Indigenous band records third album in desert shed
The Desert Stars finished a dozen tracks for their third album in a remote shed in Western Australia's Great Victoria Desert.
The Desert Stars, an Indigenous rock four-piece from the Great Victoria Desert, recorded a dozen new songs for its third album in what might be the world's most remote recording studio. The band laid down tracks in September at Ilkurka, an outback roadhouse 650 kilometres east of Kalgoorlie-Boulder.
Lead singer James (Jay) Minning writes about his people's fight to reclaim ancestral lands taken for the Maralinga nuclear tests in the 1950s. Recording in a machinery shed at the roadhouse, far from any city studio, let the band capture raw sound with only nature's backdrop.
Producer Leigh Ivin said the shed's authentic environment gave the recordings a truth no sterile studio could match. The album is due next year.
Since their debut in 2003, The Desert Stars have built a cult following across remote communities and appeared in the 2022 documentary Gravel Road.
- September
- Recording month
- 2003
- Debut album year
Why it mattersIndigenous voices in rock music reach wider audiences, and stories of land rights and cultural resilience gain deeper expression through the band's own medium.
AustraliaThe Desert Stars represent a thriving Indigenous arts scene beyond capital cities, reminding Australians of the creative talent in remote communities.
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