On a very warm and not at all air-conditioned Southampton afternoon Rocksins had the chance to sit down with Kelly from the Dollyrots to have a little chat about 25 years of the band, raising a family on the road, sharks, inclimate weather, breakfast curry and erm…shrimps
Welcome to the UK. Well, I say that, you’ve been here about a week now, had some good weather for you as well?
I was really looking forward to some cool weather. Maybe some clouds, a little overcast, some rain, and it has been blazing hot worse than Florida. I’ve been looking and it’s been hotter than home in Tampa and you don’t have air conditioning here.
Yeah, we don’t believe in air-con here.
I wake up on the bus, just sweating every day. Here we are, must have brought it over with us.
You must have, it’s the only excuse, it is not normally this sunny here.
I mean, I’m happy for you guys, but I’m a little sad for me.
I wouldn’t be, we will complain about this heat for at least the next three to six months. Yeah, and then we’ll complain it’s raining all the time.
Everybody wants what they don’t have.
So, 25 years of the Dollyrots, that seems insane.
Insane, yeah, which also means Luis and I could have adult children, because we’ve been together that long, so that is also a very strange thought.
Did you guys kind of get together as the Dollyrots started then, or was it a little bit before?
In eighth grade, Luis decided he was gonna marry me. Yeah, we were 12 and 13. I was 13, he was 12. Then he just kind of stalked me for a few years, and at the very end of high school, I asked him to the homecoming dance, so we started dating. Then we ended up going to the same College, and then our fourth year of college he was starting a band with some friends, just a joke kind of thing. He taught me to play guitar a little bit in high school. And I was, like, well, I know how this ends if I’m not in the band. I was, like, so, could I be in the band, and they’re like that would be so cool to have a girl in the band, and so I was just in like a joke band, that slowly morphed into the Dollyrots. But yeah, I mean, we had already been together for years and didn’t play music or anything. No, this is kind of an afterthought. Like, we had planned on being professionals not being musicians.
Yeah, I saw Luis was going to go to be a doctor?
Yeah and I have a biology degree, I was doing environmental science. I wrote a thesis, like a book on sea turtle nesting and the effects of light pollution on sea turtles. You know, there were plans for us, this was just kind of a happy accident.
I saw that after the presidential election where Bush Jr got in, you guys were just kind of like, we give it a go and just see what happens.
Yeah we were like the world’s gonna end. This guys a dummy. He’s gonna blow it all up anyway. And, like, we really hoped Al Gore would win, he, you know, had a better environmental stance, which, as science Majors, you know you’re kind of worried about and still are. So yeah, let’s just take a year off and we’ll move to California, and if you live there for a little while, then you get a discount on school. So we’re like, we’ll just live there, establish residency, and then we’ll do like grad school and med school. But then, like, we got a commercial accidentally, and then you know, things just started happening. We’re like, alright, one more year, one more album, one more year, one more album, and then it’s like eight, I think eight Studio albums, and then lots of other things split seven inches and albums with friends. And yeah, so it’s a lot.
Well it’s not bad to say it was just, we’ll give it a go, see how we go?
I mean, obviously, it was meant to work out because it keeps happening. Yeah, accidentally good at it maybe.
I don’t think it’s accidental, I feel like if I picked up a guitar and started singing people would be like booing me off the stage
You never know. Maybe you just have to be very persistent and clueless.
But 25 years on the road with your husband and now your children. How is that? Because that’s got to be, I mean, living in a house with children, I assume, is crazy. I don’t have them. So I can’t say for certain.
It’s pretty crazy. When they were babies, it was very different than now. You know, like, babies are pretty portable. And you know, I just breastfed them. And you know, all I needed to have was, like, some clothes, diapers, wipes. It was really easy now that I look back , I thought that was really hard but you know what? I know, it’s not. It wasn’t too hard, you know, we’d have to always let venues know. Oh, you have a baby coming, and we always had to have someone to watch the baby during the set, but you know, it wasn’t until Daisy was born that it was, like, all right we need full time, someone to come on tour with us and just be in charge of the kids. Luckily we have amazing friends that you know take turns, and they’ll just come along with us and make sure the kids are entertained and fed. Today, they went to the Titanic Museum and Primark to get Sanrio stuff. Yesterday, they went to the beach, and we always tried to find something for them to do. A way to get out energy, because at home, they’re really active. They play sports, and you know, we do all sorts of things, and so that can probably be the toughest thing as them getting out all their energy. There’s a lot of energy in those bodies. It’s like a lot, and so you know they need they need to move their bodies
Yeah I suppose in the UK and Europe there’s plenty for them to do as well, plenty of museums to keep them entertained.
