Deftones or Dolonia

Dolonia headlines Masquerade for crazy crowd in Purgatory

Meet dolonia. A group that began as a Deftones cover band, has bloomed into an incredible force of their own. From performing for their friends at backyard shows, to opening for a band at the Masquerade, dolonia has made strides in the Atlanta underground music scene. 

So tell me about you guys. How did you start as a band and how did you meet each other? 

Dylan: I had a friend David, we met at a friend's house one day. I never met him before [and] I literally just asked him if he wanted to start jamming. Then he started coming over to my house and we would jam all the time. We played together in my room for like probably 4, 5, 6 months. Then we were like ‘fuck we should try to get a band together.’

Joseph: [David] was actually in a band with us at the time. It was like a jam band thing. And [Arik] just had started playing bass probably like 2 days prior. It was pretty bad 

Arik: That band unfortunately did not work. They did not show up to one practice. 

Dylan: We started all playing together and then we got our first gig within like a week of us playing.

Arik: Dylan and David came up to me and Joseph at a party and were like y’all want to be in a band with us? We were like yes! Please! So we got in a band with them and like deadass 3 days later we were at a show.

Oh my god, that's impressive. 

Joseph: Yeah, that show was mostly covers and shit. I think it was all covers, we had no originals. We were basically a Deftones cover band at the very beginning. 

Arik: Yeah, the best phase of the running of the show. 

The band is made up of four talented musicians. Dylan masters the drums and throws out vocals for more than half of their show-time. Both Joseph and Jack play guitar for the band but in different ways. A lot of the band’s songwriting comes from Joseph’s jamming processes on guitar and Jack helps out Dylan on vocals for the other half of their show-time. Last but not least of course, is Arik on bass to tie together the whole band. 

When it comes to songwriting, what's your process like? What are your inspirations?

Joseph: Before, I was just kind of doing whatever and I would just jam on guitar. And then I wrote like, I think about 5 or 6 songs. And then we only played like 3 of them. But then it got to a point where we only were playing my songs and then like 1 of our old guitar songs. But yeah, it kind of, usually I'll just be jamming at home on my guitar and I'll start improvising and I'll just come up with something. 

And yeah, that's usually how it comes out. But now it's a lot different. Like now we kind of, somebody will write 1 thing and then we'll all come together and kind of figure out our parts. 

Jack: We'll all expand off of each other. It's a great way, I dig it a lot. 

As a band, dolonia definitely expands off of each other and that can be seen quite clearly in their performances. They create an energy as a band that is just unmistakeable, it’s their energy. It’s the kind of energy where you see the videos after and wish you were there to see it. 

I interviewed the band after they had just performed their show at the Masquerade in Purgatory on June 29th and their camaraderie and energy was off the charts. It helps when they headline. That expectation and intense excitement fuels the crowd as they wait for dolonia to play. I could physically feel that energy in the crowd. Most of them are just kids but the presence they hold is incredible, and it all got released in the pit.

There was one moment during their performance when the music got low, and Arik held it in place with his bass playing. Their presence was thick and all of a sudden a pit opens in the crowd. So of course the band jumps at this chance and Jack and Joseph yell at the crowd to open up the pit. The song gets louder and louder, anticipation bouncing off the walls (also people bouncing off of each other). All of a sudden the fire releases, thanks to Dylan's drumming, and the pit surges close like I’ve never seen before.

You guys create such an energy that is unmistakable. It's your energy. How do you feel when you're up there and how does your music and emotion feed into that presence? 

Jack: I feel the most comfortable up there. I can basically do anything I like. I just always feel so comfortable up there. 

Dylan: I'm nervous as shit. 

Arik: I'll really just play bass. 

Joseph: The first couple times I was super nervous. A lot of the gigs, where there's less people, I'm really nervous. But then, the bigger the gigs got, the less nervous I was getting. 

Being on stage for me, it just kind of feels natural, you know? The reason why we create this energy is because we want people to be able to connect with it. We want them to feel like what we're feeling, even though we're the ones on stage playing the music. 

Jack: We want them to feel the same emotions we have felt before. That's our goal. 

When it comes to what you guys do on stage, especially singing and drumming which is a rare thing to see, how do you use that in your performance? 

