar amplifier settings 3 minutes before the first song!). Prepare what you’re going to do between songs - so there’s no awkward silences.
And more than anything - be mentally ready that many things WILL go wrong. And that’s ok. Happens to everyone.
11. What bands have inspired you the most?
Obviously there’s a lot of old school influences in what we do - whether a band who taught us the power of a riff (Judas Priest!) or the power of epic, larger-than-life atmosphere (Dimmu Borgir), or a memorable melody (Stratovarius), we’ve always loved those classic bands.
For us, inspiration is not sounding like another band, hopefully. Bands who we admire most can make something huge and theatrical without losing the human component, without making it too detached and artificial. That’s what we’re pushing with DESERT now: low-tuned guitar riffs, huge vocals and choirs, big cinematic keyboards, but ultimately about things people can live through. We want to make epic music without requiring the listener to dress up like a viking or a wizard to be relatable.
12. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?
I guess the songwriting requests are sometimes weird, and sometimes cool and sweet. We’ve been invited to dinners at fans’ homes (and went; it’s usually fun!), we’ve been to some really wild parties that fans brought us to, and let’s not elaborate more on this :) This one time a fan asked us to write a love song to win a girl’s heart, but not in metal style, and they had some lyrics for us; they wanted a Balkan-style pop song. It was really weird. We did, in fact, write and record that song. It’s not for public listening.
13. What do you think of your fans?
For some reason, DESERT seems to attract the kind of people we’d probably hang out with anyway. I remember after one show in Cyprus, I started talking to a random fan, somehow discovered a shared weird interest in obscure 1990’s computer CPU’s, and suddenly it was 5 AM, everyone left, and we still were drinking and talking about it. That happened in different forms quite a few times over the years.
I think there’s just not that much distance between us and the people who come to our shows. I mean, sure, on stage we’re epic metalheads, stage clothes, fog, huge music, but in reality we’re normal people with families, weird hobbies, and our own issues.
14. What do you think of our site?
You’re doing an important job, especially in this age of short videos and 2-second attention span. Most bands are forced to mainly care about putting out 60 reels a month, with very little room for deep diving.
It’s extremely important for music to have this kind of media, and especially ones that work with independent bands.
Also, you have this really cool thing on your website where people can browse bands by country; it’s quite rare and interesting to play around with.
15. Something to add?
Desert is entering the biggest chapter in its history; new music is coming, a new lineup, and high expectations, but overall we have a very simple idea.
Desert makes heavy music for ordinary people going thru extra ordinary battle. You don’t need to save the world; sometimes just surviving the week is an epic win, and we provide the soundtrack.
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