Present yourself to the readers.
Hi, we’re Billy & Dolly. We are a Rock N Roll band from San Francisco. We just released a new record called Five Suns.
Who composes ?...How does it work in the duo ?
We write separately, but get together all the time to collaborate, help and encourage each other! Sometimes one of us will lend a hand to finish a song with a part (especially bridges) or a line.
Who writes the texts ?..What are they talking about ?..How does inspiration come ?
We both write lyrics. The inspiration comes from all sorts of places, from books and films to dreams and personal shit.
What are your personal musical tastes and your influences ?
We have a shared love for so much different stuff that spans the history of popular music from the 1950s to present. If there’s one artist that we’re equally obsessed with, it would probably be Gene Clark, with John Cale coming in close at second place. We actually met through a classified ad, and both listed Love (as in Arthur Lee) as an influence. We’re both guilty of mostly tapping into the past when looking for new things to listen to, but we dig quite a few newer artists a lot like Broncho and Cate Le Bon. On a recent tour we listened to a lot of The Kinks, The Hollies, Louvin Brothers, Todd Rundgren, Brinsley Schwarz, and believe it or not, the Grateful Dead. Actually it was mostly the Dead! We worried that we’d transform into a Jam Band by the end of the trip.
In studio, what was the ambiance for the album FIVE SUNS ?...etc.
The ambiance was dark as we were in a dimly lit studio with no natural light for hours on end, but it was really fun making this record. We recorded at New, Improved in Oakland, California just across the Bay from San Francisco with Jay Pellicci. The studio has a lot of great vintage keyboards, Moogs, a Juno and Farfisa that we tapped into along with Dolly’s trusty Wurlitzer. We did everything 100% to tape and captured a lot of stuff live that we built on top of. There was a lot of Scrabble played during the downtime between takes, very Rock N Roll.
How does it work for the design of the CD ? and why this title ?
Dolly did the art for this one! As for the title, it’s been kept a secret until now, so this is an exclusive for Rock Your Underground. When we started working on ideas for the title, we looked to the songs for inspiration, and noticed that both of us seemed to be obsessed with the Sun, as it kept popping up, five times to be exact, hence the title Five Suns.
How was the shooting of the clip SETTING SUN ? and why this choice ?
Dolly’s husband Andres directed this one, with the assistance of their daughter Sissel. We wanted to capture the spirit of our live show and include the rhythm section, Elliott Kiger (drums) and Charley Hine (bass) who both have put so much of themselves into this band and record. Sadly this was the night before Charley moved to Colorado to start a family. It was our last chance to play with him, so it was bittersweet. On the flip side we have a great new bassist, Dwayne Anderson, who brings southern charm, ridiculous jokes and a willingness to help out and fix anything to the band. With any luck, he’ll make his video debut soon.
What are your projects ?
This is our project! Billy has a side band called the Chores (with Dwayne and Charley) that will hopefully make a recording at some point in the near future, but Billy & Dolly is a our passion and forever project.
What's your motto ?
We’re afraid that would turn the readers off.
Website to remember
https://billyanddolly.com. For an addictive podcast on the history of Country Music that we just listened to for hours on tour, https://cocaineandrhinestones.com/
What would you like to say to the readers ?
Thank you to all the folks from Europe who have reached out to us and sent us messages to let us know they like our stuff. It never gets old to know our music has made its way from our neighborhood to yours! We’d love to come visit and play a few shows for you.
