Kylie Knight
One of the absolute best things about festivals is our tendency to explore, to emerge from our bubbles of self-doubt, and open ourselves to new experiences. Desert Daze is definitely not new to this concept; you’re always apt to find yourself wandering from stimulating performances to art installations – and this year is no exception.
Taking place inside The Sanctuary throughout the entire weekend, FAULTLINE strives to give us a momentous line-up of legendary sound and noise artists, curated by Epicenter Projects in coordination with international record label Touch, featuring an eclectic range of Ambient, Drone, Lo Fi, and Environmental Soundscape genres that continue to break down barriers and push the envelope in the world of experimental sound art. Unlike anything ever before attempted at the festival, and taking place in a geodesic dome designed specifically with quad surround sound, this will definitely be something you don’t want to miss.
Although many notable artists are performing at FAULTLINE this weekend (Slowdive’s Simon Scott, Jonathan Snipes, David Scott Stone, Gregg Kowalsky, PinkCourtesyPhone) Sunday aims to provide us with all sorts of genre-pushing musical experimentation with collaborative sets from clipping.’s William Hutson and Micaela Tobin of White Boy Scream as well as Kid 606 performing with LA Dublab’s own Mitchell Brown.
Cristopher Cichocki, Coachella Valley artist and founder of Epicenter Projects (and no stranger to experimentation), was kind enough to answer a few inquiries for us about the origins of such a unique undertaking.
This is the first time Desert Daze has ever featured a stage solely dedicated to sound art; how did the idea for FAULTLINE come to fruition?
I’ve performed at Desert Daze the past 2 years with my audiovisual environment Circular Dimensions. Circular Dimensions was showcased inside Frank Lloyd Wright’s Sanctuary Hall when the festival was located in Joshua Tree. This year the location has expanded alongside Lake Perris, Moreno Beach where Desert Daze invited me to perform Circular Dimensions inside a geodesic dome.
I figured this would be a great opportunity to share the stage and invite some of my favorite sound artists. I’m co-curating FAULTLINE with Touch, one of the most influential record labels in the trajectory of sound art. Mike Harding of Touch and I brought together a world class line-up.
Didn’t Epicenter Projects curate a FAULTLINE last year in the desert?
Yes indeed, that was situated inside a canyon located alongside the San Andreas fault in Mecca. I teamed up with Perpetual Dawn to curate over 20 sound artists for this one day fest. The dynamic way in which the sound traveled within the canyon was unreal.
Where did you find your love for experimentation and sound art?
I attended Calarts, a school that nurtures sound art and other contemporary genres. There were a lot of experimental composers in both the art and music programs who broadened my musical horizon.
What do these artists have in common, or what ties all these performances together for you?
The line-up of sound spans from ambient, drone, lo-fi, minimal, musique concrete, electro-acoustic, and environmental soundscapes.
Every year Desert Daze seems to take it up a notch artistically, any ideas on how could you see the festival expanding in the future?
The festival has been consistently moving ahead full steam with great dedication and vision. I’ve seen Desert Daze transform from a festival held at Dillon’s Road House on a DIY leap of faith, into the caliber of bringing in Iggy Pop, Tame Impala, and My Bloody Valentine to the headline the gig. The festival has done an amazing job of expanding over the past 6 years and I’m certain they’ll continue to flourish with the same sense of risk and sustainability.
Personally, what’s been your favorite part of being involved with Desert Daze? And who are you most excited to see?
Come on now…pretty biased here. (laughs) Well, aside from FAULTLINE, I’m hoping to slide away for a minute and catch Malcom Mooney of Can, Shellac, Earth, Ex-Cult, and so, so many more. They’ve outdone themselves this year.
WHAT: FAULTLINE lineup at Desert Daze
PinkCourtesyPhone, Gregg Kowalsky, Simon Scott, Kid 606, David Scott Stone, Jonathan Snipes and William Hutson of clipping., Rogue Squares, Geneva Skeen, Robert Crouch, Jasmin Blasco, Yann Novak, Mark Van Hoen, Zachary Paul, White Boy Scream, Loop Goat, Legg Lake, Al Lover, Seth Kasselman, Mitchell Brown, and Electric Sound Bath
WHEN: October 12-14 at Lake Perris, Moreno Beach.
WEB: desertdaze.org/
LINKS:
Epicenter Projects
epicenterprojects.com/
Touch
touch33.net/
Circular Dimensions
cristophersea.com/CIRCULAR-DIMENSIONS