After supporting the Coachella Valley’s counterculture scene for years, a local photographer and musician is getting ready to take the stage himself—for the first time.
Branden De Leon has been a consistent presence in the Coachella Valley’s counterculture space. On his 3ammedia3am Instagram account, the photographer has been documenting the dark and demented Creatures of the Night drag show since the start. He’s also photographed some Luna Negra Goth Nights events, taken shots of other local drag stars, and photographed select shows at One Eleven Bar in Cathedral City.
In the music space, De Leon has been releasing music under the name Dead Stare, a solo project in which the artist mixes dark-wave synths with classic metal guitar. The project is set to make its live debut with two shows—on Friday, Oct. 10, at Coachella Valley Brewing Co., and Saturday, Oct. 11, at Mojave Gold. (Full disclosure: I booked Dead Stare at the Oct. 10 show.) For more information, visit www.instagram.com/deadstareofficial.
During a recent phone interview, De Leon said he got involved in the community because he was in the right place at the right time.
“I didn’t start doing photography until almost three years ago now, and that was at the same time that my best friend, Miss Cherry, had started doing drag,” De Leon said. “With me getting a camera and her starting to do drag, I was like, ‘Well, I might as well start taking my camera places so I can practice using it. Where else am I going to learn to use it?’ That just turned into us going to different drag shows, and people looking at me and saying, ‘Hey, he takes pictures; is he available?’ … I just had people coming up to me and taking the opportunity, because everybody loves having their picture taken, especially for promo and stuff like that.”
De Leon’s presence at Creatures of the Night, which takes place every Wednesday at Bart Lounge, has been integral to its success, as De Leon’s images depicting the makeup, talented performances and vibes of the horror-themed drag show have turned many looking eyes into hardcore supporters.
“I was there at the very first show, and my mindset is that anything that sounds cool to take pictures of, or people would want pictures of, I want to take pictures of—and I don’t really care much for the monetary value,” De Leon said. “I just like doing it, and I think it’s cool. With that kind of mindset, a lot more opportunities open up, because you just want to be there and have a good time. A lot of thanks to Natasha (Backwards) from Creatures, and also Vanity (Halston) at One Eleven for taking chances on me and essentially bringing me onto their teams, just from being there at the right time.”
Thanks to De Leon, dozens of drag stars are able to promote themselves and show off their performances online.
“It gives me a little bit of happiness and joy whenever I see somebody on Instagram, and their profile picture is one of my pictures,” De Leon said.
De Leon’s vocals play the part of a creepy narrator over moody dance-vibes, erupting into emphatic yelling when fuzzy, thrash guitar lines kick in.
In Dead Stare, De Leon trades the camera for a guitar, and crafts a wickedly dark mix of synth wave and metal, producing musical gems that incite fits of dancin’ and rockin’. De Leon’s vocals play the part of a creepy narrator over moody dance-vibes, erupting into emphatic yelling when fuzzy, thrash guitar lines kick in.
“Dead Stare started at the same time that I was getting into gothy synthy music, like dark wave and ’80s new wave,” he said. “I really started to get into Twin Tribes and Depeche Mode, but I had also grown up on a ton of metal, thrash metal, and heavy metal of the ’70s like Black Sabbath. When I started listening to the dark-wave stuff, it was something so new for me. I was like, ‘Dude, synthesizers are so cool!’ Guitar is cool, but I want to use that as a background instrument and make the synth the main thing. … I attribute a lot of it to Ozzy and the song ‘No More Tears,’ because that song is in drop C sharp, and that tuning is what opened up Dead Stare for me. Every song that I have in Dead Stare is in that tuning.”
Dead Stare has grown from a secret project to an appreciated gem among De Leon’s friends and other members of the local goth community.
“I started writing two years ago now, and it was all just in isolation,” De Leon said. “Only my best friends knew, but everything was just here in my room, and I have this little setup of monitors and my little audio interface, and I put a mic up to my guitar cab. I started recording and started messing around with Ableton as much as I could. … It’s been really cool trying to establish it and make it a thing and open it up, because there are definitely other dark wave, synthy bands out here. Shout out to Poltergeist City; he’s been super-cool and helped me so much with learning and trying to get into this whole scene and all that stuff.”
As he prepares to debut Dead Stare in a live setting, he’s feeling all the emotions.
“I am nervous; I’m excited; and I’ve been practicing every day,” he said. “I’m going to be playing guitar and singing at the same time, and that’s hard. It is a challenge, for sure, but I am nervous; I’m optimistic; I’m excited; I’m eager—and everything under the sun.”
Thanks to De Leon’s contributions, the goth scene in the Coachella Valley has grown, paralleling the DIY-led explosion of the local hardcore scene.
“The hardcore scene is huge,” he said. “There are tons of amazing bands, amazing artists and amazingly talented people out here who are doing their stuff. … Everything’s so community based. I’m really diving into the community and pushing people to get out there and create. There are a lot of people out there who are like, ‘You do music; I’ve always wanted to do this,’ and I’m like, ‘Do it!’ I always go back to Shia LaBeouf, where he’s all, ‘Just do it!’ Just go out there, and try to do it. I want to be as supportive as I can, because with me coming into this new scene, there’s been nothing but support, and I want to pass it along.”
Dead Stare is set to perform 6 p.m., Friday, Oct. 10, at Coachella Valley Brewing Co., 30640 Gunther St., in Thousand Palms, for the It Came From the Desert! Vol. 3 release show. The show is free to attend. Dead Stare is also set to perform at 9 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 11, at Mojave Gold, at 56193 Twentynine Palms Highway, in Yucca Valley, opening for Glass Spells. Tickets are $23.70. For tickets and more information, visit mojavegolddesert.com.