The Donnas
Sweet As Ever At Sixteen
“How you motherfuckers doin’ tonight?!”
Brett Anderson greeted the crowd at The Troubadour in typical rock ‘n roll fashion but it was in sharp contrast to the greeting I’d received just hours before.
I don’t know what I was expecting exactly, but it definitely wasn’t what I found when I slipped into The Troubadour a few minutes after The Donnas’ soundcheck. It’s stupid, I know, but I guess I thought I’d walk in to them swigging whiskey in full rocker punk gear while tipping tables and cursing loudly.
Instead, I find them to be of normal-volume, sober, and fresh-faced, checking emails and chatting with friends. This discovery makes me fall for the group even more.
They are the quintessential pretty girls next door who just happen to rock harder than your boyfriend. And it’s this sweet girl on the inside,sexy rocker chick on the outside vibe that has Donnaholics going crazy for them all over the world.
So when I get the chance to pick their brains I want to know -when did it hit them that they’d made it big.
“It was probably TRL for me,” says Robertson.
“That felt like a big deal at the time because rock n roll bands weren’t getting played on there a lot, it was more of a pop music thing, like Backstreet Boys and that kind of music.”
“Saturday Night Live was pretty nervewracking too,” said Anderson.
“I mean we weren’t in the Top 40 or anything. We were nervous, the most nervous we’d been, because it’s live TV and it’s just one song, and you don’t get to redeem yourself if something goes wrong or if it’s not your best.”
The Donnas – Allison Robertson, Brett Anderson, Torry Castellano, and Maya Ford – formed the group when they were only 13 years old and after an unbelievable 16 years together they’ve released their career-spanning retrospective entitled The Donnas Greatest Hits, Vol 16 on their own Purple Feather Records.
“We just wanted to be able to release our record and it seemed a lot easier and more efficient to just do it ourselves. It’s nice to not have to answer to someone or ask for permission and wait for permission. I mean, the label always gave it to us, but it was that waiting period, that red tape, it really kills your creativity,” explained lead singer Anderson.
And now you can add motivated and intelligent to the growing laundry list of reasons to geek out on the girls. But don’t go thinking that The Donnas have gone soft, they still like to stir up drama now and again.
“Maya likes to start shit and well, if nothing’s happening, you have to make your own fun,” laughs Anderson.
“You’re not necessarily a troublemaker,” winks Robertson, “You’re just playful.”
DETAILS:
The Troubadour
9081 Santa Monica Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(310) 276-6168
Polaroid by Aubrey Nicole.
