Troy Kingi & The Cactus Handshake hit the road in September armed with album number eight of his 10 | 10 | 10 series - ‘Leatherman & the Mojave Green’. A homecoming of sorts for Troy, returning to the genre that ultimately enticed him in to the industry - rock music.
Inspired in his mid teens by so many artists that have come from or created in the Mojave Desert region (Kyuss, QOTSA, Eagles of Death Metal) it was an easy decision for Troy to record this album in the home of Desert Rock: Joshua Tree, in a studio synonymous with that sound 'Rancho de la Luna'.
Rancho is run by Dave Catching, a legend in his right (QOTSA, Eagles of Death Metal, The Mojave Lords etc), and being entrenched in that environment with such deep folklore and rich rocky tapestry, Troy's album seemingly formed itself - borrowing sweaty heat from the sandy desert, eclectic melodies from the sunlit mountains, ancient rhythms from sacred caves and a sharp pointy punch from the Joshua Tree Cactus.
Troy Kingi is a story teller, each album immersed in rich worlds, which inform the writing. ‘Leatherman & the Mojave Green’ takes us out into the desert, where we hear a myriad of stories, one in particular talking of the Sunshine Community Cult tattooing their eyeballs, allowing them to stare at the sun and receive its many blessings.
The album, is accompanied by a four part documentary series ‘Troy Kingi’s Desert Hikoi’, directed by Tom Hern (The Panthers, The Dark Horse, Guns Akimbo, Shadow in the Clouds), featuring Serj Tankian, Brant Bjork, Dave Catching and many many more OG's of the Califiornian Rock scene. ‘Troy Kingi’s Desert Hikoi’ it out now on TVNZ+ on demand.
Troy Kingi, on his time in the Mojave Desert:
“The trip to Joshua Tree was a timely Godsend - at a pivotal point where I had hit a wall, a blockage, I was waning, struggling creatively with were to go to next with my music, the whole 10/10/10 thing, had it finally broken me?
Being in this place - one of the holiest of holys for me, the birthplace of the greatest rock album of all time ‘Songs for the deaf’ - it was hard not to be inspired by it all - by the crazy Martian like landscape, the people, the foreign-ness, songs started forming in my dreams, rushing to me from the heated horizon, I found my thing again - and it seemed to flow easily like it once did when I first started my journey 8 years ago. The sound we found is definitely different, it’s the most aggressive sound I’ve ever created.“
- Troy Kingi
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Full Tour Dates:
Fri 6 Sept | Double Whammy, Auckland
Sat 7 Sept | Butter Factory, Whangarei
Sun 8 Sept | Upsurge Festival, Turner Centre, Kerikeri
Thu 12 Sept | San Fran, Wellington
Fri 13 Sept | Errick’s, Dunedin
Sat 14 Sept | Loons, Christchurch
Thu 19 Sept | Totara St, Tauranga
Fri 20 Sept | Last Place, Hamilton
Sat 21 Sept | The Cabana, Napier
Sun 22 Sept | Smash Palace, Gisborne