Yea and the museums are free. Yeah, which is really nice. They’re not at home. I love that they get to see the world. They get to meet people like today at the Museum, there are a whole bunch of like kids on a field trip.They just couldn’t believe they were all in, like the exact same uniform with the same shoes, and it was just kind of strange, but it’s really cool because they’re getting to see different perspectives. I’m hoping it makes them well-rounded cool humans, I think they’re doing good. So far, I mean, we tour with friends who are, like family, and everybody takes turns entertaining them throughout the day. And you know, playing with them and making it fun. So we’ve really lucked out every day. I’m just like, I’m so grateful, Thank you. I don’t know how I’m here, but all right.
It must be odd for you as well, because you get to bring your kids on tour, you come with your husband, but you leave your dog, two cats, six chickens, and now three shrimps at home.
I got more shrimp. I got some blue ones. Yeah, it’s definitely an addiction, the shrimping thing, I’m very into it. It’s exciting. So, yeah, I have a new little hobby in the kitchen, my shrimp tank. Yeah, so one of our best friends from growing up Byron. He just stays at our house when we’re gone. Then next door is our very first merch person ever. Fuzzy lives with her wife and kid, so they take care of the chickens, and Byron takes care of the furry creatures. Yeah, the shrimp are pretty much on their own. They’re fine.
I suppose Shrimp can’t be that high maintenance aside from keeping the tank clean.
Yeah, I cleaned them right before I left and fed them, but they don’t need to eat all that much. They just eat what grows in there, over feeding while I’m gone would be kinda bad because I can’t check the water parameters. So, yeah, they’re just floating right now. They’re okay, hopefully they’re not floating
I can see you getting home and immediately running to the tank to count them and check the water.
How’s it looking? Yeah, I might immediately do a water change.Then open all the mail. Like, I have to know what is in the mail. I can’t let it sit, you know, no matter when I get home, at like 2 A.M, I’m still gonna open the mail like, I don’t know.
I think I might have letters from 2 years ago that still havent been opened, I just chuck them in a cupboard.
Oh no, I mean, I know if it’s like a bank statement I’m not going to open that, but you never know.
We do get a lot of junk mail in the UK though so it’s mostly just that.
Oh, we do too, I just shred it by hand, and then pour shrimp water on it so that no one can read it.
So, I’m quite interested in how it is for you working with your husband. I have worked a job with mine before and now we are both doing the interviewing thing. What is that like for you?
It’s just the way it has always been. Yeah, like from day one of college, we moved in together. We just are codependent, and I don’t know. It’s just the way that it is, and it seems normal like we both do other things, we convinced our lawyer in California to buy properties in Tampa, so we are a property management business accidentally. Can you imagine us being your landlord like, we are so terrible, we’re like I’m gonna watch a YouTube video and come fix your sink, I’ll be there in a week when I get home. We really try to do a good job. Then, I also have a radio show on SiriusXM five days a week. So, I focus on that a lot. It’s a lot of time, I do those shows and he helps me finalize them. Make sure everything sounds good, he sets up my sound. We kind of divide and conquer now, because we have a lot of jobs and the kids. So he does all the kid driving usually like when he’s gone, I’ll work on other things. It just works out, we’re good partners. He’s a driver. I don’t ever drive.
You get to be the passenger princess?
Except when I’ve been pregnant. Of course. I was always the designated driver.
I wanted to ask actually, you guys are doing a cruise show?
Yeah, I don’t know about that. We’ll see. I wish I could tell you. I’m terrified. I’ve been on one cruise before. It was like the same thing, It was Florida to the Bahamas and back. I think that one was for three nights, I think this is four, and I got horribly seasick. It was smooth sailing as well, no storm, nothing. I was just like green, and I have to perform every single day at least once. So I don’t know. We’ll see.
Did you get a say, were they like Cruise… Wanna come?
It’s the radio station that I work for, SiriusXM is Little Steven’s underground garage, and so, some of us lucky DJs were asked to go do it with our bands, and so I mean,as long as I’m not sick. I’m excited as long as I can sleep. Yeah, it’ll be good. I’ve been sleeping terribly on this tour because it’s just so hot. The air conditioner on the bus can’t keep up like in the mornings once we’re in the blazing sun. That’s why I sound hoarse right now. It’s because I haven’t slept yet in a week.
You don’t even get respite either because you can go to the shops and we still don’t have air-con.
Nope, it’s just warm everything. It’s really nice right now actually.
Yeah, this is good. You’ll find bolts of shade and it’s just brits hiding from the sun. Normally we have good rainstorms here.
Rainstorms are great as long as they’re not hurricanes.
That’s got to be a big issue with Florida?
Yeah, It’s gotten terrible. Last year, we evacuated two times in one month. The chickens go in the kitchen. It takes days to like, get all the stuff board up the windows. It’s just this whole thing it was crazy. Luis actually got tennis elbow from drilling all the boards up around the house, he got tendonitis.
Oh, that is rough.
It was rough, yeah.
