The Donnas have been touring non-stop since the October 2004 release of
their latest album Gold Medal. Along with their new album came
the elimination of their Donna pseudonyms and the realization that it was
time to grow
up. Their latest album shows that The Donnas aren't young girls anymore.
They're
adult women with adult problems. Of course they're still a bit unlucky
in love. I caught up with Torry Castellano while The Donnas were out on
the
road with Maroon 5. Vocalist Brett Anderson even sat in a a couple of questions.
RIL: What’s the number one question you get asked all of the
time?
TC: We get asked a lot what does it feel like to be
a girl in a band which is kind of funny because that’s the only way we’ve ever known
it. It’s not like I could say what it’s like to be a guy in
a band.
RIL: Let’s roll with that then; what is it like to be in a
girl rock band in a male-dominated industry?
TC: I feel that is a better question than “What does it feel like to
be a girl in a rock band?” It can definitely be frustrating. Like I
think we get a lot of attention because we’re girls but a lot of that
attention can be negative. We still have trouble getting played on main stream
radio because we’re girls. There are still a lot of times, even on
this tour, where we went into a few of the venues and people couldn’t
comprehend it (that we’re girls). It’s like aliens came down
and the people are like “Oh, my God, it’s aliens playing rock
music”. So, there is pressure to prove yourself and that you represent
all girls playing rock music.
RIL: What’s the stupidest question you’ve been asked?
TC: Probably something like “Do you guys shower together?” and
stuff like that.
RIL: Why did the group decide to drop the Donna monikers and go by your
real names?
TC: It was kind of a joke we came up with when we were like 15. It was funny
and fine for a while and people seemed to like it. Our real names were never
a secret so it was like whatever you want to call us is fine. The Donna names
were easy for anyone out there to remember. But then in reviews of our live
shows and in interviews, that took over, the Donna names are all they would
talk about. It seemed liked they were portraying us more like caricatures
then real people. In this record we wanted to take that away and actually
talk about the music.
RIL: How did The Donnas band name come about when no one in the band is
really named Donna?
TC: The four of us were in a band before that and we
started a side project for fun. We didn’t even think we would play
live as the side project. We just came up with the name The Donnas and we
would all be named Donna as a
joke and it would be funny. Then we put out a 7” and then another 7” and
another 7”. People started to want to see us live and we started putting
out live shows. We did the two bands for a couple of years but then we finally
emerged and kept The Donnas name.
RIL: I was going to ask you questions about some of the songs on
your latest album, but if you just listen, they’re easy to figure
it. Was that a conscious decision by the band when it came to song writing;
keep it simple?
TC: I thought this album was a little less simple.
I feel like this is where we were headed and what we were going through
at the time. Lyrically we wanted
to be more honest and we wrote about what we had gone through in the last
couple of years between writing
"Spend the Night” and “Gold Medal”. I think if you
don’t
write about where you’re at then it feels fake and that’s not
what we’re about.
RIL: What do you think is the biggest difference between your latest album
and your first album?
TC: There are tons of differences. It’s been years and I feel we’ve
gotten better with our instruments and better at writing songs and better
at playing together from all of the touring we’ve done. This is our
6th record and we are always challenging ourselves to do better from one
record to the next.
RIL: Every band seems to have a Spinal Tap moment on the road, what’s
yours?
TC: We’re always getting lost in venues and people not knowing who
we are. We’ve had signings where no one shows up, like in Spinal Tap.
I feel like one Spinal Tap moment happens at least once a day. I think every
touring band out there thinks (the movie) really knows what it’s like
to be in a band.
RIL: The Donnas are compared to Kiss & the Ramones most of the
time; do you think this is a fair assessment?
TC: I think maybe the Ramones, like the first record.
We love the Ramones, who doesn’t? But I don’t they were our biggest influence. And
obviously we love Kiss. But, when people hear the new record and they say
it sound likes the Ramones or Kiss I wonder if they really listened to it
because there are so many other influences there. They’re really good
bands. I listen to Kiss but I really don’t listen to the Ramones as
much as people think, none of us do.
