A desert music legend’s psychedelic supergroup is making a rare live appearance—and actually embarking on a brief tour.
Earthlings? is a star-studded combo started by David Catching (owner/operator of Rancho De La Luna), the late Fred Drake (who was an owner/operator of Rancho De La Luna) and Pete Stahl (frontman of Scream) in the ’90s. The band used the studio to their advantage, crafting trippy, spacey, effects-heavy tunes, and establishing the project as one of the weirder bands to come out of the desert scene.
After Drake’s passing in 2002, the band continued to make occasional live appearances, with album drops here and there. Now in 2025, a seven-piece earthlings? lineup is embarking on a mini-tour, and is performing in the desert for the first time since 2021. You can catch earthlings? at Pappy and Harriet’s on Wednesday, Dec. 3.
During a recent phone interview, Catching said that trying to get earthlings? together for shows is “like herding cats.”
“It’s a lot harder than you would think, because everybody’s super-busy,” he said.
This current iteration of the band includes Adam Maples (Sea Hags, Orquesta del Desierto), Jonathan Hischke (Dot Hacker, El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez, Le Butcherettes), Ben Alleman (Pet Fangs), Mathias Schneeberger (Sunn O))), Afghan Whigs, Mark Lanegan) and Clint Walsh (Gnarls Barkley, Dwarves) joining Catching and Stahl.
“Clint Walsh won’t be making the first two shows, which are at the Whistle Stop in San Diego and Pappy and Harriet’s,” Catching said. “He just had a new child, so he’s going to do L.A. and Long Beach with us. The rest of the guys are just always busy. Mathias Schneeberger, he’s a pretty-in-demand producer and engineer, and he’s got a studio. Ben Alleman is a session guy, and he plays with Social Distortion, and they play all the time. Pete Stahl has a few bands, and he also is tour-managing Sunn O))). He’s actually in Europe, and he lives in New York now, so he’s coming in for the shows. Jonathan Hischke plays with a ton of really cool bands, and he’s been out on the road with all of them. Adam Maples works all the time. It was kind of strange that we all had a few days to do this. I guess it’s because it’s just before the holiday season, so everybody’s home right now.”
Even though getting the group together isn’t easy, Catching considers them his “best friends and favorite musicians.”
“Usually we do a once-a-year show at Pappy and Harriet’s, because that’s the local place,” he said. “We’ve been working on an album for a while now, and we can all get together here and work on the album and then play a show, and it’s always fun. We usually play outside during the summer, and that’s always such a beautiful place to play, and we’ve been doing it for 25 years, so it’s kind of our home-away-from-home place.”
The four-date SoCal run by earthlings? is, in part, a result of frequent requests from Phil Pirrone, of Desert Daze.
“He actually has been bugging us, in a great way, to come and play some shows in L.A. for a couple of years, and we’ve never really had time,” Catching said. “Finally, I was like, ‘I think we have a couple of days in December, so we could actually come and play in L.A.’ … We’ve never played at Alex’s Bar in Long Beach, although almost every one of us has played there with another band. We love it there, so we thought that would be cool, and Gold Diggers is our friend’s place, and we love that place. It’s an amazing spot. After those were booked, we’re like, ‘Shoot, looks like most of us have another couple of days that we can put in,’ so we were able to book San Diego and Pappy and Harriet’s, which was great. I wouldn’t have thought that Pappy’s was going to be open, but it was, and now we’re super-lucky that we’re getting to play four of our favorite places.”
Catching said getting to perform live with earthlings? again makes him feel closer to Drake.
“I feel he’s with me every day whenever I’m working at the studio,” Catching said. “He was living here and invited me to be a partner in the studio with him. … It was just us having fun making music when we had free time, so that’s how the band actually started. Then we got introduced to Pete Stahl, and he’s one of my favorite singers. I’d seen him play with Scream in the ’80s in Memphis, so that was really fun, and then I’ve been in a couple of bands with Adam Maples, and we got him out to play drums. Every time we play a show, it feels like Fred’s there.”
During our chat, Catching revealed that a new earthlings? record is in the works.
“We have been trying to finish it up, and we are pretty close,” he said. “I’m hoping that when we come out here, we will all sit down and listen and figure out, at least, what’s going to go on the album, and try to finish it while everybody’s here. Jon Russo, myself and Pete have been mixing it, so it’s sounding really great. I’m really, really excited about it.”
The upcoming earthlings? shows will include some of the new material, while celebrating the long musical journey the band has been on thus far. Speaking of new material: When I spoke with Catching in June, he gave an update on the Rancho De La Luna anniversary album that has been in the works for years. During our recent chat, he stressed that the album is “really, really close.”
“We only have three more songs to mix,” he said. “I’m doing that with my friend Paul Fraser. He’s producing it, and he’s written most of the songs with me and our other friends that are taking part in it—but he lives in London, so it’s been a little challenging getting together. We’re doing remote stuff as well, but it’s a lot better when you’re in person. We finished a couple of mixes, and just finished a song we recorded with the guys from Mastodon. He’s coming back over at the beginning of January, and then we’ll be done with it—which is sounding incredible.”
The album will feature a who’s-who list of notable collaborators and visitors to Rancho De La Luna over its three-decade-plus existence.
“It’s a pretty long list right now,” Catching said. “I’m kind of blown away that so many people decided to jump in on it. I can’t wait for people to hear it. It’s the coolest album I’ve ever done with anybody. It’s a really great record.”
Earthlings? will perform at 9 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 3, at Pappy and Harriet’s, at 53688 Pioneertown Road, in Pioneertown. Expensive $hit is set to open. Tickets are $31.86. For tickets and more information, visit pappyandharriets.com.
