Last year, a new festival held their first event in the Bay Area in California. Doll Fest describes itself as “a celebration of the feminine energy, friendship, and community gathering together in support of one another.” This year, Doll Fest is back! Volume II will be held in Oakland, CA on March 28th and 29th with a pre-party on the 27th. And the lineup this year is just as jaw dropping and inspiring as the last.
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.
First up, we chatted with Suzie True, an alt indie band from Los Angeles. The band is about to embark on a West Coast tour with Cassie Ramone! Check out our interview below and grab your tickets to Doll Fest today!
Interview
What does playing a femme-only festival like Doll Fest mean to you personally?
Anything that empowers marginalized voices in music means so much to me – it’s so important!!
How does playing a festival like this shift the energy—on stage or in the crowd?
It shifts the energy in the entire room – it brings a different kind of empowerment and fun that is so tangible. You can feel that everyone is there to support each other, enjoy the music, and have a good time
What would you want a younger version of yourself to feel seeing this lineup?
My younger self would have freaked out!! I hardly knew of any women in bands, and the ones I knew (like Paramore or The White Stripes) I was absolutely obsessed with. Seeing a lineup like this would have broken my brain in a good way, haha.
What does “taking up space” look like for you as a femme musician?
Being completely and unapologetically myself in every way – writing lyrics that are exactly what I want to say no matter what other people think, talking and singing about issues that are important to me, singing loud and screaming, dressing and looking the way I want and feeling comfortable in my body. Also encouraging my bandmates to be unapologetically themselves!! And for the audience to feel like they can be themselves to know that they are celebrated for that at our shows!!!
Who are some femme artists—past or present—who have inspired you or paved the way?
So so many!! Kim Gordon, Poly Styrene, Alice Bag, Hope Sandoval, Kim Deal, Meg White, Karen O… I could go on forever
How does your identity influence your music, performance style, or the stories you tell?
My identity shapes my perspective which then of course directly affects our lyrics and performances. Most of the time I’m writing from my perspective – a queer Mexican American woman in her 30s – about what I have experienced. Everyone has a story, and it’s important to tell those stories on our terms to better understand ourselves and ech other.
How does your lived experience show up in your lyrics or live performance?
Most of the lyrics I write are personal to me and true to my experiences. When we perform the songs live and I’m repeating the lyrics, I feel the emotion in the song while I’m singing, its all intertwined
What is one local or regional band near you that you want the whole world to know about and want them to play
Doll Fest!
Have you experienced moments where being a femme artist shaped how you were received in the music scene?
I think so, in a positive way it’s made me feel more connected to my community and other artists. It also means so much when people say that they appreciate my lyrics being from the perspective of a woman or that it’s made other women want to start bands. In a negative way, we’ve been sexually harassed at our shows and treated poorly due to sexism or racism or maybe both.
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