The Cherry Dolls have been around for just over a year, and they’ve already built up a strong reputation around the country. Following a string of singles, the band are about to step things up a notch with their debut EP. “We’ve got the EP dropping in August,” says Aubry, “and then we’re off to the States to record our debut album, and then we come back and we’ll be touring the EP.”
The first single from the EP, The Last Time, was released in early May. Aubry tells us that the song’s moody, laid back nature is an aberration from the disc’s remaining four tracks. “We’re getting asked a lot if the single is where we’re heading,” he says. “And with the EP, it really isn’t. We did the EP with Alex Markwell of The Delta Riggs at Soundpark [Studios, Northcote]. The EP is actually very different from the single. That was the song on the EP that just stood out, but the rest of the EP is just loud and really heavy. So we’re looking forward to people hearing the other side of it.”
The Cherry Dolls aren’t messing around; although the EP is yet to be released, they’ve already locked in a Los Angeles based producer for the recording of their debut album. “We’re going to be in the studio with a guy called Dan Horne,” says Aubry. “I don’t actually know what the studio is called, but it’s on Sunset Boulevard. He’s just a friend of the boys, and he just wants to have us, and we were just like ‘Yes. Yeah, definitely.’
“We’re recording it in August,” he continues, “so we’re literally going into the studio as soon as the EP drops. I have no idea when that will be released. I’d like it to be released in October… but that’s not going to happen. But hopefully we can have the first single out by the end of this year or early next.”
In the meantime, the band are revving up for the release of the EP with a headline appearance at RocknRolla 3; a four band explosion that comes to the Prince Public Bar on Friday June 26. “Yeah, we’re pretty excited,” Aubry says. “We’re really keen to play the night there, and it looks like it’s going to be a fun night. Nice, small intimate show, which will be good, and definitely an excellent, rockin’ lineup. So we can’t wait.”
We ask Aubry to describe The Cherry Dolls live experience for uninitiated punters who may be thinking of coming down to RocknRolla this week. “We always try to keep it interesting,” he says. “We like a lot of chaos, and we like it loud and sweaty and gruesome – just the way rock’n’roll should be.”
BY ROD WHITFIELD
