WASTELAND
This gallery is a visual testament to the post-apocalyptic worlds built by the dedicated festival-goers who annually attend Detonation, in Uranium Springs, and Wasteland Weekend, in the Mojave Desert. A special thanks to fellow tribemates Tracey N. Townsend and Sara Cate, respectively, for their photo contributions. —Car Killer
TRAIL’S END Fourteen hours out from San Francisco Car Killer leaves the Interstate and hits the final 10-mile stretch of dirt road. His vision is blurred and his ass aches, but he keeps his foot on the accelerator until he glimpses a phantom oasis through the dusty heatwaves up ahead: the outpost known as Uranium Springs. Photo by Mark fernquest
CAR KILLER’S ARSENAL It takes an armory to survive the wasteland, in this case (top to bottom) an H2H KLAW, a homemade RPG, a sawed-off shotty with a crude suppressor, a spring-powered bolt gun, a Romanian AK bayo, a smoke grenade, bathtub V8-can grenades and a .45 Liberator boot pistol. Car Killer carries as many of these as he can—plus additional knives—on his person and motorcycle at all times when cruising the wasted lands. Photo by Mark fernquest
ALL SYSTEMS GO Machine Army Tribal Camp, Wasteland Weekend 2022. Drinks at sundown on the front porch. Bugtooth at center, Krash ‘n’ Burn to his right, unidentifiable foggy forms on the left. Photo by MArk Fernquest
SELF PORTRAIT Lord General Car Killer, Maximum Leader of Machine Army, rests in the shade of a metal wall at Wasteland Weekend 2022. Wrapped against the dust and sun, he waits out the heat of the day until he can ride his motorcycle again at dusk. Metal sun goggles handcrafted by Annelise Williamson / Photo by Mark fernquest
SHACKTOWN Uranium Springs spreads out across the desert for hundreds of yards in each direction, a warren of hovels, tents, abandoned cars and dirt roads. creative chaos awaits around every corner. Photo by Mark Fernquest
BATTLE ROYALE The dynamic Uranium Springs camp known as The Annex hosts first-timers, a free ramen stand and Tazer-knife fights at Detonation 8 in 2023. Photo by Mark Fernquest
LIVE NOODS Brick, a vegan carnie from Denver, runs a daily free ramen stand outside the Annex, to sold-out crowds. this is his first time attending Detonation, but he has the right vibe for Uranium Springs. Photo by MArk Fernquest
TAZED BUT NOT FAZED Sworn frenemies embrace after an intense but high-spirited melee at the Annex. Photo by Mark Fernquest
DAMAGE CONTROL Safety takes precedence at the Uranium Springs shooting range. Here Lead Cloud checks his blaster’s breech for dust, bugs and stones before entering a marksmanship competition. Photo by Mark Fernquest
LOCKED AND LOADED LEAD CLOUD PAUSES TO INTIMIDATE THE CAMERAMAN BEFORE DESTROYING SOMETHING DOWNRANGE. PHOTO BY MARK FERNQUEST
MISCREANTS SHAE SHAE (LEFT) AND Yard Hobo RELAX ON TOP OF A TOWER IN THE LATE AFTERNOON SUN AT DETONATION 8, IN MAY 2023. PHOTO BY MARK FERNQUEST
WASTED Souped-up marauder vehicles such as the Rev Rod (pictured) are the bread and butter of every Mad Max-inspired wasteland event. Most of these highly customized machines are not street legal, but ply the desert’s back roads nonetheless. Photo by Mark Fernquest
DIRT FAM Detonation is an unusually amiable event, where strangers become friends, friends become tribemates and tribemates become ‘dirt family.’ Photo by MArk fernquest
BIKER BUDDIES Bugtooth (left) and Car Killer (right) formed Machine Army in 2013, after meeting at Wasteland Weekend. The cannibal biker gang still runs strong a decade later and now calls Uranium Springs home. Photo by Tracey N. Townsend
CANNIBAL CAMP Rigged from old tires, pallets and camo netting, Machine Army’s Uranium Springs command bunker offers an oasis of shade in an otherwise relentlessly scorching deathscape. skulls of prized road kills atop tall poles attest to the tribe’s battle prowess, road dominance and meat consumption. Photo by Mark Fernquest
OLD BOYS Richard Kozak (left) and Sam Lawless, the caretaker and owner of Uranium Springs, respectively, hatch tyrannical plans while ensconced in pleasure thrones at the LZRD Patch. Photo by Mark Fernquest
SAFETY FIRST Car KilLer’s ever-growing collection of hand-assembled combat KLAWS accompanies him to Detonation each May, where he gifts them to fellow tribemates and dirt fam. Though piss-poor weapons, they are functional garden tools.
OLD SCHOOL Car Killer chills outside the Machine Army command bunker with tribe members Dr. Freight Train (left) and Krash ‘n’ Burn (right). Photo by Sara Cate
GASSED Sam Lawless makes the rounds during day 3 of festivities at Detonation 8. Uranium springs is his idea and his creation; by his own account, a project rather than a money-making venture. Photo by Mark Fernquest
POST-APOCALYPSE NOW Located down 10 miles of dirt roads off the interstate in the remote dustlands bordering Arizona’s painted Desert, the town of Uranium Springs lights up an otherwise-desolate night. The event venue has no utilities or water and sits on gated private property. Photo by Mark Fernquest
“Car Killer Lite” costume (no weapons), Halloween, 2023CE.