Dorothy Martin was once an entertainer, dancing around different clubs in Los Angeles, including Spearmint Rhino.
“I was just trying to support myself,” says Dorothy. “That rent in LA is expensive.”
These days, Dorothy has traded the gentlemen’s club stages for the music stage as the lead singer of the eponymous band Dorothy. ED Magazine spoke with Dorothy, courtesy of Bob Chiappardi of StripJointsMusic.com. Among other things, Dorothy discusses how taxing touring can be, her new single “Black Sheep”, and meeting Dolly Parton!
ED: When Rolling Stone names you one of the 50 Best New Artists, how reaffirming is it to know what you’re doing is working?
DOROTHY: To get the blessing from Rolling Stone is really cool. It’s an iconic publication. Even if I hadn’t gotten their blessing and stamp of approval, so to speak, I would still be doing what I’m doing. It’s just nice to have that affirmation. Every musician wants to be seen and recognized for their art, so it felt really good.
ED: What’s one aspect of being a professional musician/act you had no idea to prepare for — or didn’t think would be so hard — when you were starting out in 2014?
DOROTHY: That would be being on tour. I’ve seen grown men cry. It’s a next level of exhaustion. Here’s the good part of it though — I’ve learned to adapt and overcome. I’ve learned I can push my body more than I thought I could. It’s a lot about mental focus and staying positive and then fans. You have to put yourself in their shoes — this is what they look forward to all year. Maybe they saved up money to go to a show, or maybe they’re going through a really hard time and you have a lyric, a song, a record that really spoke to them and gave them hope in a dark place and they just want to come to that show and have that experience. Once the tour is over, I go back to my life, I go back to a structured schedule, I get to sleep in. But, my first few tours I was like ‘Wow, they have no idea what it’s like to be on tour. The label has no idea.’ People who have not done it, they have no idea what the grind is really like. It can be brutal.
“However the audience wants to listen to my music, it’s different for every person. It’s up to them. I happen to be a very sensitive, intuitive person and when I write, I don’t use music theory. I don’t know how to read music. It’s all intuitive. I get this weird cosmic download where I’m writing a song and I joke about it, sometimes it feels like an angel is whispering the lyrics in my ear and I’m just the messenger writing them down.” — Dorothy Martin
ED: Did you ever do Warped Tour? Talk about brutal.
DOROTHY: No. I didn’t do Warped Tour, that’s even more brutal. If they had Warped Tour now, I don’t know if I’d be able to handle it (laughs). I watched a couple of documentaries, I know friends that have toured Warped Tour. Man, it’s like a traveling circus. It’s really crazy.
ED: You care about your fans — you authentically listen to them.
DOROTHY: I care about them immensely. The stories they come to me with, it’s this weird relationship we have where they feel comfortable opening up to me. If I didn’t hear those stories, what would I write about? What would be my motivation for putting out songs? Some of it’s selfish: like I need to write a song and be creative. But the fact that it impacts other people is so rewarding. It’s like we’re all in this together, you’re not alone. Music brings people together. It’s a really beautiful thing.
ED: I read in a story that when you were a kid, you’d “listen to the radio and … didn’t pay attention to the artists so much as the feeling of their songs.” Is that how you hope audiences listen to you?
DOROTHY: However the audience wants to listen to my music, it’s different for every person. It’s up to them. I happen to be a very sensitive, intuitive person and when I write, I don’t use music theory. I don’t know how to read music. It’s all intuitive. I get this weird cosmic download where I’m writing a song and I joke about it, sometimes it feels like an angel is whispering the lyrics in my ear and I’m just the messenger writing them down. It’s all very intuitive for me. If it’s putting me in a dark place, I don’t necessarily want to listen to it. That’s just where I am now. But I can relate to that. I love me some Linkin Park, they’re brilliant. Sometimes you want to go there — music can shift your mood and take you to different places. If I’m listening to something and I don’t feel stirred up in my spirit or I don’t connect to it with a feeling, then to me it’s not doing anything. But if I feel like it’s putting life into me, turning me on, lighting me up, flipping the switch — whatever you want to call it — there’s power behind that music. That’s personally how I experience things when I listen to it.