Dylan: So singing and drumming, it's hard sometimes. Some nights it'll kind of click and then other nights it'll be like... 

I feel like it all comes down to what microphone stand I'm using. Tonight, I had a great microphone stand and man... That's a game changer. Best thing I've played in months, right? 

Joseph: No, yeah, this is probably the best show we've played in a while. 

Arik: It's a good show we've played in a while. This motherfucker is so good at drums. The only thing that can fuck him up is himself singing. 

I would agree with them that this has to be one of the best shows they’ve played. I first discovered dolonia when I saw them open for James Meizer in April at the Masquerade in Altar. This was just two months prior, and now they’ve made a name for themselves headlining their own show at the Masquerade in Purgatory. So of course I ask them how they feel about this substantial jump.

Dylan: It feels like a blessing. 

Arik: Fucking incredible.

Joseph: It's a lot better than playing with two heavy metal bands. It's kind of like playing with more shoegaze bands. Felt a lot better. 

Dylan: This show felt at home. It felt at home. Everything meshed really, really well. 

Jack: This show felt comfortable, and I felt like everyone enjoyed it because it was all consistent. It's the same realm. 

Do you guys pick bands you wanna play with? How does that work?

Joseph:  Well for this gig we did, usually we're asked to play gigs most of the time. 

Arik: For this gig I saw Yearn and Aphantasia live at the same show, it was Danger World. So I went up to both of them and I was like, y'all are really good, I want to do a show with y'all. Then I would mention that other band. [When I went] up to Aphantasia, I was like, you know I just saw the band Yearn, they were really similar. They did shoegaze [and] they were really good. I think we should all three do a show together at the Masquerade. 

It was an incredible decision. All of the bands meshed together extremely well because they had a good sound. Each band was so unique but they seemed to pull from the same influences to create a core connection. Dolonia even mentions that Pop McCartney was a great transition to have from Yearn to dolonia.

Who do you pull from band-wise when you're writing? 

Jack: So, I am inspired by a lot of just 90s in general. I love 90s alt-rock, I love 90s shoegaze and emo, I love all kinds of shit. I mean, I listen to a lot of different kinds of genres, but it all ties into my writing 100%. Just how I sing, how I write, how I play guitar, how I come up with things, how I write lyrics. It's just natural. 

Dylan: For me, my influences are probably Daft Punk, 100 Gecks, Machine Girl, any 90's house. I mean, Deftones, obviously, but that was kind of a... I'd go through stages of everything. The worst part is this is 100% serious. Shoutout Nothing. We love Nothing. They're a really good band, he just put me on.

Joseph: For me, it's Tool, Deftones, Loathe, My Bloody Valentine, [and] Outfield Clovers.

Arik: Mine used to be Deftones a lot, and then that kind of stopped. Now it's like mostly shoegaze and Loathe and Joseph, because whenever he writes something on page, it's really cool. Joseph was the OG influence. 

Essentially, the band seems to agree on three bands that they love to pull from. Loathe, Deftones, and Tool. They don’t know why Tool, but Tool. Dolonia also mentions 90s emo and shoegaze as a great influence as well.

You can definitely see a lot of that through your music, and I think that's what makes you guys really unique. 

At this moment in the interview it was about 11:50pm and we were in the back stages of Purgatory. People were knocking on the door during the interview telling us that it was time to go and we had to be out by midnight. Luckily, I managed to squeeze in one last question while the rest of the guys packed up their gear.

Really quick, for my last question, tell me about dolonia., the name. Where'd that come from?

Dylan: It's a word coined by an author that he kind of just made up. It's like this author that makes up a lot of his words in his books. He has a ton of random words that aren't actually in any dictionary or anything. Dolonia is one of those words.

It basically means the feeling that you don't understand why people enjoy your company to the point where you can't really fathom someone liking your presence. 

image from: the dictionary of obscure sorrows

It was a pleasure to be able to interview these guys and honestly, I can’t wait to see them live again! So keep an eye out for dolonia., expect new music, and catch them at their next show! You can stay updated about all upcoming shows on our website, urstruly-zip.com :)

Special thanks to Dylan, Jack, Arik, and Joseph of dolonia for letting me interview them!

Cover photo credit to dolonia on Instagram (@doloniaband)