Long Desert Cowboy

Long Desert Cowboy is a solo project by portuguese musician Daniel Catarino, who also releases music under his own name and monikers Oceansea and Landfill. Daniel Catarino is also a member of the bands Uaninauei, Bicho do Mato, Cajado, among many other side projects. Long Desert Cowboy made its debut in 2007, with the simultaneous release of 2 EP's on netlabel Test Tube. 'Sandshoes' and 'Western Spaghetti' were well accepted, with over 20.000 downloads in a couple of weeks, and very positive media reviews. In 2008, a compilation of old songs was released on japanese/portuguese netlabel Mimi Records. 'Handmade Music 1999-2003' contained tape recordings back from 1999, along with some of Catarino's first recordings. Despite its raw sound, some of the songs included on 'Handmade Music 1999-2003' were included on the eteam movie 'Truth in Transit'. The song 'The Sun Fading Into Clouds' was also included on the compilation 'Spirits of Summer, Vol. 8' by netlabel Skeksis. Still in 2008, Long Desert Cowboy released another EP, 'Finareia'. Featuring dialogues from Sergio Leone movies, 'Finareia' was darker than all previous releases, featuring mostly drones and ambient music. The reviews were even better than previous albums, and Long Desert Cowboy's music was becoming more cinematographic. Due to several requests, Catarino decided to form a band, in order to build a live set for the project, featuring Luís Canudo (Seven Thousand) on drums, along with 3 guitars, played by Catarino himself, Luís Barata (also from Seven Thousand) and Hugo Gomes. The band played several shows in Portugal, featuring mostly unreleased songs, in what could be described as a western-spacerock experience, with images displayed over the music. The band refused to use computers or synthesizers, which made Long Desert Cowboy's music more powerful and rock-oriented live. By the end of 2009, a new EP was released. 'Midnight Lullabies' features a live session recorded by Catarino on June 18th, 2008, with titles inspired by Tom Waits' songs. Long Desert Cowboy also provided music to the short movie 'Virga', by the new-zealander director Ben Spink. 2010 was a busy year for the project, with the release of "Symphony of the Deceased" on Cakes & Tapes and several movie soundtrack contributions and collaborations. After a hiatus to handle his other projects, Long Desert Cowboy returned in 2014 with "A Gunslinger's Galaxy", a conceptual album featuring a mix of space rock and classical orchestration. It is highly regarded as the project's masterpiece.