[Si] TV

A sprained ankle and a mysterious throat ailment combined are still not enough to keep The Dollyrots' front woman Kelly Ogden down. The Los Angeles native is collectively kicking butt and taking names on the Love and Conquer tour alongside band mates Chris Black and Luis Cabezas. You've probably heard some of The Dollyrots' pop-infused punk rock songs either on a TV commercial (Kohl's) or during your favorite primetime show (Ugly Betty). Here one of Blender.com's Hottest Women of Rock, Ogden, tells Si about the hardships of touring and the joy of publishing.

Si Ent.: How would you describe your sound?
Kelly Ogden: It's like good old punk rock, a ‘50s girl group [sound] with the rawness of a band like Nirvana all together.

Si Ent.: How did you come up with the name Dollyrots?
KO: Well we wanted to come up with a name that was more than just a cool word; we wanted it to describe the band. Our music, especially when we first started out, was very, very raw and punk rock but my voice was really sweet. So, we had these two opposites that created our music-my voice was really cute [and] the music was really gritty. We wanted to make one word out of the two words that describe us.

Si Ent.: Tell me about the male/ female dynamic since it's you and two men in the group.
KO: It's really cool, I didn't have any older brothers and now I feel like I do. It's like I have two bodyguards always watching out for me but still let me do my own thing. We all get along really well; it's more like a family than a band.

Si Ent.: Who influences you musically?
KO: Well we are on Joan Jett's label and she is a perfect example. I grew up listening to her and The Runaways. I remember thinking "Wow a girl that's young could do this." She is still doing it and hasn't really had to compromise herself or her beliefs in any way. She just is who she is, a strong, cool woman playing the guitar and singing that is something I look up to.

Si Ent.: How'd you guys form the band?
KO: I knew Luis since the eighth grade. We started the band towards the end of college so it's been like six or seven years now. Luis was starting a band with a friend originally and I used to always beg them to let me play. So they let me play rhythm and blues and sing backup. Then the bass player quit so that's when we really came together as a band and I started playing bass and singing all the songs.

Si Ent.: How is Because I'm Awesome different from your debut album?
KO: We toured for like a year and half after the release of our first record and I think in that time we grew a lot. On tour there is so much inspiration because you are out there meeting people and seeing things, just life in general. When [life] is changing everyday it kind of becomes more vivid I think than if you are doing the same thing everyday. So, when we got back and started to write Because I'm Awesome I think I personally was more confident and had found my own voice a little bit more. We tackled some subjects that we were afraid might scare people before. Like for instance we have this song called "S.O.S.," and it's just to let people know we are politically informed individuals. I'm a vegetarian and a feminist; like all those things weren't necessarily a part of our music before because we didn't want to come off as posers. But now we don't really care, we just wanted to write about the things we care about.

Si Ent.: You are presently on the Love and Conquer tour. How has that been going?
KO: It's been really amazing. It's kind of crazy to tour in January and February I think, it's insane but it's been cool. I grew up in Southern Florida as a kid and then lived in California so I have never, ever experienced winter before. So as cold as it is and as hard as it is for me to get over whatever sickness I have right now, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Si Ent.: How did you get your song featured on Ugly Betty?
KO: We have a really cool publishing company. Pretty much their job is to get our music out to film and television. We just happen to have someone really cool on our side at Bug Music Publishing. He sends our music out to TV shows and commercials and stuff like that. For us, stuff like that is important because not being on a giant label that can pay the money to be on Top 40 radio, TV is an awesome alternative. It may as well be like radio; because having people hear it set to something is twice as cool. We've had nine out of the 13 songs from Because I'm Awesome used on the CW show Reaper. Also, they used "Kiss Me Kill Me" on the first episode of Simple Life after Paris and Nicole made up. The biggest one was the Kohl's back to school commercial; they used "Because I'm Awesome" and we got to be in the commercial!

For more info on The Dollyrots visit their Si profile here.

Photos by Diana Price