Q&A: Dolly Doops Calls Out Patriarchal Tendencies on “NO MEANS NO”
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY IVONA HOMICIANU ☆
SPELLING IT OUT MIGHT BE THE ONLY WAY TO SEND THE MESSAGE—With “NO MEANS NO,” Dolly Doops reiterates what women have been thinking, though this time Doops declares it loud and without worrying how it will be received. In an enthralling rhythm, “NO MEANS NO” is a mantra for those who have had enough of silence in the face of patriarchy.
Doops is a London-based artist who lived in Italy, Cuba and New York before returning to the UK. She was inspired for “NO MEANS NO” by her own experiences living in various places across the world, as well as hearing the stories of women and non-binary friends and acquaintances. Doops spoke of her intention to delve deeper into subjects that concern her as a queer femme artist on her next project.
With an addicting beat and tongue-in-cheek lyrics, “NO MEANS NO” is a hidden gem of synth-pop. The bridge is particularly remarkable, with an address towards men who get offended when women call out these behaviours: “You say it’s not all men, how would you know? / When you’ve never felt the fear of how to say “no” / If you’re not the problem, why can’t you let go?” It is a moment of clarity that ties in with the chorus. The track showcases Doops as a promising upcoming artist.
LUNA: Congratulations on your single! Did a specific moment spark the inspiration for it, or was it an accumulation of things?
DOOPS: It was an accumulation of every day. It’s filled with those little comments, little things that men approach on a day to day. It was something that I'd jotted down in my notes for a while, and then when I eventually got to the studio, I was like, “Oh, this is the right time. I want to make this, I want to talk about this.” It’s a daily frustration all the time.
LUNA: You said you wrote this song to sing at the top of your lungs with your female identifying fans. You had a few shows in London recently, how did it feel to perform it?
DOOPS: It was great. It was a really hard song to sing as well. I was surprised at how the emotion in it just makes it come out. We originally pitched the song down a key, especially because there's a key change in the original key, I was like, “This is really difficult.” It's gonna be really hard to sing live, but then singing it, sharing a room with people and also the band that I play on stage with being female, non-binary, trans, is really empowering as well. It's something we can all share together so despite how high it is to sing, the emotion in it carries it and it feels really invigorating to sing.
LUNA: What other topics would you like to write about?
DOOPS: Eventually, every topic that I feel touched by. I'm working on an EP at the moment and it was quite fun to explore the new topics that are just away from the average, like love or heartbreak. We've talked a little bit about patriarchy, but in quite a soft manner. With “No Means No,” I feel like I've touched on that subject, but I've not gone straight with anger and straight to the neck. It's kind of just been average, day-to-day conversation. We've done the same thing with these songs. It’s a bit tongue in cheek, a bit jokey, but also cutting through. We've talked a bit about the struggles of growing up masking your sexuality and letting society teach you who you should be or who you are. Anything that I feel personally pulled towards or passionate about is an important thing to talk about and write about.
LUNA: Speaking of the EP, “No Means No” is going to be on it? Are there any of the other singles going to be on it?
DOOPS: No, it's going to be all fresh. [For the release,] I think we're aiming towards the middle of the year.
LUNA: The artwork is super interesting. It already sends a message. How did the creative process go?
DOOPS: That artwork’s so funny. I'd had this idea in my head, I wanted to write “No Means No” somewhere, and I was like “I don't know where to write it,” and I also don't want to do the cliche thing of a woman's mouth covered. I was in a bookshop in Hackney in East London and I saw this book on the wall. Someone's face had a sticky note on it. It didn't have anything else on it, and I was like, “That's kind of spooky. That could be something similar that I could try and incorporate.”
I was talking to my mom. My mom's an amazing artist as well so I was talking to her, which is very visually gifted. We were trying to work out a way I could find a sticky note that would be big enough to cover my face anyway. I toyed about it back and forth with lots of different ideas, and then classic ADHD, [waited] last minute to upload it. I've been so focused on getting the master back, I hadn't sorted the artwork out.
My girlfriend and I were at home and I was like, “Quick, I need you to just take a portrait photo of me. I'm going to Photoshop my face, blur it all out and see what happens.” I did that, and it looked really scary. I started to write “No Means No” and mask it all over, but it wasn't right. There was something missing. My girlfriend and I started to chop up eyes and collage eyes, because a lot of the concept I had for the press shots, which Clem Morris did and they're amazing, was chopping bits out of my face and putting it all over, which we did. This was way before that we'd done the shoot, but I went back to the reference photos I was sending her. My girlfriend's incredible at designing things and editing, so she helped me with the eyes. It came around naturally.
LUNA: Who are your biggest pop inspirations?
DOOPS: I grew up and will forever worship Lady Gaga, my die hard number one. My mum took me to see her when I was like 12 and it was the best night of my life. I also love Prince, he's always been such an incredible inspiration. MUNA, Rachel Chinouriri, I really like Alessi Rose at the moment, but then I'm also severely obsessed with Ariana Grande. I'm a Doja Cat stan, because I think she's another person that expresses herself without caring what anyone has to say about what period she's in or what stage she's performing at. I feel like she's similar, in a different realm to Lady Gaga, but I think they have that same sort of fearless, artistic attack, which I really, really admire.
LUNA: If you could collaborate with just one queer artist, who would it be?
DOOPS: Oh my god, that is so hard. I would say maybe MUNA. I love them.
LUNA: What hobbies have you been enjoying lately? I saw that you paint.
DOOPS: Ah, yes, I feel like I haven't been painting enough. I started uni, so I've just been head first in that, doing music production, but I do love sewing as well. I love making clothes and turning something into something else. I love oil painting. That's my favorite.
LUNA: Oh, that one's the most difficult one.
DOOPS: I find the other ones really hard. I don't know why I find oil the easiest. I feel like acrylic and watercolors, they're too… I almost need the thick, rigidness to be able to create what I need. If I paint with acrylic or watercolors, I paint like a five year old. It's impossible (laughs). My oil paintings are so different. I also got myself a coloring adult book. I think it's a really nice thing to do.
LUNA: What do you like to paint?
DOOPS: I'm big on portraits. I find it difficult to be a bit more abstract. My friend Dan, who's also an amazing painter, he's much more free and can just create these incredible, abstract paintings. We've painted together, and he's just like, “Just let go. Don't think about it.” And I'm like, “But I want to do this person's face, and I have to do it exactly like it looks in real life.” So I guess, what was that? Like portrait realism.
LUNA: What are you most excited for when it comes to, like, this upcoming year?
DOOPS: I am so excited to work on this EP and get it out. There's something so different about creating a body of work than singles, I have so much more to say in abundance altogether. I feel like I'm almost putting out a book. It feels like it has more of a meaning and a journey behind it but it's also perfect timing. Someone asked me the other day, how I feel like I've changed from my first singles. I actually feel like I'm making my music now. I'm not making music that I think I should be making. It's the perfect time to put out a project as I know how and what I want to say. I think I'm most excited about that. Keep playing live and meet new people and have new people here.
