Dorothy Fuzz
Out of Los Angeles’ back alleys comes Dorothy Fuzz, the duo of Dorothy Shepard and Jonah Bergman. Their debut LP Run Devil Run lands with a stark, analog immediacy of militant grooves and splinters of overdriven guitars and synths. What began as improvised noise has tightened into something deliberately surreal and subversive. Spread the gospel.
Hot Sounds: Where did you grow up and how did you first develop an interest in playing music?
Dorothy Shepard: I, Dorothy, was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. I did not have any formal art or musical education growing up. My interest in playing music stemmed from punk and listening to The Slits around middle school. I was enthralled by their piercing sound and ugly additutes and from there I started playing guitar. Jonah [Bergman] is from Los Angeles, and has also been playing music solo and in various projects since he was a teenager.
HS: What’s the story behind Dorothy Fuzz? How did you and Jonah meet, and when you joined forces, did you have any kind of shared vision or did it evolve over time?
DS: I knew I wanted to create a no-wave Dadaist project, initially a sound and visual project. I was interested in analogue video mixing and started a residency at Digital Debris Video gallery in 2023. Along the line I asked Jonah, who I had known since 2021, if he would like to jam and collaborate on a performance for the next Digital Debris night. When we got together, Jonah played bass and I played synth noises and the sound clicked immediately. Dorothy Fuzz is my punk name so we decided to name the project that.
HS: Do you remember the first song you wrote together? What did that early collaboration feel like compared to where you’re at now?
DS: The first songs we wrote and performed together were more of droning jams rather than songs. I was improvising lyrics like long form poetry and synth noises, and Jonah controlled the tape machine, drum machine and played bass. That first performance was somewhere between The Screamers and Karen Finley. Today our music has evolved into more tangible no-wave dance songs. Danceability is very important to Dorothy Fuzz.
HS: What were some of the musical or even non-musical influences that shaped Dorothy Fuzz early on?
DS: Jonah and I share many musical influences, perhaps right off the bat that’s why our sounds worked so well together. Our shared favorites are The Gun Club, Psychic TV, Rubella Ballet, Book of Love, and Pylon, we always listened to these in the car together, whether or not it translates in the music. We share a love for the leather look, Jonah tends to wear a full leather getup. The leather greaser look inspired our second video “I Wish.”
HS: What do you remember about filming the “123 Understand Me” video? It has a real public-access, Videowest-style to it.
DS: It was inspired by the militant look of the Italian communist band CCCP - Fedeli Alla Linea, the monotone drone of the drums and repeating lyrics felt like a marching beat to match the attire. Like a commanding dance beat. Unmistakably inspired by the apocalyptic nature of Los Angeles as well, that’s the case with all of my artwork.
HS: How did “123 Understand Me” come together as a song?
DS: “123” is a love song. Jonah had no idea it was a love song, he said he didn’t think it was possible for me to write a love song. It is simple and repeats over and over. Like the thoughts that loop over and over in your head when being in love. I was thinking about the addiction that love holds.
HS: What can you tell me about your debut LP Run Devil Run? What stands out in your memory from putting those seven songs together?
DS: We had a bunch of songs that were almost demos from the previous album and we felt they could be expanded on and developed in a studio space. With Run Devil Run we wanted to capture the songs we were playing as best as we could in a structured form. It was recorded on a Otari reel-to-reel tape recorder which was fun.
HS: Taking a look at some of its tunes, what’s the story behind “Jackie”?
DS: For some of our songs, we try to approach covers as more of a collage, like the cut up technique but with sound. This is the case for both “Jackie” and “Is That All There Is?.” “Jackie” is an homage to the Destroy All Monsters song “November 22, 1963” and we rewrote the lyrics and changed the melody to make it our own.
HS: Where did the idea for “I Wish” and “Running Running” come from?
DS: I write the lyrics to our songs. “I Wish” and “Running Running” come from a similar place, the internal battles I experience – feelings of isolation and disconnection. Dark humor and absurdism are arguably the most important aspects to songwriting and art making for me, as a reaction to the totally boring and conformist cultural production of today. I feel dark humor and absurdism translate in both these songs. “I Wish” is light-hearted self deprecation, imagining myself as a whore. “Running Running” refers to the darkness inherent to the waning battle against time we experience everyday.
HS: What inspired the newly recorded version of “123!”?
DS: “123” was written early into Dorothy Fuzz. The song and the way we played it live evolved with time, it got faster, almost double the speed of the original recording. I lived in Germany for a while, and Jonah encouraged me to switch the lyrics up and sing it in German, like “99 Luftballoons,” he says.
HS: What’s next for Dorothy Fuzz?
DS: Run Devil Run is coming out on physical LP through Gluemoon Records next month! We play the Moroccan Lounge on April 2nd. Come one come all.
HS: Finally, do you have any last words or advice you’d like to share with our readers?
DS: Long live the absurdists and the Dadaists. Long live Dorothy Fuzz.