IndiePulse Magazine Exclusive Interview with Desert Moon Metal Festival Promoter, Paul Kent Allen Jr.

An IndiePulse Exclusive !

On the heels of last Spring’s successful inaugural Desert Moon Metal Festival comes Desert Moon Metal Festival II, which will be taking place over 2 big days and nights, Saturday, October 21 and Sunday, October 22, near the Roadrunner Mobile Home Park, 51010 Livingston Drive, in Morongo Valley (which is situated along the Western edge of the Mojave Desert and near the northern edge of the Coachella Valley, in San Bernardino County, for all you Angelenos who rarely leave L.A. County but will want to check this cool festival out).

Among the many great names assembled by DMMF founder/promoter Paul Kent Allen Jr. to perform this year: Jack Russell’s Great White; Army of Darkness; Jesse Blaze Snider w/ Special Guest C4OC, Snider being the son of legendary rocker Dee Snider (who is rumored to possibly be making a guest appearance?); Precious Metal; Motley Crue’s favorite band, JC Berdoo (they really said that!); and many more. It’s sponsored by Monster Energy.

Indie Pulse music presents an exclusive interview with Desert Moon Metal Festival II’s Paul Kent Allen Jr. here. 

IPM: What led to you deciding to create the Desert Moon Metal Festival?

PKA: Some (band member) friends that play down in Hollywood (Dirty Machine, Killset, Fused By Defiance) asked if I could help promote them up here by the Marine base, where we have a very strong Metal following. At that point, I decided to set up my first live metal show at Willey Boys BBQ, a cool little restaurant that also presents live music, in Morongo Valley. Then early in 2016, Landers Brewery in Landers, Calif. asked if I would come do live music shows at his venue, which is spread out over ten acres. That was when and where the idea for the Desert Moon Metal Festival was born. During our first festival in April 2016, we presented nineteen metal bands in one day.

IPM: Let’s talk about some of the headliners on this year’s DMMF II bill?

PKA: We’ve got some amazing headliners this year, starting with Jack Russell’s Great White. This should be interesting. I met Jack when I was 16 at his cousin’s graduation party in San Bernardino. SB promoters I.E. Death are bringing us Army of Darkness, Phobia and a few other acts.  Also, must mention J.C. Berdoo and Madison Rising. One of the currently hottest acts in Hollywood is Jesse Blaze Snider, and Killset is smoking hot. I could go on and on about all these bands.

IPM: What is your own background in music/the music industry?

PKA: I used to go to sleep every night listening to Black Sabbath even at a very early age and I believe that’s where my passion began. I also started going to live shows at a very young age with my big sister, who was and still is a deejay on KCAL 96.7 FM. My first big concert was the Dio Holy Diver Tour when I was twelve. At age fifteen I played bass in a band called Night Stalker and started hanging out down at The Roxy and The Troubadour in Hollywood. In the mid ‘80s  I hung out on the Sunset Strip and passed out flyers for bands such as Daggers Edge, Mad Hatter and Crystal Blitz. Great White was just up and coming back then, and played a couple shows in San Bernardino.

IPM: What about this year’s venue, it’s a departure from where the first Desert Moon Metal Festival took place, why did you choose this new location?

PKA: Things just didn’t work out there (in Landers) for Desert Moon Metal Festival. I wanted to make it a home base but we had some differences, and I’ll just leave it at that. Landers Brewery is a great place. I love it out there. Someday I hope to return to do a show there.

IPM: What sort of relevance do you see metal and hard-edged rock having in today’s music scene, and going forward?

PKA: It’s a major part of music. All genres are, but metal and hard rock help people to release that inner energy or whatever it is without taking it out on anyone. I think Shinedown, my favorite band, made a statement for metal when they held the pop charts for over a year with three songs off their album, Devour. Yes, I would say it has an influence in everyone’s life.

IPM: Where can people go to find out more about the Desert Moon Metal Festival II?

PKA: We’re on Facebook: Desert Moon Metal Festival 2 – http://www.facebook.com/desertmoonmetalfest2

Our Website is https://dmmf.yapsody.com and Tickets are available there and on Eventbrite (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/desert-moon-metal-festival-2-tickets-37718990516).

Thank you for taking the time to interview me.