In just a few weeks, the Bay Area will be hosting the inaugural Doll Fest. The two day festival will take place at the Cornerstone in Berkeley, CA and is “a celebration of the feminine energy, friendship, and community gathering together in support of one another.”
The lineup is a jaw dropping list of rad bands all with a femme energy to them along with multi-genre artists. Doll Fest will feature artists such as The Iron Roses, The Darts, Tsunami Bomb, Dog Party, Tess & The Details and many more on March 1st and 2nd along with a pre-show party on February 28th.
We wanted to get in on the action, so we’ve asked the amazing bands a handful of questions about the festival including who they’re stoked to be playing with and what they think a festival of this caliber means to our scene.
We chatted with all four members of San Pedro’s Cosmic Kitten! The band formed back in 2016 and creates a seamless blend of gritty 90s grunge and modern rock energy. With Karen Marie Hernandez (she/they) on vocals and guitar, Zack Huckabee (he/they) on vocals and drums, Jay Vesper (they/them) on bass, and John Chavez (he/him) on guitar, it’s perfection! Check out our interview below and grab your tickets to Doll Fest now via their website here!
Interview
Tell us a little about yourself and why you’re excited to play Doll Fest.
KH – Hi, I’m Karen and I play guitar and sing in Cosmic Kitten! I’m excited to be a part of this! Femmes are often not taken seriously in music, and I feel it’s important to come together as a community to help uplift one another. Yes, this includes trans and non-binary folx as well.
ZH – Hi, I’m Zach and I like to beat wood. Doll fest is a thoughtful, empowering fest put together by people who care and get it.
JC – Hi I’m John, I play a geetar for Cosmic Kitten and I’m super excited to play Doll Fest because we get to play alongside and meet a bunch of other sick bands from all over.
JV – Greetings! My name is Jay. I pluck the bass for Cosmic Kitten. I’m STOKED for Doll Fest! I’ve always loved being in the Bay Area when the opportunity arises, and playing alongside/seeing so many cool bands in one place tickles the joyful part of my brain (which is usually flickering at best).
Which bands are you most stoked to see or play alongside?
ZH – I’m excited to check out Auxilio, Trap Girl, Bite Me Bambi, and Tess and the Details.
KH – Everyone Zach said and The Dollheads, The Darts!!
JC – Tess and the Details!!!
JV – Tess and The Details and Half Past Two! I got to hang out with some member of the latter at a book release a couple years back, been itching to share the stage ever since.
How has the Oakland music scene or Bay Area culture influenced your sound/creative process?
JC – I grew up listening to bands like Operation Ivy and Green Day. Learning some of their songs back in the day really helped shape the way I play geetar.
KH – I too was super into Green Day growing up, and the Dead Kennedys. From what I saw in the Bay Area music scene back then, it was very vibrant, political, and a DIY community. I still see all these things today, and it’s definitely something at least in the punk genre, that we’ve all absorbed and continue to emphasize in our music and creative ways to uplift one another in our community. Not only in the Bay Area, but everywhere around the world.
ZH – Over the years the Bay Area scene has been really welcoming to us and we’ve made so many good friends in the community, which ultimately influenced us by just making us feel more free to do what we want to do and be who we want to be, to not be afraid to do different things with our music.
JV – Well…my folks were both old deadheads, and I probably listened to CCR’s discography a few hundred times between ages 3-5, then found my dad’s Dead Kennedys cassettes and got super into Green Day as a pre-teen. Bay Area music has sorta been ingrained in my nerves throughout my life, and I might not have picked up an instrument without it.
How do you see events like Doll Fest contributing to greater representation and empowerment of women in the music industry?
JV – Events like Doll Fest give well-deserved amplification to the voices of bands who might be suppressed in other circles. In the age of toxic-masculine-culture-war type shit, we need to hear the message of femme artists loud and clear more than ever.
JC – It shines a light and focuses on femme artists and gives them space to fully express themselves. Gives people a chance to hear a message that they probably wouldn’t get to hear otherwise.
ZH – Simply by including, so many larger fests don’t bother to keep their lineups inclusive and it’s infuriating. This fest is giving a platform for femmes to express themselves, loud, furious and otherwise, to use at their discretion because it’s theirs and that’s uniquely cool.
KH – A lot of larger fests don’t seem to like femme bands very much, or maybe add one to their lineup to validate their ‘inclusivity.’ There’s sooooo many great, amazing and phenomenal women, femmes, trans, nonbinary folx making music, and I believe they need to be taken seriously, and we need to see the real value in their music and art and overall message. Events like Doll Fest provide that representation, and by doing so are also creating such a fun, safe, and inspirational space for everyone involved.
What unique challenges have you (or your bandmates) faced as female/femme musicians, and how have you/they overcome them?
ZH – Creeps, assholes that downplay Karen’s talents (Karen can elaborate if desired).
KH – I downplay my own talents sometimes haha. But yes, it definitely is quite bothersome when certain dicks have straight up told me to my face, ‘Oh wow, you’re actually a pretty decent guitar player…for a girl.’ How this verbiage still exists in this day and age is beyond me! Maybe I’m intimidating, and maybe they’re insecure? Regardless, I don’t ponder on their negativity, I just do my best to express myself and try to inspire other femmes to do the same. It’s always been for them, never the dudes haha sorry not sorry! Also, sound guys need to just let my guitar amp be loud. Stop telling me to turn down! They’ve made me so quiet before, thinking I had no guitar leads and was only rhythm. Which of course, they were wrong :). Also, pervy dudes, ick!
JV – Male-fronted bands being prioritized on bills all over… not to dudes doing creepy bs after pretending to be allies. Personally, Cosmic Kitten has made me feel very ‘seen’ as a nonbinary musician when some scenes wrote me off as ‘just another guy.’
JC – I guess having negative opinions formed right away, being written off almost immediately as someone who ‘can’t hang with the guys’ but it’s all bullshit. Also pervy dudes, ew.
What message do you hope to convey to your audience through your performance at Doll Fest?
KH – Oh jeez. Probably the same message we’ve been preachin’ with Cosmic Kitten for the past 9 years I think. You can be whoever you want to be as long as you’re not hurting anybody. Don’t ever let your bad experiences and past traumas get a hold of you instead, use them to create art and relate to others, support and uplift others. Fuck anyone who says you can’t do something meaningful or impactful. Your voice matters. Don’t let your love, beauty and power go to waste!!!
ZH – Be yourself, don’t apologize. You’re strong, beautiful, and special. Your fire is uniquely yours. Touch it to the thicket and burn it all down in glorious flame. Also pit…let’s pit…like a lot…circle pit…wall of death…I don’t know…destruction please.
JC – Just live for yourself and for those you care about and any naysayers can go get fucked. Do what you want and be proud of yourself for being brave enough to do so.
JV – Play the fuckin’ music you want to play, regardless of other peoples’ opinions – you’ll find the right folks to mosh with (or swing or dance or hula hoop or whatever it is that you’re doing). There’s no sense in giving into the hate, put that energy into the art.
Post a comment