The Heavy Desert Podcast

Today on The Heavy Desert Podcast I recap some of the releases from the month of December.  I rundown releases in order of the date released with a little preview from each release from bands that include Palm Desert, Sun Empress, Slowbot, Bygone, Sydona and many more! It’s the final episode of the year, so enjoy some of these releases that dropped during the last month! Tune in and subscribe!

Today on The Heavy Desert Podcast the Path to Planet Desert Rock Weekend continues as I welcome Jake Navarra, founding member, guitarist and vocalist of the band Phantom Hound, who will be performing at the upcoming event. We talk about his influences, the backstory of the band, what it was like releasing their debut album at the beginning of the pandemic, what the plans are for the band leading up to Planet Desert Rock Weekend and beyond, and much more. I had a great chat with Jake, so make sure to tune in and subscribe!

Today on The Heavy Desert Podcast the Path to Planet Desert Rock Weekend continues as I welcome Florian Thiele, drummer for the German band Paralyzed, who will be performing at the upcoming event. We talk about his influences, how he met lead singer and guitarist Michael Binder to eventually form the band, the excitement about coming out to the U.S. for the first time and much more. I had a great conversation, make sure to tune in and subscribe!

Today on The Heavy Desert Podcast I have a special Christmas episode. I asked previous guests if they had a special Christmas memory that was music related. Whether they got that album they always wanted, that record player, an instrument, concert tickets or if they have a special music related tradition. Some of the contributors include Wayne Ruddell of Fuzz Evil, Trip Shumake and Eric Garcia of The Heavy Eyes, Ryan Garney of High Desert Queen, Colin Peterson & John Piotrowski of Shadow of Jupiter, and many more! It’s a festive episode, so make sure to tune in and subscribe!

Today on The Heavy Desert Podcast I welcome brothers Ricardo and Christian Rodriguez of the rock duo Gran Moreno. Playing music since they were little, Ricardo and Christian have now played festivals such as Levitation Austin and Ripplefest Texas and are set to release their debut album, El Sol, on January 17th of 2026. These guys are only moving up and I had the pleasure of chatting with them and hope you enjoy it as well! Tune in and subscribe!

Today on The Heavy Desert Podcast I welcome guitarist Colin Peterson and vocalist John Piotrowski of the band Shadow of Jupiter to the show. Shadow of Jupiter has been very active since their debut album Porta Coeli came out in 2023, including playing Ripplefest Texas, Rhüne Mountain Fest, Grand Rapids Doomfest and many other gigs. They’re slated to play next year’s inaugural HUFR-Fest in Denver, Colorado and are eager to release their follow up album early summer of 2026. What started out as fun project for something for their kids to remember them by, has blossomed into something that’s become big in the heavy underground! I had a great chat with the guys and hope you enjoy it as much as I did! Tune in & subscribe!

Today on The Heavy Desert Podcast I welcome back to the show, lead singer and guitarist of the band Volume and the creator of next year’s inaugural Mojave Experience Festival, Patrick Brink. Patrick talks all about the unique festival he is putting on next year on March 20th & 21st. Some of the bands scheduled to perform include Earthless, Dead Meadow, John Garcia, Yawning Man, Nick Oliveri’s Death Acoustic, Howling Giant, Borracho and many more! Make sure to tune in and subscribe!

Today on The Heavy Desert Podcast I welcome Sean Malkasian, lead singer, guitarist and founder of the band Malkasian to the show. They recently released their new album, Heavy Blues on October 22nd and it’s amazing! We chat about that, some of his influences, his path to the band that he has now and much more! Make sure to tune in and subscribe!

Today on The Heavy Desert Podcast I recap some of the new releases from November that I listened to. Not a countdown, but more of a rundown from the release date at the beginning of the month to the end, with a little taste from each album. I cover new releases from Burning Sister, Beastwars, Bogwife, Astralplane, Acidsitter, Stone Nomads, Winds of Neptune and many more! Make sure to tune in and subscribe!

Today on The Heavy Desert Podcast I welcome Josh Neuwford and Brett Halsey of the band The Lunar Effect, who recently released their latest album, Fortune’s Always Hiding, on October 24 that is amazing! We talk all about it, their influences, the backstory of the band and much more! Make sure to tune in and subscribe!