RIL: Members of The Beatles were identified by their personalities,
for example Paul was the quiet one…how would you identify yourself
and fellow band mates?
TC: I think we are all definitely different in different
ways. We can all be funny at certain times or we can all be shy at certain
times. I think
people like to try to classify us in interviews, more like the Spice Girls.
Like, “You’re this Donna” or “That Donna”.
I think we are more three dimensional than that. I think everyone in the
band is really funny and smart. We have a really good time together. That
is one thing we share. We have a very similar sense of humor and we can make
each other laugh.
RIL: Are The Donnas one of those practical joke bands?
TC: Not totally. But, I am working on a practical joke
on Maroon 5 for the end of this tour. It’s going to be pretty funny I think. I won’t
tell you what it is but they know something is coming.
RIL: What’s the groupie situation for an all female group?
TC: Kind of different than an all guy band I think.
People ask us that a lot. We mostly tour with guy bands, like Maroon 5. We
see these really
cute young girls that have taken hours and hours to get ready and maybe
they bought a new outfit, maybe they got their hair done, they match, they’ve
even gotten their nails done. They look really cute, they’re sweet
and they smell good. But, guys are a little different and I think a lot
of times what’s hard for us is we either get really young boys that
are way too young for us or really older guys. But, there is definitely
a difference. Even though, there has been a few cute guys along the way.
RIL: Had you heard of Butch Walker before he came in to produce the new
album?
TC: Yeah, we knew the Marvelous 3 and that he produced
them and some other bands. We were actually working with a different producer
for this
record and it didn’t really work out. So, we were down in L.A.,
like what do we do? We heard that he wanted to meet with us and we weren’t
actually sure because of what we wanted to do with this record. We didn’t
know if he would understand. So, we had a dinner with him and he was so nice.
He had been a fan since
our record Skin Tight and he had seen us on tour. That really helped a lot.
When we talked about the record he really understood, he was almost finishing
our sentences. He made us so comfortable and I felt that really helped us
to make the decision to use him. And the fans he has are so dedicated to
him. We went to a show of his when we were making this record and it was
an experience.
RIL: What’s the worst part about being on the road?
BA: Doing sit-ups in a hotel room near the bed and
seeing what’s under
the bed. They don’t clean there very much. There’s a lot of dirt.
Both of us need glasses but we don’t wear them. We don’t want
to know.
RIL: What’s the best?
TC: This tour has been fun; the crowds have been really
great. I think besides playing we have a really good time just hanging around
with these guys
and we’ve made some really good friends.
BA: We had a barbecue the other night and that was
cool. It’s kind
of corny.
RIL: When you (Torry) had surgery on your hand to relieve your tentinitis
a few years ago, were you worried it may have a negative impact on the group?
TC: We had to come home early from the tour and I went to the doctor right
away when we got home. He said I needed surgery the first time I saw him.
It was a scary time all around. We hate to cancel shows and that was a really
hard decision to come home. I was told I was going to be great right after
the surgery and it took me longer to recover then what they actually said.
When I was playing drums again there was some scary times when I was like,
are they actually ever going to work again and be o.k.? Fortunately, everyone
was really patient. It makes me so thankful I can play now.
RIL: What are the future plans for The Donnas?
TC: We are going to do some festivals this summer which
are going to be fun. We are doing some single date tours like Alaska and
Sweden. We’ll
be bouncing all over the place. We are thinking about writing again. We
will talk about it after this tour. When you are on tour, like this tour
started back in September, you just tour straight through. I think it’s
better to focus on one thing and take it one day at a time. It’s
not like we’re working 24 hours a day but we are away from home 24
hours a day.
RIL: This is the Honda Civic Tour. Does anybody own a Honda Civic?
TC: I do and Maya does. I feel like there’s four of us and there’s
five in Maroon 5 and what’s nine Honda Civic Hybrids to Honda? I’m
talking to them about it. That’s my dream car and I wish they would
give them to us. And it’s not just us, we’re not greedy, we want
some for Maroon 5, too.
TORRY
CASTELLANO
