Southern California based band, The Aquadolls, toured in the Bay Area recently. After their show at 924 Gilman, in Berkeley, Fog to Smog asked Melissa Brooks about new music, touring, and more.
Fog To Smog: If you had to describe your music to someone who had never listened before, what would you say?
Melissa: I’d say surf-rock-pop. It is fun, rock n roll inspired, “al-turnt-itive”.
Fog To Smog: You guys have been releasing a bunch of songs leading up to the album release. Why did you decide to release them all at once and how long have you been working on them?
Melissa: I’ve been working on the recording process since February [2018], but these songs were all written over the course of the past five years. The album will go in order and tell a story and it will make sense. It is dropping on Sunday [October 28, 2018], so I wanted to start building hype for our tour. Why not? I like them and I’ve been sitting on them for so long. I wanted to be like BOOM! BOOM! You have a song! You have a song! That’s how I feel right now. Everyday I’m trying to pick a cover and I’m worried that the file’s not big enough, so I have to keep asking my friend Michael for the high-res.
Fog To Smog: You have a very different line up than it was originally. How has The Aquadolls developed since its inception?
Melissa: It has been a really crazy journey over the past five or six years. A lot of people have came and gone, but I am blessed to have the people that I play with now. What I do is not something that everyone wants to do. It’s not an easy task to say you want to travel and play shows. It’s not easy, but it’s fun as shit and I’m glad that I have fucking friends that are down to have fun with me, and that’s all that matters.
Fog To Smog: How does your songwriting process work? Is it more collaborative or do different people write different parts?
Melissa: I actually write everything.
Fog To Smog: That’s so cool!
Melissa: On the new album I played all the instruments and I wrote all the songs. When we play live, I teach it to them and we rework it to make it a little more special for the live audience. But yeah, I’m like the wizard behind the music.
Fog To Smog: Regarding Aquababe Records, how did you decide to start your own label and are you planning on putting out other people’s music on it?
Melissa: Maybe. A lot of people have been asking me and DM-ing me saying, “Check out my band for your label!”, but I don’t know if I want to make it a serious label for other people. I just kind of made it because I wanted to start my own label and not have to depend on anyone else. I know what my fans want to hear. It’s hard doing it too because I’m self funding everything and I’m really broke, so it’s like kind of a struggle. I liked the name Aquababe Records too because whenever I mail merch I put “For Aquababe” and then put their name and I thought it was cute. When I made it for Spotify I knew it was going to be a self release, and it said, “What is your record label name?” and then it literally said in parenthesis, “(If you don’t have one, make one up)”. Then, I was like, “Oh shit, oh my God” and started texting all of my friends saying, “Help me! What do you think of this? This sounds stupid! I think I’m just going to do Aquababe Records because fuck it” and I just went with it.
Fog To Smog: How did you decide to self release on your own label rather than release with Burger Records again?
Melissa: I love Burger. I still work with them and we have shows coming up. I still love Burger, but I was working with other people and trying to sign to a major label and do pop music, but it didn’t work out and I ended up shifting my whole sound. I wanted to do it all independant and all on my own.
Fog To Smog: How do you think your sound has shifted since your first LP release six years ago to now?
Melissa: It’s a lot different, obviously. It just goes to show what kind of music I was listening to then. I still listen to surf-rock and that still inspires me, but I have always listened to every genre. I really love electronic music and I wanted to combine those elements together; the old sound, but with new, trippy synths and beats. So I’m just trying to make a new version. Actually, I’m not trying to make anything. The songs are just ideas and emotions I have, and they all just sound different. When the album comes out, you will be able to tell. There’s a song that is straight up a trap beat. Then there’s songs like “I’m a Star” and “Sick Sad Motherfuck” that are very punk and quick, short songs. There are thought out, sad, emo songs. The first half of the album is really happy. It shows me being hopeful, wanting to be a big star. Then I get heartbroken, and the whole second half of the album is really sad.
Fog To Smog: What’s your favorite part of the music process?
Melissa: All of it. I’ve had so much fun producing the record but it was also very stressful because I have a broken laptop. It’s really slow and hard to use so that is why it took so long, because my computer just lags. If I had better equipment it probably would have been better, but I had some friends help me. My friend Stephen helped me track a lot of the guitars, synthesizers, and bass. My friend Carley did the same for me in San Diego, go check out her band “Creature Culture”, they are really good.
Fog To Smog: Why did you decide to release an EP so close to the release of your LP?
Melissa: I just made that to have new merch to sell for the tour, and I just wanted to have a new CD. I’m really impatient. I’ve been selling them on my online store with a disposable photo, so it was a cute little package that I made, and I just ended up making a bunch of them to sell at shows.
Fog To Smog: What is your favorite song you have written so far?
Melissa: That’s released? Probably “Our Love” or “Wander,” those seemed to have resonated the most with people. Whenever we play shows I see people singing to those, and it is really crazy to see strangers singing my weird thoughts that I wrote into my journal and recorded into my computer one day. It’s really trippy. It’s a blessing. For the new album, I don’t know. They’re all my favorite. They’re all so different from each other and they tell a story about my life. It shows a progression. The album is going to be called The Dream and the Deception, and it’s the Hollywood glamour and then it goes to a really sad, fucked-up place. I really love “Toy” and “Troubled Valentine,” but those are old songs. The album was written over the course of five years. The newest one is “Burns2ash” and it’s really sad, but the beat is really happy. It sounds like a fun, upbeat, 80’s synth-pop song, but the lyrics are really sad. The album is a lot like that, where the music is happy but the lyrics are otherwise, or the music is dark but the lyrics are silly. It’s kind of all over the place.
Fog To Smog: What is your favorite show you have ever played?
Melissa: Tonight. Gilman. It was the best show ever. We play all over the place. Actually, I’m lying, we never tour and we need to tour more, but whenever we play up here it’s a great time. We play a lot in LA and Orange County and nobody gets down like they do here. The crowd was insane, there was a mosh pit the whole time, and I almost cried a few times. It was really sweet. It makes me happy. People are more appreciative when bands outside the local scene come to visit, because it’s a rarity. We don’t play here often, maybe once a year.
Fog To Smog: The last time you played in the Bay was the Random Door show, right?
Melissa: The one last year that got shut down and moved to the house? That was a crazy night. I’m lowkey so nervous, I asked Burd to play in the middle tomorrow so our set doesn’t get cut short since it’s another warehouse show. I’m very excited to play, we love playing all the shows. Warehouse shows, backyard shows, nice stage shows, all of them. Festivals, your coffee shop, your living room. I don’t care, I just love to play. We want to come back here and tour once the album is out.