October 16, 2005 10:15

Bloc Party and Coxon set for 'Desert Sessions' project

It's all been organised by Yourcodenameis:milo

Photo Gallery: Bloc Party

Bloc Party and Graham Coxon among a host of talent taking part in the British equivalent of the Queens Of The Stone Age’s ‘Desert Sessions’.

Inspired by Josh Homme’s experimental project where he regularly lures musicians into the California desert for recordings, Geordie noiseniks Yourcodenameis:milo have established their own unique collaboration project.

Over the past few months, secret sessions have been taking place at the band’s Newcastle HQ, with Tom Vek, Rueben and Martin Grech being among those laying down tracks.

Bloc Party’s Gordon Moakes and Coxon, plus Biffy Clyro are all set to make the trip north for sessions very soon.

“We’ve got this place in Newcastle and we thought we’d invite bands to come up and why not do some collaboration?” explained milo frontman Paul Mullen, revealing the project’s clandestine nature. “Normally we pick them up from the station, whisk them to our rehearsal space, and just start recording. It’s a 12-hour process, and after 12 hours the track should be done, completed and mixed.”

The band are now hoping to coax PJ Harvey, veteran from the original Desert Sessions – and Bjork - to Newcastle. “She’s the only artists the entire band can agree on,” says Mullen[/v] of the Icelandic star, “she’s genius.”

The result of the project are currently been kept under wraps, though an album and live shows spinning out of the sessions are being considered.

“You shouldn’t just be a band,” declared Mullen of his [B]Josh Homme-esque role. “If you’ve got the time and you’ve got the space you’ve got to make something of it. We might balls the whole thing up but you’ve got to try!”