Last September, I caught my first One-Eyed Doll show at the Token Lounge in Westland, Michigan as a part of their Halloween Tour just after the release of their Salem Witch Trials themed Witches album. It was a great communal experience. It was the first time I got to see another band that I would become a fan of, Stitched Up Heart, who was opening tour support. It was a lively show in which the duo of Kimberly Freeman and Jason "Junior" Sewell was one with the crowd, and afterwards they both took as much time as needed to talk to any fan that stayed after.
One of the best moments of night was when Kimberly threw out a small little fake skull into the crowd. Now to catch you up some, One-Eyed Doll has all sorts of props on stage with them. It's really fun. So when Kimberly threw this plastic skull out in the crowd, it landed right at my feet. As I pick it up, I look over to my right and there was this teenage girl with her parents, probably no more than 12-13 years old. She was eyeing that skull, so I gave it to her and she clutch it so hard to her chest and was so happy that I gave it to her. It's those memories when your young that will always be with you and that's what a band like One-Eyed Doll loves to give to their crowd.
One-Eyed Doll don't generally fit the mold of anything that you're used to seeing, but like a chameleon, they can seamlessly find their way to winning over any crowd. They have a do-it-yourself aesthetic that keeps them both creatively and personally connected to their music and their audience. "I think we just try to stay down to Earth and communicate with everyone," says drummer Jason "Junior" Sewell. "We're all like one big family."
One-Eyed Doll has a sound that never stays in one place. While sometimes its all out metal, it will go into these realms that touch on folk, blues, hard rock, pop, and even electronic music. It's in no way music that's for the middle of the road, its for the fringe. It's for the people that have grown tiresome of the regular and want something different, something that is as weird as they are. "I don't think we really pay attention to the trends," says Sewell. "We just make the music that we like to make and go from there."
It's music that might not be understood as first, through its dark and twisted humor, it's a fantasy world that hinges on real world thoughts, feelings, and insecurities. One-Eyed Doll makes music for those that want to belong to something, but are not sure what that thing is really, but it's okay, you don't need to know.
It's through music that we should be able to escape the crazy things in life. One-Eyed Doll's music is like that book you love to read that takes you into a fantastical journey to places you are not expecting, so open your mind and come along for the ride.
One-Eyed Doll play the Token Lounge in Westland, Michigan on Sunday, July 24th and will be back on Saturday, September 17th as tour support for Wednesday 13 at the Diesel Concert Lounge in New Baltimore, Michigan. For more information, visit oneeyeddoll.com.