Yawning Man

Yawning Man from Coachella Valley, CA

Formed in the late 1980s under the sun of the Coachella Valley by Gary Arce, Alfredo Hernandez, Mario Lalli and Larry Lalli, YAWNING MAN are considered the very founders of the desert rock genre. 2022 to present lineup includes Gary Arce, Bill Stinson, and the return of Billy Cordell (Brant Bjork, Vista Chino) on bass and rounds out their yearlong active recording and touring schedule. Arce and Cordell’s background together dates to co-writing the 2005 "Pothead" EP and hitting the road for Yawning Man’s first European tours of 2005 and 2006. Stinson’s background steeped in the SST Records world through performing and recording with Gregg Ginn and Chuck Dukowski of Black Flag for several years. The trio has an approach that seems to flow within the songs and allow the reverberating tones to breathe into those atmospheric desert landscapes we can visualize with each song.

While their contemporaries gravitated toward the heavy riffs of grunge, and post-punk, YAWNING MAN leaned in another direction with their unique and organic, cinematic compositions and psychedelic improvisations: the perfect soundtrack to encompass the spacious moonscape atmosphere of the well documented "generator parties" of their area in the late 1980s. It was at these gatherings that they developed this distinctive style and sound by enchanting spectators with their seemingly endless free-form instrumental sessions, which echoed through the beautiful deserts, mesas, and landscapes of the Coachella Valley.

As time passed, their legend grew with notable names of the Palm Desert music scene paying homage to the group through mention and praise, notably with legendary desert band Kyuss doing their own rendition of the Yawning Man track "Catamaran" on the 1995 Elektra release "...And The Circus Leaves Town". Festival appearances include Hellfest (FR), Azkena Fest (ES), Reverence Fest (ES), Desertfest London and Berlin, Up in Smoke (CH), Psycho Las Vegas (US), Stoned & Dusted I & II (US), Monolith on the Mesa (US), and various others. The recent documentaries on the desert's unique music scene "Lo Sound Desert" and "Desert Age" give light on YAWNING MAN’s influential impact on underground rock music.