ED: In the same story, I read you described yourself as shy/introverted — how did you overcome stage fright? Do you still get butterflies on stage?
DOROTHY: I get excited. I think doing it over time, I guess I would say when I was a kid growing up, I was really shy. I was nervous about going out and interacting with people and talking to people. Now, I’m a lot more outgoing than I was. I honestly don’t know how I overcame that — I think it came with time, wisdom, age and experience really. But, yeah, I used to be really insecure. I didn’t want to talk to anybody. It’s crazy that now, I actually feel more comfortable going out on a stage and performing to 30,000 people at Welcome to Rockville than I do walking into a very crowded party — then I feel very uncomfortable.
ED: What’s the key to a great live show — what’s your most memorable live show (either performing or attending)?
DOROTHY: Key to a great live show: the energy of the audience is a huge factor. If they’re not into it, sometimes we’ll have a good time regardless but that connection with the audience, if they’re giving and receiving and it’s like this vortex of energy that swirls around the room. Having a venue that sounds great, having a really good sound engineer, a good mix so you’re not worried about those little things but you get to let go and soar. Those are all important. One of my most memorable, here’s the funny thing — everything went wrong at this show and yet it was one of the most epic shows. We played on 11/11 last year, Welcome to Rockville in Florida, 30,000 fans. Someone had to pull out so they bumped us to a later slot, which was great. I looked out into the audience and it was not as many people as I expected and I came back 30 minutes later to put my ears in and walk out on stage and it was a sea of people screaming and chanting. Then my in-ears went out and I had no sound. I had to go off of muscle memory. Having a good in-ear mix is really important. But that was a really epic show.
Who’s more of a black sheep than an adult entertainer? It takes one to know one. Why would they not be proud of who they are, their journey and who’s to say where that life is going to take them. I never thought I would do that and end up here on the music stage. When you look at it from a bigger picture, perspective, it’s a pretty awesome story. Hat’s off to all the black sheep and I’m just one of you. — Dorothy Martin
ED: What’s the most humbled you’ve been meeting a fellow musician — can you talk about how that interaction went?
DOROTHY: Dolly Parton. I met Dolly Parton because I was asked to participate in the “Dumplin’” soundtrack by Linda Perry, who was my manager at the time. This was on the second album cycle. I had just gotten off a long tour, I was exhausted. And then Linda goes ‘Hey, get some sleep cause you’re in the studio with Dolly Parton tomorrow.’ I was like ‘What?’ I walk in, she was like your fairy godmother. I love her so much. She’s wonderful and very humble, very kind, very sweet. I couldn’t believe it, it felt like I was in a dream. I was actually riddled with anxiety because how could you not. But she was so sweet and supportive.
ED: What’s your best gentlemen’s club story?
DOROTHY: My best strip club experience … my first tour was with Miguel. We opened for Miguel, this is my very first tour. They would go out and party, they loved it. They took us out to a strip club, bought us drinks, gave us stacks of cash to throw around. I was into my first tour, I was with Roc Nation, I was no longer dancing, I was a genuine, bona fide recording artist and it was really cool to go to a strip club with Miguel and his entourage. That was a lot of fun.
ED: StripJoints services DJs at gentlemen’s clubs nationwide, so, in your words, why would “Black Sheep” be a good choice to play at a gentlemen’s club?
DOROTHY: Why would they not!? Who’s more of a black sheep than an adult entertainer? It takes one to know one. Why would they not be proud of who they are, their journey and who’s to say where that life is going to take them. I never thought I would do that and end up here on the music stage. When you look at it from a bigger picture, perspective, it’s a pretty awesome story. Hat’s off to all the black sheep and I’m just one of you.
