Kelly Ogden and Luis Cabeza grew up as childhood friends back in Florida. Their lifelong friendship and bond is what ultimately gave roots to the punk/pop band The Dollyrots. Their first studio album came out in 2004 and they started creating a buzz. You may not know the band by its name, but I bet you have heard their music. It’s been featured in a national ad campaign by Kohl’s, such t.v. shows as ‘CSI: NY’, ‘Raising Hope’, ‘Ugly Betty’, ‘The Vampire Diaries’ and their new song Twist Me to the Left was just featured on MTV’s The Challenge. You’ve probably heard their tunes in the movies ‘Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2’ and ‘Disney/Pixar’s Brave’ as well.
The band has released three albums and toured extensively, sharing the stage with such bands as Paramore, The Go-Gos and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. This year saw the band exploring uncharted territory as they began to lay the groundwork for their new self-titled album. I recently sat down with lead singer Kelly Ogden and we talked about everything from touring to retirement homes to burritos.
Johnny/RR: Hey Kelly, thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us today. I read that you guys used the Kickstarter program to help fund your recently released self-titled album with amazing results. How did that come about?
Kelly/TD: Yeah, we parted ways with Blackheart Records and we found ourselves wondering how we were going to 
finance this new album. We saw the amazing response that Amanda Palmer received on her Kickstarter program. We’ve been touring for ten years now, so we figured we had a good size fan base out there that might be willing to pitch in. Then, we asked ourselves how could we ever ask our fans to help out? So, we set month to month goals and within no time, we actually tripled out goal. It was crazy! We finally felt like people truly loved our music!
Johnny/RR: For the readers who may not be familiar with it, Kickstarter is a fund raising web-based program in which you ask your fans to donate to help fund an album or band project (shoot a video, tour, etc.). So, you must have been blown away by the response from your fans?
Kelly/TD: It was pretty amazing! We had so many pre-orders coming in that we knew we couldn’t do it all ourselves. It was going to be impossible to try and get all the copies mailed out to the fans plus get them to the stores too . So, we had to enlist the help of RED, a distribution company to help us meet all of our commitments.
Johnny/RR: I guess you could say that it was inspiring?
Kelly/TD: You’re exactly right! Luis and I felt more inspired than ever on this album because of the fans; it’s as if they were stating that they were behind us and that they believed in us. It’s funny because the fans actually twisted the tables on us by responding so positively. It made us work even harder than we anticipated. We were free to do things on this album that we had always wanted to do. We always wanted an album to tell a story and for the listener to go on an adventure with us. That’s never happened until now. We had nobody telling us that we couldn’t use a certain word or keyboard part like in the past. This time it was really fun, we weren’t stressed out about trying to write a single.
Johnny/RR: So, the first single and video is for “Hyperactive.” Why did you go with that song as the lead-off single and how much input did you have on the video?
Kelly/TD: Well, we wanted to go with a song that people would easily identify as a Dollyrots song. It’s fun and joyful – a feel good song. Plus, it was one of the very first that we wrote for the album. As far as the video goes, we always use our ideas for our videos. We wanted this one to look like a Suzy Quatro video, so we shared our ideas with the producer. It’s funny because we didn’t know the visual effects that we were acting for until we saw the finished project.
Watch the “Hyperactive” Video!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=p_W6k3ztjBY]
Johnny/RR: Well, you would never know it when watching the finished product. You guys make it look easy. So, let’s spin that around on you because I wanted to ask you just the opposite. What would you say is the hardest part about this musical journey that you’re on?
Kelly/TD: The financial end of things. When you’re doing anything artistic you’re running on hope. You create this music and then you release it and you sit back and hope. You hope that the fans will buy the music and buy concert tickets and your merch. Then, you have to try and save some of that money so you have money to buy Ramen noodles and Doritos with. You also hope that you have some put away to be able to work on the next album. The business part can be challenging too sometimes. You just have to keep telling yourself that I’m in charge of my destination.
Johnny/RR: So, on that note, let’s get into the really tough questions if you’re ready for them. Can you tell me something that’s on your bucket list?
Kelly/TD: I’d really love to play in every country or at least every continent.
Johnny/RR: Is there anything shocking in your iPod?
Kelly/TD: You would be shocked; it’s absolutely empty because it died on me. I do plan of filling up my new one with lots of cool stuff like Flogging Molly, Against Me, the Ramones, Elastica and lots more.
Johnny/RR: Do you prefer scary movies or comedies?
Kelly/TD: I would have to go with scary movies, but not the gory type. I prefer the weird, thriller types like The Others.
Johnny/RR: What’s your favorite food to eat while you’re out on the road?
Kelly/TD: That’s an easy one: burritos. There are different types in different parts of the US. They make awesome ones in Wisconsin with tater tots in them. Plus, we also eat lots and lots of Taco Bell.
Johnny/RR: Do you have any printable guilty pleasures?
Kelly/TD: As far as food goes, it would have to be coffee. I’ve definitely been overdoing that here lately. As far as music goes, it would be Katy Perry songs. They’re just so much fun! As far as t.v. goes, I love this show called ‘The Colony.’ It’s about this creepy, post-apocalyptic world.
Johnny/RR: One last question, are you a gamer?
Kelly/TD: No, but that’s only because I would really, really like it. I know that doesn’t make a lot of sense, but it would be like doing drugs. I would spend all my time doing them and my life would go down the tubes. I think I will wait and do that when I am old and I have done everything that I want to. I’ll just sit around in an old folk’s home getting high and playing video games.
Johnny/RR: (Ha) And eat burritos all day!
Kelly/TD: Exactly!
Johnny/RR: I think you may be onto something there. So, you have a few more dates here in the States then you’re off again with the Bowling For Soup gang to the UK?
Kelly/TD: Yep, we’re almost done with this leg of the tour, then we start in the UK on October 14th. We’ll be back to the US starting November 4th for some dates, so we’re really excited. (Check tour dates here)
Johnny/RR: Cool! Well, everyone should make sure to come out to hear all of your new songs played live. For those who don’t have it yet, you can pick up the new self-titled Dollyrots album by visiting their website, their Facebook page or on iTunes.
~ Johnny Price, Contributing Writer
Watch the just released BRAND NEW song exclusive to the “One Big Happy” split album with The Dollyrots, Bowling For Soup and Patent Pending – “Just Like All The Rest”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-fATyHpuXY]
