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Oh Donnas
Casper prepares for a punk invasion
By RyAnne Scott
HiFi writer
Word about the Donnas is spreading faster than a high school rumor.
Ironically, the reputation of the four teenage girls from Palo Alto, Calif., and their curfew-missing, cheeba-smoking, fight-starting lifestyle documented on the album "American Teenage Rock N' Roll Machine" has become notorious since they graduated.
"It's easier to focus on the band now that we're out of school," says guitarist Donna R. (a.k.a. Allison Robertson, 18), of the band she's been in since eighth grade. "I used to just want to play guitar in my room all day. Now I can do that. As a result we've gotten much better."
The band formed when Robertson, Donna A. (a.k.a. Brett Anderson, 18, vocals), Donna C. (a.k.a. Torry Castellano, 19, drums), and Donna F. (a.k.a. Maya Ford, 19, bass) decided to play one of the typically male-dominated talent shows at Jordan Middle School. Under the name Raggedy Ann, the girls played fast, hard covers from bands like Ramones, Kiss and the Runaways.
"No other girls were interested in playing," Robertson says. "So we started practicing for this show that was about a month away."
They continued churning out their version of what a rock band should be. Entering high school, the band changed its name to the Electrocutes, steadily improving with daily after-school practice.
"In Electrocutes, we played really fast pop - too fast for anyone to tell what was going on," Robertson says. "A song was over before people started to figure it out."
Enter Super*Teem Records' Darin Raffaelli, Barry Gordy to the band's Jackson Five, who had songs written for the band that they played under the name the Donnas.
"All we had to do was learn the songs. Darin paid for production and releasing the singles," Robertson says of the Donna's early roots. "Usually you don't have a side project at age 15."
The group continued to play shows in the Bay Area with both bands. When the Donnas' shows became instantly popular, the girls became a bit conflicted.
"You feel bad when someone likes a side project better," Robertson says. "The Electrocutes practiced every day. In a way, we started to get jealous that the Donnas' material got more recognition."
In high-school fashion, the girls fueled a false rivalry between the Donnas and the Electrocutes, pretending both bad-girl bands were from the same school and hated each other. The Electrocutes, in a Palo Alto Weekly interview, slagged on the "goody-goody" Donnas.
"We played it up," Robertson says. "It was kind of a joke."
A joke that gained attention for both bands.
After releasing three singles and an LP on the small, independent Super*Teem, the Donnas signed to Lookout! Records, a larger Berkeley-based indie.
"People think Lookout! is all about politics. They ask 'Do you know Green Day?'" Robertson says. "We're kind of misfits, we don't fit in with the other bands on the label. Lookout! asked us to record with them. No one had ever done that, so we said yes.
"Super*Teem was Darin's thing, a friend putting out records. It got to be a lot of work," Robertson continues. "At Lookout! it's someone else putting the record out. They handle a lot of stuff for us. Like press - we've never had this kind of press attention before."
The Donnas' second LP, "American Teenage Rock N' Roll Machine" marks a merging of the band's split personality - many of the songs started as Electrocutes numbers. The tracks, like "Looking for Blood," "You Make Me Hot," and "Speed Demon," bring a gritty edge to the slick hard-rock they adore.
The Donnas' influences show like undyed roots. Robertson's guitar on the album is much like that of Kiss guitarist Ace Frehly. "Ace is the best of all time, impressive and simple," Robertson says. "I try to go for that — simple, impressive, but not over the top and showing off.
"The way we play now is the way I've always wanted us to sound. It's the sound I always heard in the back of my head."
Free from academic constraints, the Donnas will cruise their "American Teenage Rock N' Roll Machine" across the country for the next six weeks. This summer, their signature pastel T-shirts will show up on stages in Europe and Japan.
"The audience is way more responsive in Japan," Robertson says of the Donnas' enthusiastic Far East fans. "They jump, sing along, ask for autographs. It makes you feel bigger, it's very flattering."
Saturday, March 21, The Donnas take the stage at The Underground in Casper, Wyo., with the Groovie Ghoulies and the Homeless Wonders.
As these American teens age, how will it effect their rock n' roll machine? "The Donnas is about having fun, going out, beating up people who bug you," Robertson says. "The spirit behind the music won't change when we're not teens anymore."