Welcome to Desert Twang!
Lee Hazlewood’s ghost jamming with Slim Dusty in a Coober Pedy drive-in. The Shadows meet Hunter S. Thompson in a khaki safari suit. Paris Texas vibes with a Fender Jaguar twangin’ reverb-soaked Ry Cooder riffs off the walls of Uluru
The Twang Thang!
Desert Twang is a multi-platform lifestyle brand, music label, and creative agency rooted in the raw, sun-baked soul of the Australian Outback. Blending music, art, fashion, and storytelling, it channels the mystique of the desert, where twangy guitars echo across red dunes, retro aesthetics meet desert survival, and outlaw creativity thrives.
Happenings
Desert Twang Song Circle @ Music NT
Howdy folks,
Well, borrowing a line from Robbie Roberston "I pulled in to Nazareth Alice Springs... Was feeling 'bout half past dead"... But what a trip, after thousands of K's of endless desert highway then the elation of finally arriving and settling into Mparntwe, I'm finding the inspiration, yep! the desert vibe for writing songs. So, this projet is first order of biz for Desert Twang! It's bringing together a 6-session songwriter as a music social club - the "Desert Twang" Songmaker's Circle.
Hopefully, this is not some tiresome, by-the-book songwriting workshop. But it is a free and informal creative space where you can bring your sketches, melodies, and your fully-formed tunes and share them with a group of folks who understand the wind and the rain of creativity.
When: Thursdays - May 29, June 5, 12, 19, 26 (6-8:30 PM) Bonus: Take the stage on World Music Day, June 21 if you're feeling it (Venue TBC)
Where: Music NT Old Courthouse
Bring your musical ideas - whether rough sketches or complete songs - and get honest feedback. You'll meet like-minded writers and musicians, swap stories, and sharpen your craft. We'll even record some tracks on June 26 to help capture your music properly.
Spots are limited, so don't dilly-dally. Give us a holler and let's bring together some ‘desert twang’ and a fresh batch of new songs. Big thanks to Music NT and 8CCC for supporting this venture. Let's get together and let these songs fly high!
—Julien
The Cosmic Cameleers
"Cosmic Songlines: Julien Poulson & The Cosmic Cameleers embark upon a Desert Psychedelia Odyssey"
By Jim Elder
From the red dust of Alice Springs (Mparntwe), guitarist and producer Julien Poulson—architect of Cambodia’s pioneering psychedelic outfit The Cambodian Space Project—is saddling up a new musical caravan: Julien Poulson & The Cosmic Cameleers. This interstellar desert ensemble traces a shimmering sonic songline across continents, fusing the hypnotic desert blues of Tinariwen, the celestial swirl of Ethiopian jazz, the fuzz-drenched mysticism of Anatolian psych, and the raw garage energy of Cambodia’s 60s rock revival with the deep, dusty reggae pulses born from Lucky Dube’s seismic impact on Central Australia’s remote communities.
Poulson’s vision is a "cosmic desert" sound—a crossroads where the legacy of Afghan cameleers meets the transcendental grooves of Addis Ababa, the haunting drones of Angkorian folk, and the ancient Aboriginal songlines that weave land and sky into one resonant map. It’s music that doesn’t just cross borders—it evaporates them, revealing hidden frequencies that link Erkin Koray’s Turkish wah-wah sermons to Ros Sereysothea’s Khmer rock wail, Hailu Mergia’s organ-laced jazz to the bush band pulse of the Central Desert.
The Cosmic Cameleers: Caravans of Sound
With a name that nods to the Afghan cameleers who once traversed Australia’s outback, J.M. Poulson’s Cosmic Cameleers are less a band than a sonic caravan—a shifting ensemble of desert dreamers, global groove alchemists, and psychedelic wayfarers. Imagine: Mulatu Astatke’s vibraphone melting into an Alice Springs sunset, a Kurdish dengbej’s lament tangling with a Phnom Penh garage riff, the didgeridoo’s primordial hum locking into the oud’s desert cry. This is music as psychogeographic pilgrimage, where the Sahara’s desert blues shakes hands with the Arrernte people’s desert reggae, and where Ethio-jazz’s spiritual swing communes with the chants of pre-war Cambodia.
From Angkor Wat to the Red Centre
Poulson’s journey—from resurrecting Cambodia’s lost rock’n’roll with The Cambodian Space Project to drilling into Australia’s desert soundworld—has always been about resurrecting forgotten connections. Now, with The Cosmic Cameleers, he’s drawing a new map: one where Alice Springs, Addis Ababa, Anatolia, Angkor, and Afghanistan are stops on the same cosmic highway.
Will this be the soundtrack for a new kind of transcontinental Songline? One where the cameleers’ harmonicas drift into Ethio-jazz saxophones, where Turkish saz riffs duel with Khmer surf guitar, and where every desert—from Mali to Mparntwe—sings the same primal, psychedelic hymn?
The caravan is rolling. The stars are aligned. The Cosmic Cameleers are on the move.
Stay tuned to the Cosmic!
Biography
Welcome to Desert Twang. Bring water.
Dear friends,
I'm sittin' here in Alice Springs, where the desert sun dips low The red earth rises up, like a woman's fiery glow I've been here six weeks now, and I've seen some wondrous sights From the Todd Mall's crazy nights to the stars shinin' bright
I drove in on the Stuart Highway, in my trusty Nissan Elgrand ride The Highway Star moving on, but memories remain, like a dark and stormy night I checked into the Diplomat, where the wild things play A shirtless jackaroo warned me, "Mate, this town'll drive you astray"
I met a UFOlogist, with a tattooed mind full of skies And a gang of blowflies, with a taste for trouble and lies The bartender slid me a stubby, with a wink and a grin "Welcome to the freak show, friend, where the crazy fuckers spin"
I walked the Todd Mall, where the menagerie roams free A punk rock poet, with a heart full of fire and glee A parking metre girl, with eyes like reptilian stone Clamped my car, and said "Mate, you're all alone"
I danced with Deborah Harry, under the neon lights At the Bush Telescope Saloon, where the shadows take flight Peter Garrett's ghostly form, danced to the Warumpi Band's beat Under the stars up above, where the desert's mystic secrets meet
The Red Centre Nats, a madness that takes hold Burnin' rubber, and mullets, in a spectacle to behold Chrissy Amphlett, in sequins, refereed the fray As the crowd cheered on, in a frenzy, night and day
The Afghan cameleers, with stories of the old days Smugglin' opals, and secrets, in the desert's endless ways The Radio Dead Horse DJ, with a voice like the wind Cracklin' through the static, with tales to mend
I'm still searchin' for that last free parking space A mythic spot, where the meter mafia won't find its place But the desert's got a way, of makin' you lose your mind And findin' yourself, in the vast and endless grind
So I'll keep on wanderin', through this land of wonder and strife With the ghosts of the Outback, as my companions for life And I'll write you letters, of the tales I've seen and heard From the heart of Australia, where the desert's wild and blurred
Take care, my friends, and keep on keepin' on I'll be back in the cities, when the desert's done with me, and I'm gone.
Yours in the desert twang, Julien