The local rock scene continues to flourish thanks to both the arrival of new bands—and desert greats who have been part of the scene for years.
Since 2006, garage-rock and desert-blues hybrid WAXY has been a constant force in the Coachella Valley music scene. Fiery, rolling riffs; hard-hitting instrumentation, and a side of soft and melodic vocal approaches have merged into a sound that some deem stoner rock, some deem psychedelic, and some deem sweet.
WAXY has been reinvented many times, but frontman Robbie Waldman has always remained the leader. The band—now with Carlyn Park on bass and Nick Fulsher on drums—is set to perform at Pappy and Harriet’s on Sunday, Aug. 4, alongside Niña Coyote eta Chico Tornado.
“There are two stars of the show,” Waldman said during a recent phone interview. “Our friend’s band is from the Basque Country, which is in northern Spain, and they’re called Niña Coyote eta Chico Tornado. They’re really good friends, and we were just in Europe in May, and they helped us, and now we’re reciprocating, so that’s fun. They’re a monster rock ’n’ roll group. They are insanely rad, and they are so entertaining.”
WAXY is no stranger to Pappy’s, as Waldman has experienced the allure of the Pioneertown Palace many times before, both as a performer and as an attendee.
“It’s in the middle of nowhere, but now it’s the center of so many things, and it’s not just a desert experience; it’s a Southern California experience,” Waldman said. “No matter where you’re visiting from … it really is a beacon of fantastic music. International touring bands play there, and continue to play there, so it’s something that we are really looking forward to. Jon Ballard, who’s been a live sound guy for many years, has been the conduit for us. … I turned in a bunch of stuff about the idea for the night, and then it got taken up to JB Moresco, who’s the owner, and he’s like, ‘Let’s do it.’ It’s really just like a, ‘Will you please let us play?’ and they said, ‘Sure; don’t fuck it up.’”
Carlyn Park, a semi-recent addition to WAXY, will make her Pappy’s debut on Aug. 4.
“It’s surreal,” Park said. “I’ve been going there for as far back as I can remember. I grew up in Palm Springs … and I remember seeing more local bands play there, and thinking it was so cool. Of course, we’ve all seen our favorite bands at Pappy’s. … I think it will be a really exciting and surreal experience, but mostly I’m really excited that our friends are coming to play, and I’m excited for our friends to see our friends coming from so far away.”
WAXY recently did an 11-date tour across Europe, sharing their desert-infused sound with a continent including many fans of the legends of the Coachella Valley’s music scene, like Kyuss and Brant Bjork.
“Kyuss has had a big impact from years ago, and a couple of things have happened in Europe,” Waldman said. “Over the last 15 years, there’s been an organization of rock ’n’ roll groups—heavy blues-rock, down-tuned, rock ’n’ roll bands—and it’s all called Desertfest. There’s Desertfest Berlin, Oslo, London and two or three others that I’m missing. These are festivals that sell anywhere between 5,000 to 10,000 tickets. … We did get invited to go to play Desertfest London, but we didn’t want to just go for a single show.”
Waldman began reaching out to club owners, promoters and friends to fill out tour dates.
“We just hustled for the shows and had a great time, and it was very DIY,” he said. “We had our own van. We drove every mile—no merch person, no live sound person—just the three of us going out and having a really good time and trying to be as safe as possible. … I think there’s a thirst for really cool music and cool people doing it. It’s a classic story of, ‘You came from where? You must be good.’”
WAXY’s current era began earlier this year with the release of Unmastered, the band’s first new record in five years. Unmastered sees WAXY digging deeper into their blues and doom repertoire, and continuing to experiment with a lowdown desert groove across 11 riff-packed tracks.
“With the new record, it’s a new birth,” Waldman said. “There have been a lot of member changes throughout the years of whatever WAXY has done, now playing with Carlyn and playing with Nick, our new drummer.”
WAXY is still an independent operation, Waldman said.
“We’ve had offers in years past, but I’ve always been very fearful of them,” Waldman said. “… I’ve always been unfortunately disconnected from it. The biggest change that I’ve seen in music—and I think it’s probably a good change—is that bands at any level, really, need representation. Clubs, festivals big and small, they don’t want to talk to the band; they want to talk to the manager, even if it’s a best friend. Where I aspire to be is with a booking agent, and that means a label also. … I still have not been able to graduate to consistent festival level, and we don’t have any real representation out there to get us playing bigger stages more consistently, because there’s more live music than ever, and more people putting cool one or two-day events together than ever before. It’s always a hustle.”
Park’s contributions to WAXY have both honored the past and pushed the rock outfit into the future.
“I’m just grateful to get to be a part,” Park said. “I have nowhere near the experience like what Robbie has, or like what most of the people I’ve been lucky enough to play with have. I picked up the bass late in life, after years and years of being a music fanatic. … I’ve learned so much. It’s definitely about honoring the legacy. Robbie’s a super-talented musician and songwriter, and as far as having stuff to contribute, I think that because I’m a small-business owner, I’m probably better with some aspects of image and things like that, because I’m always thinking about things from the small-business-owner mindset. As far as playing the bass, I just try to keep up.”
Before discussing WAXY’s current drummer, Waldman wanted to pay tribute to Tyler Ontiveros, WAXY’s previous drummer.
“He’s still with us in spirit, and he played on every song except one on the new record,” Waldman said. “His imprint is really big with us, and Tyler’s a monster, and I mean that in the best possible way. He is an insanely great drummer. He is so technically skilled. … He’s definitely a rock ’n’ roll guy, double kick pedal and double drums. Waxy is a little bit more bluesy and not that speedy, but he was a wonderful addition in the WAXY journey.”
Current drummer Nick Fulsher is keeping the WAXY machine running.
“We got hip to him during the pandemic era,” Waldman said. “He was in a San Diego duo called Moxi and Loon. … We had met along the way, and I always dug how he plays. We became friends through mutual friends in the band Flames of Durga. It’s been about six or seven months, I think, so we’re approaching a year, and we’re already working on new material, and we want to try to actually get a new album done before the end of the year.
“We want to try to emerge as a working man’s band. I never stop writing songs and never stop riffing out, and I never stopped wanting to jam.”
WAXY and Niña Coyote eta Chico Tornado will perform at 9 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 4, at Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, 53688 Pioneertown Road, in Pioneertown. Tickets are $15, or $10 each for a four-pack. For tickets or more information, call 760-228-2222, or visit pappyandharriets.com.