Today on The Heavy Desert Podcast I welcome Drew Dupuis, host of The Call of the Beast Radio Hour on The Rage Online. Drew’s hour long program plays music straight from the heavy underground and we talk all about it! We talk about some of the bands that got him into the genre, some of his favorite albums from this year and much more! For a show only in its infancy (about 5 months) Drew has big plans to help spread the word of this amazing scene! Tune in & subscribe!

Today on The Heavy Desert Podcast the show welcomes back our concert correspondent Chris McGowan for another Concerts With Chris Episode. We talk about a lot of the shows Chris has been to in the last few months, including Ripplefest, Castle Rat, Pink Fuzz, The Sword, Wolfdozer, Black Sunrise, Bonehawk, Kal-El and many more! We also talk about what he’s looking forward to in the upcoming months. He also talks about how to help out the scene and some of the local venues. Tune in and subscribe!

Today on The Heavy Desert Podcast The Path to Planet Desert Rock Weekend continues as I welcome Tripp Shumake and Eric Garcia of The Heavy Eyes, who will be performing at next year’s fest. Tripp and Eric talk about their influences, the scene in Memphis, their upcoming European tour in 2026, and possibly a new album coming up next year as well! We dig into a lot and you won’t want to miss it! Tune in and subscribe!

Today on The Heavy Desert Podcast I welcome Ross Westerbur, Kevin Roberts and Mike Alonso of the band Winds of Neptune. Winds of Neptune dropped its debut self-titled album on November 21st and it is flat out amazing! We dig into their influences, their history in the music industry before they formed Winds of Neptune, their backstory of jamming in Kevin’s basement doing covers to where they are now with the release of their new album, and Ross even drops some sage wisdom for those that wanna take the next big step if they’re in a band. We cover all kinds stuff and you won’t want to miss it! Tune in and subscribe!

Today on The Heavy Desert Podcast The Path to Planet Desert Rock Weekend continues as I welcome Daniel Rice and Cody Tarbell of the band Westing (formerly known as Slow Season), who will be playing at next year’s fest.  Daniel and Cody talk about their influences, the backstory of the band, some of the side projects they’ve been involved with, their plans for the future and much more! Make sure to tune in & subscribe!

Today on The Heavy Desert Podcast I welcome Joe Narducci guitarist, vocalist and founding member of the Toronto based band Verona Florrist to the show. These guys just released their self titled, debut album on October 1st, and it is amazing! Joe talks about starting this new band after being with another band for several years, about the creative process, and he has a pretty funny story about coming across the Canadian/American border in which he was told to BRING some “substances” with him next time. At only 27 years old, Joe brings a much welcomed youthfulness to the scene! We covered so much and I had a great time chatting with him and I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did. Make sure to tune in & subscribe!

Today on The Heavy Desert Podcast I welcome Shane Murray, co-founder of the Midwest Doom Coalition (MDC). The MDC was the brainchild of Shane and Lance  Kük Collier to bring together bands in the heavy underground to make it easier for them to get out there to play shows and help promote their music. Shane talks about his influences, his stories of seeing shows at The Outhouse in Lawrence, Kansas, the history of the MDC, what he envisions for the future and much more. Including some of the performers for next year’s MDC Festival! Make sure to tune in and subscribe!

Today on The Heavy Desert Podcast I welcome Rolf Hansen, Jens Krebbenhøft, and Kaspar Madsen of the Danish stoner rock band Supercollider. Their debut EP, Soundwaves, was nine years in the making and was #12 on the September Doomcharts. We delve into that, their influences and what’s on the horizon for this great band, including some possible new music. So make sure to tune in and subscribe!

Today on The Heavy Desert Podcast I welcome Igor Sydorenko of the band Stoned Jesus to the show. Stoned Jesus released its latest album, Songs to Sun, on September 19th and it placed #4 on the September Doomcharts. We talk all about that, playing in Australia and Mexico for the first time, and he also gives us his personal Top 5 albums among so much more! So make sure to tune in and subscribe!

Today on The Heavy Desert Podcast I welcome Joey Troupe, James May & JJ Young of the band M.E.L.T. They released their latest album, Innervate/Obliterate, on October 3rd, that placed #17 on the October Doomcharts. We talk all about that, their influences, their record shop finds on a recent trip to a local record shop, and much more. A great bunch of guys out of Pittsburgh who were a lot of fun to talk to! Make sure to tune in and subscribe!