Garage rock duo, The Dodies, will release their debut album, It's One Hell of a Ride, on April 24, which features current single "Boiling Point," which can be heard here.
The duo are from the southern desert of Israel. Yoni Avittan is the lead vocalist and guitarist and Ran Aronson sings the backing vocals while simultaneously playing bass lines on keyboard with one hand and playing the entire drum kit with the other.
Recently, Rock Life had the chance to speak with the duo who shared what it was like working with Bumblefoot and what's next for the band.
Q: What was the process like while recording It's One Hell of a Ride? How do you think having Bumblefoot's guidance helped the project come together?
The Dodies: Bumblefoot pushed the project forward when we were at a dead end. We started recording the album at Orb studios in Austin, Texas, but had trouble getting Ran’s artist visa and that prevented us from flying back to the states. Bumblefoot decided to fly over to Israel so he could help us keep recording the album in our hometown. It was kind of a fun and surreal roller coaster, but he made sure we sounded like us as much as we could, so we felt good about the results.
Q: What do you want people to know about the album?
The Dodies: We weren’t trying to be “right” or “in style” when writing these songs, we were just trying to be honest and play the type of music we always felt was real and reflective. We feel like we did well in these aspects.
Q: How did the video for "Boiling Point" come about and can you talk about the meaning behind the track?
The Dodies: At first we imagined the video taking place at a honky tonk bar in some random country town in Texas. We wanted to bring dancers and professional drunken rednecks to dance and mosh pit at the bar, but that wasn’t a very realistic option at the time so we decided to do a green screen video instead, and go all the way with the self-aware feeling.
Yoni: "The song itself, like most songs in this album, was written when I was depressed and sexually frustrated."
Q: Your music doesn't shy away from hard subjects. Is that something that was important to you? Where do you draw the most lyrical inspiration from?
Yoni: I listened to a lot of punk bands growing up, a lot of their lyrics were very straight forward yet still fun and intelligent, like Sex Pistols, Green Day, The Ramones.
Q: Has the quarantine hindered your promotion of the new release at all and how have you been filling your time during all of this?
The Dodies: We’ve actually been working on a stop motion animated video. We’ve got a lot of time to draw and be creative. This is the kind of video that takes a lot of work and it would’ve taken us even more time to produce if we weren’t stuck at home.
Q: What's next for you moving forward after the release?
The Dodies: We’ve got enough material for a few more albums. We never stop working on new songs. Our desire to record our future songs is one thing we’re sure of as a band at this point. We also hope the release will be followed by a tour as soon as the current situation allows us.
Q: How did The Dodies come together originally and what is your favorite thing about being able to do this?
The Dodies: The two of us went to the same school, and we basically grew up together. We have been playing music together since we were snot nosed virgin fourteen year olds. We had a lot of fun back then, and we both also had a deep love for music and a mutual vision as to what “real music” should sound like.
Q: Anything you'd like to add?
The Dodies: Thank you for the interview! It’s One Hell of a Ride will be out on April 24, and available on all the platforms. Stay safe.
Today, The Dodies released the lyric video for their single "Sell Out."