The EM Poll

The Donnas

Mar 14, 2008 5:48 PM, By David Simons

           

BASHING THE NIGHT AWAY

Road-Ready

Judging from the Donnas' massive live sound, it's obvious that few artificial ingredients were used during the making of Spend the Night. “That's the whole point,” says Robertson. “Don't get me wrong — I like overdubs, not so much because I like to layer the guitars but because a lot of the time the song comes into its own because of the overdubs. However, in the studio I purposely try to avoid anything that I can't easily do live — especially if it's going to be well up in the mix. Otherwise, I'll want it a little more buried and subliminal — I don't want people coming to the shows and saying, ‘It really doesn't sound the same.’

“Nobody ever forces anything on us,” she continues, “but occasionally someone will say something to the effect of, ‘Maybe it could use a little extra guitar here,’ or ‘What about these vocals? Maybe you should add some harmonies’ — stuff like that. But we're a band with one guitar and one vocalist, and we have to be conscious of that, or we'll end up with this big slick project that we then have to take out on the road.

“As a result, Brett won't do a bunch of harmony parts on the record if nobody's going to be singing them once we're playing the songs live. It's the same way I feel about my guitars,” Robertson says. “Sure, I want them to sound fat in the studio, but not to the point that I can't easily reproduce the sound once I'm onstage. We're kind of paranoid about it, and I know it can be annoying for anyone in the studio or at the label. But the thing is, we're the ones who have to tour and play those songs every night and deal with people and critics.”

“That's why I like to think of us as a true ‘live’ band,” says Anderson, “because we have a live approach to everything, even in the studio. And we've managed to pull in a lot of people who've heard us perform live. So obviously that's a big concern for us when we're recording — we're always asking ourselves, ‘Will it hold up onstage?’ As a result, we're very careful about how we put the songs together in the studio.”

Not that Robertson has anything against live backing vocals. “It's just that I'm not one of those guitarists who can easily play and sing at the same time very well! I mean, if the meter of the vocal part goes easily with the guitar part, I can do it. But if they're fighting each other, forget it — I won't even bother. It's just a coordination thing, really. So when things like that are suggested, we're very careful not to attempt anything we can't physically pull off later on.”

Love That Low End

Ironically, it took four women to prove to a generation of metal-head males that without blend and bottom, you're nothing. Bouncing on her throne like a windup toy with a jammed spring, Castellano propels the rhythm with a solid wall of crash ride and kick drum. Bassist Ford's playing is present but not obtrusive, leaving ample room for Robertson's thick barre chords and fills.

Even Anderson's choice of vocal mic — a Beyer M 88 (see the table “Miking the Donnas”) — is designed to keep the low end fortified. “It's usually meant for bass drum,” says Anderson. “But it gives me the sound I want. And it's an incredibly sturdy mic as well.” (At press time we were informed that Anderson was also experimenting with an Audix OM-5.)

Figure 1: Despite their success, the Donnas still use much of the same gear that they did in their indie days..

Though the Donnas feel right at home in tight quarters like the Paradise, the success of Spend the Night has meant bigger rooms and bigger audiences. Still, the band isn't about to trade in the gear that's served them so well (see Fig. 1).

“It's pretty much all the same stuff,” says Robertson, who holds down the fort with a Les Paul Standard through a Marshall JCM2000 half stack. “When we first got the budget, I thought about getting some different equipment to take out on the road, but I just stuck with my JCM2000. That's all I've used for the past few years — I don't deviate all that much, though I have used a [Fender] Vibro Champ for a few parts in the studio.” Robertson used a vintage JCM900 for a time, but eventually gave up on it. “It sounded great, but then it broke and we had to keep taking it to different people because we were on the road, which was a drag. So I finally just got rid of it and borrowed the money to get a 2000 — and it's lasted forever. To me, it's just the most versatile amplifier.

“In the studio I was using a Les Paul Junior Special, not a vintage one or anything, but it has an awesome sound,” says Robertson. “That and my Les Paul Television model are my ideal guitars — they use the P-100 and the P-90 pickups, respectively, which means you can get that low-end, meaty crunch yet you can still hear all the strings. Plus they have the ability to sound like two different guitars in one. I'd love to use them live, but I can't get the sustain I want out of them without using pedals.”

In Allison Robertson's world, pedals are prohibited. “It's nothing but amp overdrive, that's all,” she says. “I don't even bother with the overdrive button — it squeals, it's hard to control, it's just too much. The funny thing is that people are always coming up to me and saying, ‘That's great distortion! What kind of pedals do you use?’ No one can believe I get my sound without a box. I've actually had people challenge me because they saw me stomping on my stage tuner and just assumed it was a pedal! The way I see it, if you have a really nice guitar and a great amp, I just don't see why anyone would want to mess with the natural tone. I mean, it's not perfect, and it can change from place to place, but for the most part, that combo gives me great sound overall.”

Of course, it helps to have a pair of Marshall half stacks up there, right? Wrong. “Everybody thinks I'm using two Marshalls because I carry around a spare JCM2000 that I keep right next to the other one when I'm playing. Only the main one is miked, but I keep the spare switched on anyway in the event I happen to blow up the main amp [laughs]. I've managed to fool a lot of people that way — ‘Hey, cool, you're running two Marshalls, no wonder you get so much volume!’ And I'm like, ‘Well, actually, I'm just using one of them, sorry!’”

Given the size of the room, bassist Ford has been known to double up on her own arsenal from time to time. “I use an Ampeg 8×10, but depending on where we are, I'll sometimes go 16×20,” she cracks. “And I use both of them!”

Hanging Tough

Watching the Donnas at work, one can't help but think of such all-female bands of the past like the Blackhearts, the Go-Gos, and the Bangles — bands that lost the edge once the hits started coming. It won't happen with the Donnas, claims Robertson.

“That can't happen to us — I mean, we can't write ballads, we are who we are,” she says. “The thing is, people need to be reminded that there's nothing wrong with a simple lyric over a simple chord progression played by a band that just bashes away all night. That's what we're about.”

David Simons is a New England-based music journalist.