Dorothy performing at Larimer Lounge on January 24th 2017 for the Rock Is Dead Tour
When you hear the name Dorothy, a lot times a story about a little blond girl looking for The Wizard of Oz comes to mind. By the end of the Rock Is Dead Tour that childhood memory is soon to fade far far away. Are they Rock? No. Are they blues? Not really. Punk? Well, not quite. What is it? They are her and she is them, grim with a melodic whim! Dorothy is a band made up of four members… Lead singer Dorothy Martin along with bassist Gregg Cash, drummer Dylan Howard and guitarist DJ Black!
Though she grew up in San Diego, Dorothy moved to L.A. in pursuit of her dream where the beginning stages of the band began. She started writing with close friends Mark Jackson and Ian Scott but due to the guys personal lives she had to find the right band mates to form a team that brought the same chemistry they had, to fulfill the ultimate goal. A group who made “REAL” music giving the crowd an old school band feel. While Mark started off as band member the road wasn’t for him and who better to replace an original member than some one like DJ Black. He was ready to tour and able to put the rough feel they were looking for behind Dorothy’s sweet delivery of dark lyrics while keeping the strings ablaze. Definitely a Cali girl by nature, but her mystique easily puts her in a category of her own. Watching her live show starts off with a easy entrance as the band warms up and makes way for what’s yet to come. If you’ve seen Dusk Til Dawn then, you can relate! By the middle of the concert Dorothy’s mesmerizing stage presence easily fills the shoes of Selma Hayek‘s unforgettable show she puts on before all hell breaks loose and vampires overtake the night. Which is a perfect fit for the fact that the theme song off her latest album Rock Is Dead which they recently performed on Conan is called Raise Hell!
USM: Who were the inspirations that made you who you are?
Dorothy: All of my dads vinyls! Like Micheal Jackson, Pink Floyd, a lot of Zeppelin. Even like Tina Turner and The Bee Gees. I listen to everything. I was a big Nirvana fan in high school and I really enjoyed the Swedish pop of the ninties. It’s good, it’s good song writing! You gotta love a little Spice Girls, a little Brittany Spears, Back Street Boys…
USM: Amy Winehouse…
Dorothy: Amy Winehouse was dope! Rest In Peace.
USM: How long have you been doing music / when did your music career start?
Dorothy: Well I’ve always wanted to be a singer, I was very adamant about it when I was younger. I wasn’t necessarily any good… so I had to work at it(laughs). Really just the last couple years it started snowballing. I started writing music I was really into and… I think we’re still growing. The second album is going to be more personal and even more like… I’m just looking forward to where it goes and what we discover as song writers, the band… how we play it live.
USM: How did you become part of one of the biggest record labels in the world Roc Nation?
Dorothy: I don’t know… I don’t know, you know how these things happen. Someone goes for a meeting and drops a name. George, my manager, basically had a meeting with Jay Brown and showed him a video we just shot ourselves. So if you’re out there and you’re trying, just DIY it and try to get as good as you can on your own and someone will recognize that. They’ll take it a step further if they believe in you. So that’s kind of what happen. That’s my advice to people, we started with no budget, no money… you know just a solid band and a voice and a camera.
USM: It was a pleasure meeting you and hope we get to see you again when you’re in town!
Dorothy: Thank you, we’re looking forward to coming back. Maybe I’ll like tag a wall or something(laughs)… I wanna be a street artist now!
USM: Grab a can I bet you won’t get caught!
Interview by Breez