Pop Religion

For Dee Dee, fronting a rock band wasn’t a dream; it was a religious calling.

“I spent all of my teen years knowing I wanted to do something like this, but not knowing how. I had terrible stage fright, I had no self-confidence, I didn’t know how to play guitar … I had friends in bands but I didn’t know how it could translate to me; that it was something I could do. Finally I started singing in my boyfriend’s band when I was 18 and it kind of just progressed from there. This is my calling.”

But which hand of rock was it that reached down and grabbed Dee Dee's guitar by its neck? Surely the clue lies in her band's name; 'Dum Dum' is a blatant reference to the Vaselines album of the same name. Then again, there's that Iggy Pop song, too.

“It’s about a 50/ 50 even split. They’re both massively influential and inspirational in terms of bands that I love that mean a lot to me. Both groups write perfect pop songs, they just colour them a bit differently, and that’s always been my interest.”
If Dee Dee is anything, she's prolific. It feels like Dum Dum Girls have only been around for a handful of years, and yet she's provided them with enough material for three EPs and two full-length albums. Songwriting is Dee Dee's craft, but it's still not an exact science.

“I remember I read an article about a woman who used a very antique form of poison to kill her husband... that spawned a song I wrote called ‘Mercury Mary’ which was on (our) first 7”. Usually my songs are more personal and narrative than that, but sometimes I just stumble upon an idea.”

The 'all-girl' band moniker is one that never fails to capture the media's attention. Perhaps it comes down to curiosity — it does for Dee Dee, anyway. “It’s a bit irritating to have your music categorised by gender… that can feel pretty small. But at the same time it was a conscious choice on my part. I’d never played music with women before, and I was literally just curious.”

Dum Dum Girls are headlining No Years at The Powerhouse on Saturday December 31.