Native American Warped Tour Rock Twins to Play the AMFM Festival
& Donate Guitars to the Cathedral City Boys and Girls Club
By Lisa Morgan
Traveling as a power trio, Warped Tour veterans the Miracle Dolls, will be rocking the event of the summer – the AMFM Festival in Cathedral City. This indie, alternative rock band, reminiscent of all that is great from the music of bands like Hole and Garbage is fronted by twin sisters Dani and Dezy Doll whose busy music career was launched when mom bought a used guitar and guitar book from a local pawn shop. Growing up between Hacienda Heights and the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota, the girls found their earliest audiences at the local Calvary Chapel Church and their garage. “In the beginning, we just wrote all our own stuff. We didn’t even think about doing other people’s stuff. It was just easier to do our own.” Upon their mom’s suggestion, the girls contacted their hometown reservation about playing their music there. They were hugely receptive. “The Native American market has been really good to us. They’ve been very enthusiastic about our music and have kept us very busy.”
Their first album, THIEVES AND GUNS was produced by Oingo Boingo bassist and Reel Big Fish’s producer, John Avila. MXPX’s bassist/vocalist Mike Hererra also contributed to the album. They describe their music as “a mix of melodies dancing back and forth between the Bass and Guitar, with heart racing rhythms and the natural balance of the twins sharing vocals.” I would call it the pure essence of female rock stripped down to simple honest perfection accented by haunting twin vocals.
Dina, the twin who plays bass says, “When we write, our goal is to keep it melodic and catchy.” The Dolls also decidedly keep their love songs positive. “Some of the songs on the album we wrote with Mike Herrera were great! They had a bit of a punk edge but were a little bit negative. We noticed what we wrote came into our lives, so we’ve decided that we’re going to be savvy about what we want in our lives and keep our love songs positive.”
This past February, the Dolls released their second album on Valentine’s Day. “Kiss Me Auras” was debuted on all the radio stations on reservations throughout the United States and was extremely well received. John Avila, who had worked on their first album, told them, “Man, I love your guys sound, it’s really evolved.” Dina explained, “Our music is always evolving based on where we are at the moment – we just make what we feel at that moment.” The simplicity in that statement is as likeable and refreshing as their collective attitude and music.
For the AMFM Festival, the Miracle Dolls are excited to perform with Go Betty Go drummer, Aixa Vilar. “They were one of the bands we loved to go see.” The girls will be playing music from the new album and performing their album favorite, Shape the Clay. “I like the bass line and my vocals and Des did a great job writing it. It’s genuinely fun for us.” They will be doing a special show for the Cathedral City Boys and Girls Club June 13th at 4pm and at the festival Friday, on the Main Stage at 9 pm.
It has become common place for fans to bring guitars to them on stage to be donated through their Native American Youth Music Program. The Native American Youth Music Program is an informal, non-profit, volunteer effort, whose mission is to send 10 guitars and amplifiers to youth programs on Tribal Reservations in the United States, and First Nations Reservations in Canada. As members of the Hidatsa Tribe, The Miracle Dolls initiated the program in July 2010 after an extended tour of U.S. reservations. “We became aware of the fact that teenage suicide rates among Native Americans are 150% above the U.S. average.” While growing up on the reservation, Danielle and Desiree De La Rosa (Dani and Dezi Doll) used their musical abilities to get them through tough times. They took it upon themselves to try and provide a similar creative outlet for Tribal youth. Through donations from individuals who supported the concept, the Miracle Dolls gathered together 10 guitars, and presented them to the Boys and Girls Club on Fort Berthold Reservation in New Town, North Dakota. They will be presenting guitars to the Boys and Girls Club of Cathedral City during their performance there.
To check out their music check out the following sites:
http://miracledolls.com/blog/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Miracle-Dolls/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Native-American-Youth-Music-Program/
For tickets to and information on the AMFM Festival go to http://amfmfest.com/
