Today we’d like to introduce you to Taylor Shapiro, Nick Armendariz and Adam Green.
Desert Purple is a Psychedelic Blues/Rock Trio from Phoenix, AZ. The band started in 2015 as a two-piece band (Drums/Guitar) with Nick Armendariz and Taylor Shapiro being the founding members of the band. The first EP, released in 2015, is titled “forEPlay” the band’s debut album. Throughout 2015-2016 Desert Purple played around Arizona and started to make a local name for themselves. In 2017 Desert Purple added Adam Green as Bassist in the band making them a Rock Trio! Following the addition of Adam DP started to write the first full album and continued to tour AZ and the Southwest. In 2019 Desert Purple released “Colours“, the first full length album! Look out for Desert Purple in a local music venue near you!
Have you ever seen a desert sunset? Broad strokes of indigo, orange and purple streak across the sky, as the last lines of sunlight fade on the horizon. The desert can be a lonely and forlorn place, dry and desiccated. Sometimes though, a rejuvenating monsoon blows through, kicking up dust and dirt in its path, and soaking into the creosote with its life-giving liquid. And if one is lucky enough, they will be around to see the flowers that bloom afterward. Desert Purple is one such flower in the desert.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
We started as a duo and transitioned into a rock trio in January 2017. It took a long time to develop the chemistry we desired to obtain as a trio. As a band, we always enjoy playing together, but at the same time we are critical of ourselves and each other. This kind of critical thinking and patience enabled us to develop the tight rhythmic sound we aimed to capture. Each of us takes the time to fine tune our gear to fit in the frequencies we desire so the band can sound as huge as possible, while still achieving sonic separation. This requires constant communication, hard work, and most of all a strong brotherhood between us as friends and bandmates. Each of us has separate careers besides the band so we can support our dream and play and record music. There have been times of illness during shows, personal/ family issues during show weeks and many long hours of practice. We each face challenges as an opportunity to learn and grow from each experience as people and musicians. Recording and writing our new record “Colours” took us about four years to do. Adding Adam to the band created a new vibe that we had to introduce to our sound. We love being a rock trio, it is something the three of us have all dreamed about since childhood. There were many tests of patience and discipline during the recording of the record. Each of us remained strong and thought to ourselves we had to serve each song to its fullest potential. This time and hard work led to an album the three of us are extremely proud of.
Please tell us about your work.
We are Desert Purple, a Phoenix, AZ based rock trio composed of guitar, bass and drums. We are a unique band due to our blending of musical eras and genres. We take our audiences on a sonic journey through time while constantly adapting our techniques and styles to serve each song best. The sounds we achieve as a trio are huge and can be a portal to a psychedelic musical trip.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
We would have liked to have started with Adam. We all hung out around 2015, but we didn’t think about becoming a trio till 2016. We all knew each other from school so we have natural chemistry. Playing together as a rock trio comes naturally to us and is what we wanted to sound like when the band was founded.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1531 W Villa Rita Dr Phoenix, AZ 85023
- Website: desertpurple.com
- Phone: 6238245122
- Email: desertpurplemusic@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/desertpurple/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DesertPurpleMusic

Image Credit:
Dave Blake / Blues Alley Photo
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