Bluesy hard rockers Dorothy initially revved up around 2014 in California, and are now one of America’s hardest working and constantly buzzed-about bands.
This year alone, the group’s gone out with fellow rock revivalists Dirty Honey, joined the now legendary likes of Disturbed and landed on several mega-festival bills, including the enormous Louder Than Life.
The Travel Addict connected with lead singer Dorothy Martin to not only talk about her local and national adventures, but the supernatural inspiration behind 2022’s killer album, “Gifts From The Holy Ghost.”
Along with touring with Dirty Honey, you performed at Louder Than Life. What’s it like to play such huge festivals?
Those festivals are always so well organized and so fun to play. I mean, Evanescence and Nine Inch Nails played. I grew up on these bands and I’m a fan. My boyfriend came out to visit and I’m really excited I got to share this experience with him. I always look forward to seeing the fans. It’s always a lot of people in the crowd, which is great!
When you’re on tour, what do you look forward to seeing or doing if you have free time during the day?
I usually like to go out for a jog. I do a lot of running and I usually do it if there’s a river walk or an area where there’s a cluster of museums. I like to jog around the city and stay in shape.
Are there any hidden gems in California or the San Diego area that that people should visit or things you love to do?
Mission Bay Park and Balboa Park are really cool. La Jolla is just an awesome area to walk around, they have a lot of art galleries and good food. Then you can go down to the water and see the sea lions. You can go snorkeling in the cove. The beaches are all really great. Yeah, there’s a lot of really cool hidden gems.
There’s also a 24-hour Mexican restaurant that’s in a gas station in Encinitas that has 99 cent fish tacos called El Pueblo Mexican Food. And they’re open all night.
What is your perfect day in L.A. look like?
Perfect day in L.A. looks like no traffic, no smog, 75, maybe a little bit of breeze. Maybe a mocktail at a restaurant with a cute partner or a hike around Fryman Canyon.
Then a show on the Sunset Strip when they had a House of Blues. I used to go all the time to see bands like Steel Panther. A night out with music at the end of it.
What’s your favorite club to play in?
I just had a really good time playing at the Troubadour several years back. It was really fun. It was packed. It’s small, it’s intimate, but it still feels big.
Your new album’s name ‘Gifts From the Holy Ghost’ is based on a near-death experience that you witnessed with your guitar tech. Are you a spiritual person or did this change your views at all?
Yeah, I am a spiritual person. I have a relationship with God. I believe in God. I definitely witnessed a miracle because he OD’d on heroin and was dead for a while. We were on a tour bus in the middle of nowhere and it took a while for the paramedics to get to us, so I know what I witnessed. God is good. God is real. That’s the day that changed me forever. And I’m more trusting now with that.
There’s a purpose for my life that I can’t always do it my way. I’m sober. I do a lot of prayer and meditation. I just try to get out of myself, and be a service to other people and realize that it’s just not about me all the time. And sometimes my way sucks and there’s a bigger picture.
I have to just be willing to kind of surrender to that. It’s a much better way to live than how I was living before. Once you see someone die and get brought back to life like that, it kind of changes your outlook on life.
You posted on social media recently about someone giving you a hard time about ordering non-alcoholic drinks. Tell us a bit about that experience.
It was a really weird experience and I don’t know what the guy’s story was. I just know that he was very ignorant and close-minded. He just did not understand the disease of alcoholism.
He said that he had voted against non-alcoholic drinks in Arkansas. I don’t know what that meant. I don’t know when it happened. But I said, “Well, I like to go out and have a good time, just like the rest of you.” I’m allergic to alcohol, so I like to have non-alcoholic options, and not drink Dr. Pepper, Coca-Cola and tons of sugar. Just go out just like a normal human being, you know?
And he goes, “Well, you don’t have an allergy. You have a weakness.” And I knew that I was talking to a complete fucking moron. I was like, okay, well, I could just crack open the big book of AA for you or point out the doctor’s notes on alcoholism as being classified by the medical community as a disease. But, okay, it wasn’t worth my time.
Unfortunately, there are people like that out there. I didn’t grow up understanding what an alcoholic truly was. There’s a stigma and a stereotype, because a lot of times mental illness and addiction manifests and it ruins lives. People end up homeless on the streets.
They end up doing things that they would never do sober or saying things they would never do sober. It just completely changes your personality. But I do think the stigma is changing and more and more people are getting sober. I run into more people that understand it, so that’s a positive thing. I have fans that come up to me and give me tips on the road, tokens for sobriety, or say that they’re sober, or just share their story with you and it’s really touching.
I definitely think it’s a huge trend right now where even alcohol companies are having non-alcoholic options at events or shows. Have you seen more options available?
Yes, for sure I just had a non-alcoholic beer with my lunch because I don’t want the soda. They have CBD drinks too that are really cool.
I think Ryan Tedder from OneRepublic started Mad Tasty. I love that drink. It’s not CBD. It’s not THC. So it’s not psychoactive. It’s like calming and relaxing, just like if you were taking magnesium or L-theanine, which is a natural supplement. It’s in a drink, it’s sugar free and I just love it.
I love that Ryan Tedder has a really great non-alcoholic beverage on the market. I do think it’s growing and it’s something that I’m interested in getting involved in as well.