Quick Hit Band Interview: Rose Dorn

Rose Dorn at the Bootleg Theater

Interview with the band:

What’s the story behind how the band started? We met at Scarlet’s sister’s birthday party. We got along and liked the same kinds of music so we decided to start a band. It’s not that exciting, but Joey ended up getting kicked out of the party for a weird reason that we’d have to explain IRL.

How do you go about combining lyrics and sound? We all do it a bit differently, but dreams mostly, probably.

Own Q&A. Everyone asks what a Rose Dorn is. She’s a good character in a good book called Edwin Mullhouse: The Life and Death of an American Writer 1943-1954, by Jeffrey Cartwright by Steven Millhauser.

Janelane with Easy Love and Rose Dorn at the Bootleg Theater

I first came across Janelane's lead singer Sophie at The Smell. She was playing in Peach Kelli Pop. Peach Kelli Pop has this hyper-speed sound -- as in, do they take a break? I soon learned that Sophie was in her own band called Janelane. Fast forward a couple months and I was asked by BuzzBandsLA to cover Echo Park Rising. What was one of the bands that I wanted to catch? Janelane. Does Janelane sound like Peach Kelli Pop? No way. Janelane has this pop-infused sound that perfectly blends beautiful vocals with wonderful melodies. From that time on, I've been a major fan. Am I a fan of Peach Kelli Pop? Yes, of course. There's just a very interesting style difference between the two bands.

Janelane

Opening the night was Rose Dorn. They play a stripped down sound, not just with their instruments, but also via their vocals. The band has a nice trade-off in female/male vocals. And to some degree there is this near timid sound to their vocals.

Rose Dorn

Easy Love closed out the night for me. Easy Love is fronted by Justine Brown. I had actually seen her a couple weeks back when she was backing Winter and Summer Twins at a Burger A Go Go tour night. Easy Love is carried via her vocals and soothing pop sounds. On this particular night, it was Saint Patrick's Day so the band all wore green berets. Unfortunately, Justine had lost her voice and so struggled through her set and at times you could actually hear her voice crack on her. I'll need to catch her on another night when she's feeling up to snuff. Moment of the set: I had an 85mm lens and decided to switch out to a 24-70mm lens. And at that very moment, the band started jumping to start off a song. I was, "Shoot, what a perfectly missed shot!" Oh well, I couldn't have captured it with an 85mm lens. I guess I should have switched out 30 seconds earlier. 

Easy Love