So the chickens go into the kitchen. I’m assuming everyone else comes with you. You quite literally herd cats.
Yeah and the one cat, she was a feral cat that has just started moving into the house, and so, for her to go in a car, to a hotel, to a hotel bathroom it was a lot. Then, of course, at the hotel we had no power or water eventually, too. It was wild, but our home is fine. Everything is fine. It’s scary when you drive away, and you don’t know what’s gonna happen. Yeah, you guys have had a lot of flooding and stuff.
Yeah we flood quite a bit because we’re a small little island but I can’t imagine going through something like that. We had, like one earthquake, when I was quite young, and it was a really minor one. I woke up the morning after, my parents were like, did you not feel your bed shaking? I had one of those high top metal beds.
That’s what our kids have at home.
Slept through the whole thing, and I was like, no, they’re like we had an earthquake baby.
No, darling I wasn’t awake. Oh, how funny, we don’t get those in Florida. We had a few when we lived in California.
Yeah because you’d have been on the Santa Ana line.
Yeah, yeah. It’s kinda scary, but it’s been a while since we’ve had a big one.
So you guys moved from, like California to Florida. In my head I’m like it’s not that far, but realistically you upped and moved everything far away.
But it was good because we were moving back home. Now we’ve got our families around for the kids. And yeah, all that. So we finished, like undergrad College in Florida, and then it was the Bush vs Gore election, and then we’re like, we’re gonna go to California. We’re there 12 years, but once we had River, our oldest kid, we decided. Now, it’s time to move back. Be by the grandparents.
So I’ve been to Florida once, and we went out to see the like, crocodiles, and the manatees and they were like you can get in the water but just watch for crocs, I was happy on that boat after that.
Yeah, where there are manatees there, sometimes water moccasins and alligators. See they don’t want to hurt you, it’s usually just accidental. Even with sharks, they’re not trying to eat you, well they might be now they are starving. It’s our fault we ate all their fish.
And then we got in the water looking kinda like seals.
Yes, those surfers look kind of like a delicious seal, just a little nibble here and there, it’s understandable.
So, after this, you’re moving on to America for the rest of the tour after your cruise, which we’re hoping for no sea sickness.
Yes, please please.
Is it a similar venue size for you when you do the states?
A bit bigger usually in the summer, we’re doing the West Coast, so that’s Seattle, all the way down to San Diego. Then we’ll be home for a couple weeks because the kids are doing a special summer camp stuff, and then we’ll do the East Coast, so Florida all the way up to Vermont, and then down again. Then we just announced we’re doing a tour with Bowling for Soup that is just kind of the southeast because they’re headed to WarpTour. So, yeah, and maybe we are, maybe? We played the last one, I think, and then now it’s there again, which it should be. I mean, why not? It’s fun.
Thinking about this the first time I ever saw you guys was with Bowling For Soup and Forever The Sickest Kids in Southampton.
I remember, you know, because I think that day the QE2 was christened right here. We happened to be looking for food and we were in the square and a town crier got up on a thing. He was like Hear Ye Hear Ye! I was like, England is so weird, and I thought it was like a daily occurrence, but I guess it was special, because I haven’t seen that again. So, I think of Southampton, and it’s that
Just that’s the image in your head.
Yeah, we toured with Buzzcocks and we did play here. I think I can’t remember either, though. It’s all a lot.
It’s a lot, and you see a bus, a venue, and then a bus again.
Yeah, like, we try to get out here and there, but usually not too much. Yeah, I mean, we try to take a walk yesterday we were in Swansea. So, like, we went to the beach because it was sunny and blazing hot. So that was nice, a little bit here and there.
Do you have a favorite little part of the UK you found?
Not a part of the UK. Somewhere we didn’t go is Ireland, but I love Ireland so much, but it’s so hard to get there because we have to put the bus on a ferry, and you can only play so many shows there. So, the cost to, you know, awesomeness ratio gets tricky. It’s also different, which is fascinating coming from the states because it’s such a small area, but every little stop is very different. The accents are different, so it’s really cool. I guess if I have to pick a favorite place? I love Brighton, which we didn’t go to. We always go on, like the pier, and look for some seashells. We got really good Thai food there last time. But yeah, I don’t know. I like it all though.
Next time, you’ll be like I have to go back to Brighton for that Thai food.
Yeah, yeah, we need that Thai food.
That is a good thing in the UK. You can get basically any food you want.
Yeah, we have all been eating Ethiopian food for, like, three days. I don’t know why it’s just what we’ve been eating but it’s been great
Have you ever made it to Bradford, they do excellent Curry there?
Okay, we did have Curry in Birmingham. I had Curry for breakfast and Ethiopian for dinner. It was so spicy. It was so good. We’re only here so long, so I’m gonna get as much as I can.
Well Thank you for sitting down with me. It’s been a pleasure.
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