Imagine waking up one morning to a new Joy Division song, but it's a collaboration with the likes of Neu! and Can, along with The Cramps - meet Dollhouse, a teenage, Stroud based, 4 piece, overflowing with hypnotic guitar wails and idiosyncratic vocals along with a mesmeric powerhouse of a rhythm section to fully complete their distinctive sound. I caught up with Dollhouse to see just what's in store for this excitingly esoteric band.
So, you're soon to be releasing a split EP with Mysteron. How did this collaboration come about? How's recording going for it?
I saw them supporting The Moonlandingz in Hebden Bridge and really liked their sound. I contacted them and we arranged to start recording some stuff for it. Recording is going well, I think we’re about half way done with it, we will be releasing two songs each, and we’re about half done with those.
Are you sitting on a lot of unreleased material at the moment? If so, when can we expect to hear it?
Are you sitting on a lot of unreleased material at the moment? If so, when can we expect to hear it?
We haven’t had a chance to do much writing recently due to work constraints etc, but hopefully this Easter we will start writing and recording properly again. Our next release, aside from the Mysteron EP, will probably be just onto Soundcloud. We’re going to start recording and producing a track we’ve been playing for ages now called ‘When You Were Blue’. Look out for that soon!
You've had an abundance of big news recently, some of the most exciting being that of your support slot for Moon Duo. Are they a band you're all fans of and, again, how did this come about?
We’re all big fans of them, I saw their KEXP set and was blown away by their power, it’s just fantastic pedal to the metal motorik psych. We contacted them months ago just saying how much we liked them, and whether they had any advice for us about gigs and stuff like that. We also sent them a couple of our recordings, ‘Dawning and Rolling Around’, and ‘Blood Red Sun’, then a couple of days ago, out of the blue, they messaged us and asked if we wanted to support them in Cardiff in June- it’s very exciting and we can’t wait.
Which bands made you want to be musicians? Are they still big influences? Do you think you'll ever do the same for your fans?
The artists that made us want to be musicians would be (in no particular order): The Velvet Underground, Hot Chip, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Neu! All of those are still huge influences. It would be great if people are influenced by us, but we’ve never really thought about that really.
Do you think image is an important factor within your music and in music generally?
We don't think image isn't important, obviously all bands have some kind of image but this is usually borne out of the music they play, it's not something that we think about. When the image is really thought about, it tends to obscure the music.
What do you want people to take from your music?
We don't really worry about what people take from the music, but if they were to take one thing, it would hopefully be blessed relief that things aren't as dire as they seem.
As a band, are you heading in the direction you'd hoped?
There's no direction in particular, but we're taking all the gigs that come our way, and writing, recording and releasing tracks when we can. One thing we'd really like to do is get some festivals under our belt this summer.
What can we expect from the band in the near future? What about your long term goals?
We’re embarking on a mini-tour soon, starting with The Louisiana in Bristol on the 22nd of March and trying to do as many shows as possible at the moment. We’re also trying to raise funds for another tour, possibly in the summer and hoping to find someone to release our EP.
* * *
Dollhouse are about to commence their mini-tour of the UK. Catch them at:
The Louisiana, Bristol (22nd March)
The Armadillo, Yate (24th March)
The Fiddler’s Elbow, Camden (29th March)
OR
See them supporting Moon Duo at The Globe, Cardiff on June 9th
To hear more from Dollhouse, find them on Soundcloud -
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