From Athens Math Rock to Portland Art-Rock: The Evolution of Death Doula

Transmission 108: Interview with Death Doula

Death Doula is an art-rock band from Portland, Oregon, formed by Kerry Jones and Kyle List. Their debut album, Love Spells, was recorded at Jackpot Studios with Adam Lee and mixed by Bob Cheek, released digitally through Death Doula Records. The band began as a collaboration between Kerry and Kyle, which soon led to their partnership in music and life. They later recruited Keith Vidal on bass and Adam Kozie on drums, adding depth to their sound. Their influences include artists like Can, Television, and Jeff Buckley. Death Doula’s music is driven by a raw emotional approach and a preference for analog techniques, with occasional digital elements.

Death Doula’s Bandcamp and Instagram

What originally led you to start making music, and how did those early experiences develop into Death Doula?

I was in a math rock band in college in Athens, GA called Who Is Myrtle Malloy? and we recorded a 5 or 6 song EP. I had played guitar a bit in high school, and knew this girl Erica Strout through the Athens music scene and from college painting classes at the Lamar Dodd School of Art at UGA. We started writing songs together, we both played guitar, and got this rad drummer Phil Horan from a hot local band called Maserati. No bassist! Phil became a good friend, even beyond WIMM? breaking up for dumb reasons not too long after we recorded our EP. It was never even put out! Eye roll. Our recording experience was with the guys from Cinemechanica who had a studio called Epi 1.

This was like 2005 or 2006. We were friends with all of them, I think Erica was vaguely dating Mike, their drummer. I had tons of respect for their band, and their taste, and their ears, so it was an experience I deeply enjoyed. I learned a lot there, about how recording actually works, the run of show, how to be efficient, how to calm nerves before a take, etc. We didn’t record the entire band live, which Death Doula did on Love Spells. I think it takes some maturity to know tracking an entire band live is cooler, and is gonna create a better, more cohesive and magical recording. That band was probably just not tight enough to even consider doing that back then.

What was the atmosphere like in the early Portland music scene when Death Doula was coming together?

Man, the scene has been still building itself back up after the pandemic to be honest. Granted, I moved to Portland from NYC only 6 months before we went into lockdown, so I don’t know Portland super deeply. Death Doula has been my project moniker for maybe 6 or 7 years, but I was living elsewhere. First in West Palm Beach and my boyfriend at the time Jeramy Lamanno played drums on the EP and I played guitar and sang and produced it.

Then with collaborators in NYC who built beats and produced and played keys on the next EP. So Love Spells is the first record I’ve made in Portland, and I’ve been playing with this group of collaborators for just the past few years. The scene in Portland right now still feels a little nascent to me, or like it’s creating itself anew. There are definitely bands who have been performing live there for ages, but maybe they have kids now and just do a show a year or something. The newer bands are interesting and exciting and explosive, and filled with very talented people who have cool ideas. Some of our favorite local bands right now are Nug, Ghost Feet, Dog Daughter, Nonbinary Girlfriend, and Forty Feel Tall.

How did your personal story influence the lyrical themes of Love Spells?

I basically wrote poems about events accompanying my life for the past 2 and a half years, guided primarily by the timeline of my love affair with Kyle Alexander. Other things happened in that time, such as my grandmother dying, which I wrote Dory Joins Alfred about. And not all of the lyrics are direct and specific like The Witness or Dirty Shirt, some are more abstract like Poet for Hire or Loom. Especially the beginning of a romance can be fraught with doubt, worry, and wonder, and I feel like this record perfectly synopsizes those emotions, while telling a success story of our dedication to one another. 

What role does experimentation play when you’re working together in the studio? Do you ever throw out entire ideas just to try something radically different? 

Yes to experimentation, though we all feel slightly differently about it. I added a bunch of vocal experimentation to certain songs like Obstacles, which I felt made that song. But then Kyle had a hard time adjusting to those changes. He can tend to get demoitis, where he is so used to the way we’ve been rehearsing and performing a song, and can’t adjust his brain to accept it a new way. We always find a compromise, but those vocal additions were kept, if shifted around slightly. Kyle added some really fun auxiliary instruments in the studio like autoharp and taishogoto, and played through a real Leslie speaker, and Keith would explore a synth and literally write a new part on the spot that created such a wonderful new dimension to the finished song. To be real, we usually don’t throw out ideas. I can’t think of a time when that’s happened. If we let an idea grow, it’s usually been nurtured enough and deserves a place in the final sound. We certainly turn down ideas though.

What was it like recruiting Keith Vidal and Adam Kozie to join the project? How did they influence the band’s direction?

Wow, god bless Craigslist. We have had such luck with little ads I post. I found both Adam and Keith through it!! Adam started playing with us when our former drummer Scott took a new job that was super demanding, and Keith saved the damn day when this other person we were playing with who shall remain nameless had a mental breakdown. Adam brought his jazzy, dynamics-focused playing style to the group, which I feel took our music to the next level. And Keith brought a sexy swagger, tons of confidence, and very good time keeping to the band. Kyle and I knew pretty immediately upon meeting him that we wanted Keith in the band. He’s so great at his instrument, and has cool gear, so that’s very clear. But he’s also just a tremendous hang. Wonderful person, dear friend. Again, god bless Craigslist.

Are there any non-musical artists, such as filmmakers or writers, who have had a major influence on your work?

I’d say David Lynch and Badalamenti are both huge for Kyle and I, though I’m sure that’s not a surprise to anyone who’s listened to our music. We’re both major Cronenberg fans, and love surreal, abstract, dreamy, visually arresting films. The Fall is a great example in that it sets up its own world, and keeps you suspended in it for the entirety of the film, but then even when it’s over that world is always a potent memory for the viewer. I think we want to make music like that. Our goal is not to sound like other bands, or to fit into a particular playlist sound, or to do something where a precedent has been set. We’re the most driven by newness and freshness, like our favorite films. 

What’s your relationship like with technology in music? Do you prefer to keep things analog, or are digital tools part of your process?

We really really really are analog people. Like top to bottom, living and breathing. Check out my massive CD and record collection and stereo with turntable, Kyle’s typewriter, or the music video for The Witness, filmed entirely on VHS. That said, of course there are cool little pieces of technology we use with zeal, like certain crucial pedals or Pool, for example. Kyle and I both love trip hop, and are interested in infusing beats into the sound of our next record. We’ve already begun writing some new stuff with Keith, and the beats component is so enthralling for me. I’ve always been a huge lover of hip hop and the drum sounds used, and it’s my dream to fuse art rock with doomy pop with structured industrial or 808 beats. 

What’s next for Death Doula after Love Spells? Do you have any new material in the works or plans to tour?

Yeah, we have a record release show at Lollipop Shoppe in Portland on October 10 with a solid bill. We’ll have CDs and tee shirts for sale there that night, our first merch ever! And the next night we have a record release gig in Seattle at Bad Bar with a couple rad groups. We’re also playing a gig on November 16 at Silver Moon in Bend with some great bands. We want to tour more, especially the festival circuit, and are open to opportunities!!

Matteo Damiani

Matteo Damiani is an Italian photographer and author. Curator of the sites Retrofuturista.com; weirditaly.com; china-underground.com and others