THE DOLLYROTS Interview

By Frank Norek, Stephen Rainone, & Phil Rainone

While seeing the Dollyrots and Bowling For Soup at the Wonder Bar, our intrepid team of Jersey Beaters also cornered the Dollyrots for this interview.

Frank: How’s things been going with the band over the last few years since you signed with Blackheart Records?

Kelly: Better and better!

Luis: It’s this steady, upward thing that’s very fluid- it’s good! It’s like click, click, click, click…

Frank: Like getting to the top of the rollercoaster ride!

Guy: It’s like one day we’re gonna throw our hands up like, YEAH!! (everyone laughing)

Frank: but when you get to the top you just kind of do swirls, you don’t go downhill?

Luis: Corkscrews, or something like that!

Frank: you on Joan Jett’s label, so how did that all come about?

Kelly: We were on The Warped Tour in 2006, and I kind of crossed paths with her every day, and I didn’t really have the guts to say hi to her. At that point we know we weren’t going to put out our next record on Lookout Records, but we had already started recording stuff, so we had a good demo, which part of turned into “Because I’m Awesome” (The Dollyrots first album for Blackheart Records). Finally on my last chance I just walked up to Joan and talk to her.

Luis: We took what we thought were the best seven songs and we made a demo and sold them on The Warped Tour every day. Then before the tour was over we handed her the completed album.

Kelly: I was terrified of course, but she was like, “Oh, yeah, Kelly from The Dollyrots I really like your band! It’s cool that you’re out here, there aren’t that many chicks.” I was like ok, I don’t feel so weird now (laughing). It was just a good-ol’ handed over of the CD that did it, and a few months later we were signed to Blackheart. They actually listened to it. A lot of people get handed CD’s and don’t listen to it.

Chris: The Dollyrots name was out there on The Warped Tour, so when she got the final product it was a little easier. The Warped Tour was really brutal (laughing) to van it. The drives are hundreds of miles, we’d drive overnight, and be there early in the morning to setup. So, we busted our asses that Summer. It wasn’t until the very last day, our very last opportunity, that we handed her our demo.z

Kelly: At that point we had already released a record, had had done two US tours…

Phil: How does your last album “Because I’m Awesome,” compare with your new album “A Little Messed Up?” I had gotten the advanced 45 (vinyl single), “California Beach Boy,” and it was a lot of fun!

Kelly: We decided not to rush we just kind of took our time, and did some re-writing. We made sure that the songs were they’re at, before we went into the studio. We worked really, really hard on it.

Luis: What’s funny about it was, our whole intention was to do a rock record, but the general perception is that it’s a pop record. They say it’s poppier then “Because I’m Awesome,” and I’m like, really?

Phil: We were listening to “Because I’m Awesome” on the way down, and we all were hearing a solid 60’s vibe, like The Ronettes, The Shangra-La’s…

Kelly & Luis: Totally!

Phil: I had interviewed Kenny Laguna (Joan Jett’s writing partner, producer, and all-around cool guy), who had produced some of Tommy James & The Shondell’s album’s back in the 60’s. Was he involved with either of your albums?

Luis: He add some stuff on “Because I’m Awesome,” but Kenny’s always involved with mastering…(Kelly) We get notes like in school (laughing)! He’s always there for the final sessions.

Steve: I’m a virgin to your music (laughing), I just listened to “Because I’m Awesome,” and I heard one of your songs on a compilation. No offense to any of you but, when I heard them, I’m thinking, “Is this Josie & The Pussycats?” I was asking one of my friends, thinking that the cartoon characters finally became a real band! (laughing)

Kelly: You know what’s funny is, actually, Jose & The Pussycats are the band Letters to Cleo! We did some writing with them… do you know that band?

Steve: yeah, the song that got me into that band was “I Want You to want Me” (a cover of Cheap Trick).

Phil: How did you come up with the name, “Dollyrots?”

Kelly & Luis take turns talking about the origin of the band’s name: Kelly’s voice was even cutier, and girlier- we’ve been a band for ten years, and when we started… (Kelly) This voice has gone though some changes, but it’s still pretty sweet (laughing)!

Steve: Listening to your music and seeing you in person, I’m picturing this short little five-foot, blonde-haired girl! (Kelly IS blonde, but she’s AT LEAST, 5”1’-laughing).

Lius: At the time we had a death-metal drummer, and we were almost a hardcore, metal/punk band. We were bad (laughing)!

Kelly: Well, most bands don’t start out great, but we wanted to describe the music, which was sweet, and terrible, loud, and rough. So we put a bunch of sweet, and gummy-candy kind-of words in pile, and a whole bunch of trashy, dirty-sorta words in another pile, and we just kept picking out names…

Steve: Kind of how Nirvana came up with the name of their first album with “Bleach?” They wanted something that was like “cleansed” but something that kills diseases, and all that, so let’s just call it “Bleach?”

Kelly: Yeah!

Chris: I think that whole thing stemmed from a campaign from Nirvana, in Washington state…

Steve: Yeah, there was a guy dressed up like a bleach bottle and he was handing out flyers…

Chris: about how to clean your needles to stop the spread of Aids, for Herion addicts.

Steve: I’m a big fan of Nirvana, I’ve probably read every book they have on the band!

Kelly: We love Nirvana!

Chris: Nirvana was probably my biggest influence.

Steve: Wiil you ever do a Nirvana cover, aside from “Teen Spirit?”

Chris: How do I say this…? I think their music means so much to me that I feel like if we tried to cover it that it would be a disservice. I feel like I couldn’t live up to the original.

Steve: I was watching TMZ (TV talking heads show), and Miley Cyrus did “Smells Like Teen Spirit!” That was horrible!

Everyone: Yeah!!

Kelly: She also sang with Joan Jett on Oprah!

Luis: but Joan conviently had somewhere else, becsue they wanted her to do something else…

Kelly: They wanted her to do,“We Are Family” (70’s disco hit by Sister Sledge).

Frank: For touring, what’s up next for The Dollyrots?

Luis: We’re doing this with Bowling for Soup until May 21, than we’re flying back home (California). But sharing the bus with them, it’s been a lot of fun! Patent Pending is with us as well, and they’re super cool. We knew them from The warped Tout too. We’re talking about coming out to the East Coast in June for a very awesome string of dates, but we can’t say ANYTHING about it until it’s completely set! It’s a tour with The Beatles (everyone laughing)!

Ok, so now we’re looking forward to that tour, and The Dollyrots set that night was great, because, yes, they are “AWESOME!” And it didn’t hurt that Kelly is from Northern New Jersey, so family and friends were present for their set, leading the cheering section. But The Dollyrots would have still gotten called back to the stage ( they closed with a sizzling cover of The Blackhearts’ “Bad Reputation”), because they just have that cool stage presence, and they make you feel like they’re so happy to be there.- Mojo, good vibes, karma, The Dollyrots are all that and more!