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 Sabrina (vocals) and Dominic (bass) from Bay Area-based band Loud Graves. Both band members have been in bands for decades and share their knowledge and experiences in the scene. 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.
S: I’m Sabrina, I sing for Loud Graves and The Applicators! I am so excited and proud to be a part of this fest. When I was young looking up to punk women playing the music, I loved it. It helped me find my own voice and I always aim to be that influence for younger people as well.
D: I’m Dominic, I play bass for Loud Graves and Tsunami Bomb! I love when people start up new festivals! There is something so punk rock about that. I am just very honored to be a part of something amazing like this. I really think it could be the beginning of something special.
Which bands are you most stoked to see or play alongside?
S: All of the bands are great honestly! But the highlights for me will be The Iron Roses, The Dollheads, Fatale, Dog Party. and Gloomy June!
D: I’m very excited to be playing with Dog Party at the Pre-Doll Fest show as Loud Graves. As Tsunami Bomb, I’m really excited to share the stage with our label mates The Darts, Sabrina’s band The Applicators, The Iron Roses who I’ve met at previous Fest weekends in Florida.
That said… I’m kinda really excited about all the bands I don’t know. I love seeing new bands, and there are a lot I will get to see for the first time.
How has the Oakland music scene or Bay Area culture influenced your sound/creative process?
D: Oh, it’s had a huge influence on myself as a musician, and the band as a whole.
I’m originally from the North Bay and we are known for having a bit of a more darker, harder edge overall to our bands than the other sides of the Bay (even to our pop punk bands), but coming up as a kid in this scene it was so incredible because all the bands were setting out to be so different from each other. Everyone wanted to be very distinctive. So I was always encouraged to push the creative limits of what Bay Area Punk was. It defined how we approached Tsunami Bomb, and it’s something I really hope we’ve managed to keep going with Loud Graves. I’d like to think we have.
I feel like I’m starting to feel that kind of drive returned to the underground again. I think you will really see it on display at Doll Fest too.
How do you see events like Doll Fest contributing to greater representation and empowerment of women in the music industry?
S: I feel like we are starting to see it already with other festivals like Loud Women and other Femme fronted fests; it’s contagious because it’s overdue. It feels to me like Doll Fest is just contributing to the greater need for women and femmes to have safe spaces created just for them to use their voice.
D: The music scene shouldn’t be a boys club… it was never MEANT to be a boys club. It won’t SURVIVE being a boys club. We need more women and gender queer presence in this scene. We need those perspectives, that creative impact to help expand what the underground actually is. Doll Fest could be a great inspiration for someone.
What unique challenges have you or your bandmates faced as female/femme musicians, and how have you or they overcome them?
Sabrina: I’ve been playing in punk bands since the late ’90s. It was way difficult back then. It’s so funny because one of the “insults” we used to get was “they just got on this show/ tour because they’re girls” I guess this time it’s true, playing because we identify as femme! lol. That said, it’s much less of a fight these days to get people to take you seriously and I do feel like I have seen so much change and growth but we need our voices amplified now more than ever to help us all feel less alone.
Dominic: I have learned so much being in mixed gender bands, and I’m not sure I would have ever been aware of the type of sexism that exists otherwise. It has become undeniably obvious that the United States is way more sexist than we are racist… and that’s fucking saying something because we are pretty fucking racist as a nation.
Be it blatant sexualization and objectification of women I’ve been in bands with, to just simple disrespect that has been shown towards my bandmates for their mere existence, I have been constantly shocked at the behavior that has been directed towards women in the scene in general. However, the hardest part for me was confronting my own behavior and how even in ways I didn’t understand at the time I was contributing to it towards other women in the scene.
I don’t mean to go on and on. I’m a cis man playing a femme-forward festival. I’m lucky I get to comment in this interview at all. It’s just… while we have come so far in the years I’ve been playing, we have so much further to go. To the women reading this that want to participate in the music scene. Do it. There are more people than ever here to support you. We need you. To the men reading this, we can always do better in making this scene safe for everyone. Make the space.
What message do you hope to convey to your audience through your performance at Doll Fest?
Dominic: You know what I hope? I hope some girl sees us play, listens to Sabrina sing, hears the lyrics, and decides right there to start a band. Just one would be enough.
Sabrina: That’s always my hope! It’s always about helping somebody find their voice.
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