Now we don't know a lot about DogGone, except they are from London - and their vocalist spends a lot of time on Twitter tweeting about football. So, since we had been fairly impressed by their two online tracks, ‘Lilith’ and ‘Romance’, we cornered vocalist Josh Esaw for a quick word.
Josh, what’s the background to DogGone, which I admit are a name new to me?Billy and myself started jamming together last summer and then Mary came in a few weeks later, Pete is our third guitarist after some toying around and line up changes, but this is probably the most stable line up of the band so far.
DogGone…interesting name, how did that come about?
It’s a Frank Black solo track. We all really love Frank and The Pixies; The Breeders are really cool too.
How would you describe the band's sound? ‘No Brow’! Yeah, No Brow. The songs speak for themselves: we've got something to say and we want to say it.
You have just the two tracks, ‘Lilith’ and ‘Romance’, online. But neither of these were a single release?No, we've never done a single as such, We're really keen to just let people have the tracks and get their teeth into them and find out what we're about. We would only ever do a single accompanied by a physical release because we're massive geeks about things like that and we're waiting for the right time.
Can you go into a little about what both songs are about?Well, ‘Romance’ is about being young and living in London, in all its glorious and not so glorious decadence. Once you turn 18 you feel like you've been given the keys to the city as it where and you can go out and party and do stuff like that, but there's always that moment on a dancefloor in a night club somewhere, where you're like ‘shit, is this it? Is that what I was looking forward to?’ You start to see through the neon lights and the cheap alcohol, and start to see that there isn't much depth or romance to the music or the experience; that it is shallow, and you repeat it and you just end up passive to what you dreamt about doing with your life when you were younger.
‘Lilith’ is about feeling insecure but wanting to fall in love with the world and each other; seeking that connection between each other and dropping the pretentiousness that you can sometimes accidentally get caught up; seeking that romantic idea of freedom and escapism in a Bruce Springsteen way, but in a South London sense and finding your own way into the world. It is hard not to be in a band and against the current government. We just want to reject that idea of living and do our own thing and make art we're proud of.
I see you were playlisted on Amazing Radio with ‘Romance’…Yeah. I honestly couldn't tell you how that happened. We just uploaded the tunes, and they listened. It just kind of came out of nowhere, with no real explanation.
Do you rely on any musical influences for inspiration to DogGone’s sound?We listen to a lot of stuff. I think we're influenced by anything that challenges us or somehow sticks to us musically. There's a wealth of great stuff out there, new and old, it's just finding it and working out who we are within that spectrum.
What plans do the band have at the moment? Right now we're in the middle of recording another track. This one is taking a bit longer than we usually take as we are really trying to get our head around what we want it to sound like. ‘Romance’ and ‘Lilith’ kind of dropped out of the sky in complete form, whereas with this one we're really excited by it, but I’s a slower process. Other than that we are just going to keep getting out and keep gigging.
And where might we see you live if we look closely?The ones we have confirmed at this stage are 1st June at Selhurst Park, Crystal Palace Beer Festival; 7th June at Scream Lounge, Croydon, supporting Cane Hill Drive. Then 19th June we play the New Cross Inn, the Fuzzed Up! Alternative Summer Party.
Also, just for you – Little Indie Blogs - here's an exclusive track that’s not anywhere else anymore. It’s a cover we did of ‘Velocity Girl’ by Primal Scream, which you can hear here
Since we spoke to Josh, they have streamed a third track, 'I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You'. All three can be heard below.
DogGone are: Josh Esaw - Guitars/Vocals; Pete Jewkes - Synths; Mary Norris - Bass; Billy Allen - Drums.
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