Hey there, music lovers! My name is Elsa Martinez with The Pit: Sports and Entertainment, and I am here with Meghan Herring, drummer for the band Doll Skin. I am doing a quick Q&A for our readers to get to know you and the band. It’s so great to have you be with us and in our publication.
Doll Skin is currently on tour supporting Otep, Lacey Sturm, September Mourning, and Through Fire. The tour runs from April 8 through May 28.
The Pit – How did you all meet and start playing together? And how long?
Doll Skin – When I was a junior in high school, I wanted to compete in my school’s annual battle of the bands. I met all the ladies in School of Rock in Scottsdale. I rounded them up, not expecting anything to come of this battle of the bands. But when we took first place out like…10 bands, that’s when we thought we should take this and run with it!!
Names and ages of the band
Sydney Dolezal (vocals, guitar)- 16,
Alex Snowden (guitar, Backing vocals)– 16, Nicole Rich (bass, backing vocals)- 17,
Meghan Herring (drums, Backing vocals) – 19
TP – Your current CD is being re-released, when is it set to drop?
DS – In Your Face (Again) is set to release on April 15th.
TP – Is there a primary songwriter in the band or is it a collaborative process?
DS – A very collaborative process on the music side!! On the lyrical side, it is mainly myself:) Sydney writes her own lyrics from time to time too.
TP – Where do you get your inspiration for the songs you write?
DS – We pull inspiration from absolutely everywhere. Lyrically, for me, I pull from lots of horror movies, overlooming conflict and fears of mine, and past relationships. Sydney writes about lots of past conflicts she’s had in life as well. Musically, our influences are all over the place. Punk influences like Refused and NOFX, to heavy influences like Avenged Sevenfold, Tool, Underoath (all of those are super heavy drumming influences for me) and others like My Chemical Romance. We’re not TRYING to write or sound like any of those bands, we’re trying to create our own thing. We just are heavily inspired from those bands!
TP – Do you have new music waiting to record? When?
DS – Absolutely. We have so many songs we’re just dying to record as soon as we’re done with tour!!
TP – Did you all know that you wanted to be musicians/play in a band? What other aspirations do each of you have outside of music?
Doll Skin performs in Des Moines as support for Otep and Lacey Sturm. Elsa Martinez/The Pit
DS – I knew I wanted to be a drummer when I was 9 years old. It became this natural phantom limb for me, drumming fit me like a glove. I didn’t realize I wanted to be in a band until I was 13 years old after I fell in love with My Chemical Romance and Paramore. Then after I became extremely active in the School of Rock, my music taste broadened IMMENSELY. Outside of music, I’ve been doing concert/music photography for seven years!
TP – Does it feel a little overwhelming being as young as you all are in such a crazy business?
DS – OH YES. But we take things as they come and try to keep calm, collected and professional in all situations.
TP – David Ellefson has been a huge influence in your career, what advice has he offered to help start you off and get you through the door?
DS – SAY YES TO EVERYTHING. At least give it a chance. That is a huge piece of advice he’s given us that has really helped us on our journey!!
TP – Is it intimidating being in a largely male dominated business or do you feel that, being your age, you are helping empower young females to step up and rock?
DS – It doesn’t intimidate us one bit. We are ready to take anything the industry has to give us, because we feel we are prepared. We are super passionate about spreading our music with the world and refused to be seen as a “gimmick”. We don’t want to just inspire the ladies, but everyone in general.
TP – Do you have an pre-show rituals?
DS – Pre-show rituals: BIG YES! We have a little pump up ritual we do every time about 5 minutes before we hit the stage. There’s a song by Fugazi called Waiting Room that the girls and I used to cover countless times. The chorus goes “Sitting in the waiting room, AAAAH” and we all get in a huddle and jump up and down and sing that line three times. We also stretch, warm up, do all that good stuff.
TP – Is there ever any “girl drama” while on the road? Like guys and such (lol) How do you work out any disputes about anything?
DS – The girl drama is surprisingly minimum. If anything we’ll have our little spats for like two seconds, but it gets solved in the blink of an eye because we love each other too much. 😀
TP – What do you do to relax after shows or on days off?
DS – On days off we like to sleep. A lot. But when we’re up, we love to listen to music, watch movies, and explore every city we get the privilege to be in!!
TP – If you could pick a “Dream Tour” lineup, who would you want to tour with? (2 or 3 bands)
DS – THE DREAM TOUR: Avenged Sevenfold, Refused, Doll Skin.. Hands down!!!
TP – In future recording, is there a band or musician that you would like to record or collaborate with?
DS – Great question! We would love to work with other ladies in rock. D’arcy Wretsky of The Smashing Pumpkins. Hayley Williams of course. I would love love love to work with Aaron Gillespie from Underoath. That’s the dream for me.
TP – Aside from school and family life, how has the band and touring changed your lives?
DS – Personally, touring has turned me into a completely different person. Before the big tour, I was terrified of it all. I had been dealing with severe anxiety for about 10 years, and it was mainly from traveling. So basically I had to face my biggest fear. But I got so used to touring so fast that my anxiety rarely became a problem at all. I came home a changed girl! Plus I made some amazing friends on the tour that I still talk to to this day!
TP – What advice can you give to young musicians just starting out?
DS – Be open minded, be patient, be kind. Good things will come in time with all these things combined. Also, if you have an ego, get rid of it. It’s the road to being kicked out of a band.
TP – Does this all still feel like you are in a dream or has it started to sink in yet?
DS – It still kind of feels like a dream. I feel constantly blessed and honored to be doing what I’m doing. It has been an incredible journey since day one.
TP – Do you have any hobbies outside of music and do you have time to do them?
DS – Yes I do! My main hobby besides music is music photography. It coincides perfectly with touring because I love shooting other bands’ shows. And when I get home, I’m behind the computer all day because I’m editing pictures! It’s such a huge passion of mine.
TP – What bands/musicians have been your biggest influences?
DS – Oh man. I have a long list. Let’s get started then. My Chemical Romance, Avenged Sevenfold, Underoath, Refused, Tool, Paramore, Nine Inch Nails, John Mayer, Elton John, Florence + The Machine, Rx Bandits, Led Zeppelin, it’s endless.
TP – What are your favorite kind of movies or TV shows?
DS – Movies: Almost Famous, Shawshank Redemption, The Conjuring, Tangled (any and all Disney movies basically), Mr. Nobody, School of Rock. TV Shows: Breaking Bad, How I Met Your Mother, 30 Rock, Sonic Highways.
TP – What are your favorite foods/drinks?
DS – Sushi!!! Healthy food, greek, italian, I eat way too much. It’s horrible.
TP – Is there something that you just can’t go without while on the road?
DS – My spotify, and my inhaler. I need both of those to survive.
Thank you so much, Meghan for taking the time to answer these questions for The Pit! Best of luck on your tour with Otep and we hope to see more of you out on the road in future tours. Looking forward to the release of the CD and future recordings!
