Heavy rockers Tarah Who? have been bitten by the desert music bug.
From France to Los Angeles and now the desert, Tarah Carpenter and her band Tarah Who? have been crafting a mix of punk, grunge, metal and hard rock, for more than a decade. Carpenter’s powerful lead vocals soar and scream over loud, headbang-inducing jams that explore moments of desert rock doom (“Never Say Never”), soft grunge (“Sell It to the World”), alternative punk (“Manners”) and more.
The band has taken the stage all over Europe and the United Kingdom—and is now gearing up for a short U.S. run, including a special stop at Pappy and Harriet’s on Thursday, Aug. 14.
During a recent phone interview, Carpenter discussed why she relocated to the desert.
“We had been coming here for a while, my wife and I, and we have really good friends who live out here,” Carpenter said. “Outside of that, we just really enjoy the desert. When we were looking for a place to buy, we were looking around here—and we (eventually became) the neighbors of our really good friends. It’s kind of crazy, because I meet a lot of people who I know from L.A., and there are a lot of musicians here. It’s a big community, and I really like it. It’s very different from living in the big city.”
Carpenter said she appreciates the peace that comes with the vast landscape.
“Every time we cross the mountains, I’m like, ‘We’re leaving the oasis,’” Carpenter said. “I do love the city. I was born and raised in a big city, so sometimes I do crave the big-city life and the excitement and the rush and all of that. As I’m getting older, and since I’m pretty loud, I just don’t want to deal with neighbors, to be honest.”
The musical power of the desert has been discussed to death, but its effect remains true.
“I finally found the people who I can work with, and I don’t have to explain what to do, or the sound that I’m looking for, because it almost feels like it just makes sense here,” Carpenter said. “I don’t know what it is, but I just started a new band. I’m playing bass in that band, and it was so funny, because we were just jamming, and then we were listening back, and we’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, we’re like one of those desert bands.’ We actually met thinking, ‘Let’s do a punk rock band.’ It just sounds super-heavy, and it sounds very desert.”
Carpenter enlisted the help of local legend Alain Johannes (Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures) to produce her latest album, The Last Chase.
“After a few albums, I wanted to work with someone new,” Carpenter said. “As I was writing, all those sounds and all the ideas that came into my mind, the demos just sounded like the desert. I must have listened to Them Crooked Vultures or something, and then it just hit me: I was like, ‘Someone who will understand is Alain Johannes.’ I reached out to him, and luckily he really liked the demos and the other songs that I did before.”
Ironically, the two desert musicians ended up making the album on the other side of the world.
“(Alain) was like, ‘OK, let’s do this,’” Carpenter said. “‘The only thing,’ he said, ‘is I’m going to be touring Europe, so it won’t be until I come back to the States.’ I’m like, ‘Well, I’m actually going to be touring Europe,’ and then we ended up meeting in Europe in two separate places in between tours. We recorded, in Europe, the whole album. Since then, we’ve become really good friends.”
Although Carpenter resides in the desert, Tarah Who? rarely performs locally, instead embarking on European and United Kingdom tours, and making appearances at high-level festivals like Hellfest in France. Many musicians have remarked that overseas audiences are better than American crowds in terms of engagement and energy—but Carpenter said the real difference is not the audience, but the treatment of the artists.
“I hope you’re not hungry, because when you tour the U.S., you’re not getting a thing unless you’re the headliner, whereas in Europe, they feed you, even if you’re, quote unquote, ‘just the opener,’” she said. “We like to play Europe more, because it’s not only better pay, but there is pay, and there’s food. Audience-wise, I think people are people, and if you give a good performance, you can get Americans or Europeans dancing and mosh-pitting. I’d say that maybe Europeans don’t really mind being so touchy with each other and mosh-pitting. Touring with The Exploited, we’ve seen a lot of people who were close to each other, and bumping each other. … It was so packed that we could not even move. I couldn’t even go to the merch table to sell my merch. That’s how crazy it was.”
On the band’s website and social media, Tarah Who? has been teasing an upcoming documentary. Carpenter said a chance meeting with photographer/musician Brian Downie led to the movie about the band.
“We were doing a photoshoot, and I was telling him that I’d love to have someone follow us on tour, because there’s just so much to say about what it is to be a musician on tour, especially as a woman, as a band in rock music,” she said. “When it was just Coco (Herve) and I, two ladies, like, going on tour, there were certain things that we just couldn’t do, because we didn’t feel safe playing that kind of music, because most of our fans are men. Nothing against men, but you’re just two women onstage. There were some nights I just didn’t feel comfortable getting shit-faced, because I wanted to make sure that I’m safe.”
Downie went from simply following the band on tour, to putting together a full-fledged documentary about Carpenter’s journey as a musician.
“It became a film that he wanted to make, because he discovered a lot of things, and I think he was also intrigued by the band,” Carpenter said. “… He wanted to talk more about all of this, and this story is becoming a documentary about the band, but it touches all of those aspects of the music industry and what it is to be in the band and getting to know who I am.”
As of this writing, there is not yet a release date for the film.
“It’s in the making, and I think he’s really close to being done,” Carpenter said. “As much as I’m an independent musician, he’s an independent artist, and so it’s taking more time, because there’s no budget. It’s going to be very transparent, like, ‘Hey, this is what it is.’ That’s the essence of Tarah Who? I’m not making anything pretty to hide things. … We’re doing our best. We want it to be out, and I’m dying for people to watch it, you know, because I find it interesting.”
Tarah Who? is set to open for Meanstreak at 9 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 14, at Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, at 53688 Pioneertown Road, in Pioneertown. Tickets are $13.73. For tickets and more information, visit pappyandharriets.com.
