Beginning tomorrow, 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, 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 the two Ericas in The Applicators. Erica Zamora plays guitar in the Austin, TX-based all female punk band and Erica Florez also plays guitar. 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.
EZ: Hi! I’m Erica Z, play guitar and punk is my core!!! I am a mother of 3 and they are my life! Which goes into why I’m excited to play Doll Fest. They see me daily stand up for what’s right and now I can get on stage with a message we all support and make them proud.
EFLO: I am a book and music nerd, an introvert who desperately wants to be an extrovert, a lover of bad jokes and worse movies, and the shortest member of The Applicators. I’m excited to play Doll Fest because the line up is sick and I love the mission. It really aligns with a lot of the values that I internalized from the punk and riot grrrl scenes, which later laid the groundwork for things like ladyfests, girls rock camps, queer rock camps, etc. I’m down with anything that highlights the creative work of groups traditionally overlooked or purposefully excluded by historical narratives.
Which bands are you most stoked to see or play alongside?
EZ: Wow so I’d have to say, I got the chance to hangout and see Tsunami Bomb a few years ago here in Austin, TX and they are truly the nicest people full of fun positive energy. Just really look forward to seeing them again.
EFLO: Oooh! Honestly, there are a lot; I couldn’t name them all. I obviously have to say Loud Graves! Last time I was in Oakland, they let me sit in on a song with them and I had so much fun!! The Darts, Lxs Cochinxs, Trap Girl, Tsunami Bomb too!
How has the Oakland music scene or Bay Area culture influenced your sound/creative process?
EZ: I was really inspired by bands like Operation Ivy and Filth, and every thing that surrounded the Gilman Street scene. Like every kid, I wanted to be there and be a part of it. That being said, Bay Area has been a place to open doors and help pave the way for other states, for musicians, and all likeminded people.
EFLO: There are a few big influences for me from the Bay Area. First of all, the Black Panther Party is probably the biggest influence on me from the Bay Area. Musically, The Coup and The Dicks (kind of cheating because they’re originally from Austin), and Lookout Records.
How do you see events like Doll Fest contributing to greater representation and empowerment of women in the music industry?
EFLO: Doll Fest’s concerted decision to showcase some of the really cool women making music right now is important for a few reasons. We’re seeing how important it is to build and nurture community in all sorts of ways in our current political landscape. Creating this space for community so we can spend time with each other and have moments of collective joy is reason #1. Capitalism cannot define art. You let that happen and we get the tech broligarchy creating AI-written music. This fest is in a lot of ways a direct “fuck you” to that kind of approach to art that’s taken hold — It’s celebrating everything to that type of ethos tries to destroy. This is a femme, punk, qtpoc, all ages, accessible event for the community!
EZ: This Erica agrees 100% with what that Erica said!
What unique challenges have you or your bandmates faced as female musician, and how have you overcome them?
EZ: Oh, here’s an ugly one about money. The year is 1999, we are heading and packing clubs. The paying crowd is there for us. But at the end of the night, somehow the guy handler of money would pay the guy bands (the opening bands) more and give us less. If this happened once, no biggie. But it was often and it came down to girls just get paid less in their eyes. A battle that women face still today. Ughhhhh.
Anyway after years of that we got our friend Frenchie to represent us and make sure we got paid and then a badass booking agent for our tours. Thanks to Frenchie and Rae at Leafy Green, who both still had to step in many times and say give the girls their fucking money! It was crazy, it really was.
EFLO: I started playing in my first band at 13 and used to regularly get ignored at Guitar Center, like every other girl or woman. Back in ye olde ’90s and ’00s, it was pretty straight up gross sexist B.S., all the cliches you could imagine. And it sucked! As for how I overcame it, I spent a long time as a Girls Rock Camp organizer teaching hundreds of girls, trans, and nonbinary youth how to play instruments and write songs. It certainly didn’t fix any sexist or racist or homophobic experiences for me or my peers, but I hope in my time doing that work I have made the path a little easier for those coming up behind me.
What message do you hope to convey to your audience through your performance at Doll Fest?
EZ: Our message through our music in my opinion is to have fun, stand up for people when they need support, lead and make change. Be loud and take charge! The world is your oyster, live the fuck out of it!
EFLO: Community, community, community! Get to know each other! Get to know your neighbors! We are only going to get through this administration by taking care of each other.
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