Doll Apartments interview
Written by Mika Green
Sometimes being in a band is about more than the music: sometimes it’s about your singer’s love of mayo.
Doll Apartments is an indie rock band local to the DMV with a variety of different influences, comprised of Zhander Diaz (bass), Kiki Gazit (singer and rhythm guitar), Andrew Lloyd Hall (drums) and Chris Acuna Pineda (guitar). Each musician brings their unique point of view, coming together to create their most recent EP Operation: Mayo.
“You see a guy covered in mayonnaise with two, you know, Edward 40 hands, you’re like, I gotta see what this is about,” Gazit said. “In the age of clickbait and clicks, you see something that looks kind of crazy, kind of out there, you click on it.”
Operation: Mayo has tracks of multiple different genres, including pop punk, an acoustic track, and indie rock. Originally, it was supposed to be a collaboration with another band that fell through.
“We have three songs that are ready. And then [the other band said] hey, we had to evacuate our house because we had bugs. We had termites,” Gazit said. “So I was like, all right, I’m going to record an acoustic track because that’s easy to do.”
Bassist Diaz expressed his excitement for the tracks on the EP, specifically “I-270 South” and “6/8 (Drinking Alone).”
“One of my favorite moments on the whole EP is the ending of I-270. Just the wall of sound that you get at the end of that song,” he said. “Another favorite moment of mine is probably just the whole intro of Drinking Alone. I feel like it is so memorable. It builds up completely to that moment and like it just kind of sets the groundwork to like what the EP is gonna be.”
Doll Apartments seeks to present the unexpected to their audience, both within the music and live performances. They cite a well-received audience participation tactic as a big part of what makes their shows different from local bands in the scene. Gazit explained that each time, they will choose a friend from the audience to pick on and make up a story about leading up to the song. They also get the crowd to sing a call and response portion.
“I think for me, what I want people to take away from a Doll Apartments show is that they just had a good time,” Gazit said. “If you’re not laughing at a Doll Apartments show, then we’re doing something wrong.”
As the band continues to book bigger shows, there are challenges that come up when you begin to outgrow the DIY scene.
“The advantage of being in the DIY scene is ultimately everything is just easier. The equipment isn’t as complex,” Gazit said. “It sounds not as great, but the equipment is not as complex. So, there’s some give and take.”
The band names iconic DC venues as goals for the future of Doll Apartments, including Black Cat and the 9:30 Club. The next show they will be playing will be headlining at Galactic Panther in Alexandria, Virginia on April 3. They will also be going on tour over the summer with dates in Atlanta, North Carolina, and Richmond.
You can vote for Doll Apartments for the Let’s Go Music Festival Battle of the Bands.