Breakfast At Léa's

Breakfast at Léa's w/ Dolly Doops

• Léa • Season 2 • Episode 3

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My next guest is rising north London pop musician Dolly Doops! We yap about her music, next project and she vows a music industry situation to NEVER find her.

Breakfast at Léa’s” is a candid and refreshing podcast where guests from all corners of the music industry share their stories, challenges, and lessons learned. Hosted with a perfect blend of casual, playful, and professional vibes, each episode invites guests to reflect on pivotal moments in their careers, tackle anonymous listener dilemmas, and vow, “May this situation never find me!” Whether sipping tea or taking a shot of tequila, the conversations are always relatable, honest, and a little spicy—just like the industry itself



Guest starring………..Dolly Doops
 Host...........Léa Mondo
 Music……….. Dolly Doops - Dance on my own
 Intro/outro song.......BAL theme tune
 Camera/sound/lights.......Louis Auneau
 Assistance.......Monét Auneau
 Set design/creative direction........Léa Mondo
 Video editor........Léa Mondo

Tags: musicinterviews music musicians #breakfastatleas #musicinterview #podcast #musicindustry #musicians

SPEAKER_00

Hello, hello, hello. Welcome again to another episode of Breakfast At Layers. And if you're new here, I basically oh I'm my way, that's my cats, I basically interview off-and-coming musicians, underground musicians that are loving me, basically chat, and we talk about our experiences, Jake Wisdom, and the swear situation that we shall not find it. So if this sounds like a bit of you, please stay tuned to the episode. Like, share, subscribe, and also listen up on Spotify Awards. My next guest is Queer Femme London Made out of artist Dolly Dupes. Dolly Dupes has a seductive twist and a touch of grit with similar sounds to Mina, Rachel Chinarumi, and Amy Hudson Set. Releasing music independently since July 2023, Dipes has been performing live sets on stage since being in school. During her first mini festival in Oxdam London at 14. Since then, played over 100 shows, small and large in London, the Isle of Wight, Bristol, Brighton, and New York. In 2025, Dolly Dips played 18 shows, including sold-out London shows in her female number 5 in the band at the Witting West Hamster. Art Club and the City Show at the College. WE P Uncertain is a retro out of the world topics, actually. Except you're in 2026. Did you baby awards George Viot said? Dolly Dupes is supposed to be factually in pop. And Wonderland magazine called her a rising star, making master all mysterious and pretty in pop. Alright, please welcome Dolly Dupes.

SPEAKER_02

Hi Dolly. Hi. Or shall I say dupes? You said short. Yeah, for shortened as a nickname.

SPEAKER_00

How are you today? I'm good. Your makeup looks so good.

SPEAKER_02

The sun was shining. I was like, my makeup needs to shine too.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Where is your lipstick from?

SPEAKER_02

This is half just like lip liner, half eye palette.

SPEAKER_00

I love that. That's really cute. So I want to ask the first question. What do you like to have in a morning for breakfast?

SPEAKER_02

I am like every single day I have avocado on toast.

SPEAKER_00

Love that. You're so London. Yes. You're shorted, babe.

SPEAKER_02

But like not even, I think I have I have it in quite like a boho way, I guess, because I always have I don't I have Biona bread, plus like the rye like cardboard finish bread. Yeah. Oh nice. Um and then like I have it with some like spring onions and some little spring onions, onions in the morning.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I know. You're wild.

SPEAKER_02

I'm a savory girl, like through and through.

SPEAKER_00

I love savory though. Yeah. I I like the idea of um savory breakfast. Yeah. But I never really just like get the how do I say this? Like, you know, Japanese breakfast. Yes. I never really get the um what's the word? Motivation to make it. Yeah. It's just like seems a bit too long, but like I love watching videos online about like how to make Japanese breakfast and things like that. I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed.

SPEAKER_02

I just need that like satiation. If I'm not satiated, I'll be like if I have like toast or like I don't know, something sweet, then I'll just keep eating.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Do you know what I mean? Do you have a sweet tooth? Not really. Yeah. Because you're more savory. Yeah. Like me. Yeah. I used to. I don't think I do anymore. Yeah, I don't have a sweet tooth really. Yeah, I never have. It's like spicy, savory, or nothing. But um, do you like spicy foods? Yes. Are you a foodie? Would you say a foodie? Oh my god. Yeah. Hands down.

SPEAKER_02

I'm like a bit too picky. Not picky, but like I don't want to say snobby, but like if I go out and have a meal and it didn't hit, I'll be I'll be upset for like a few days. Oh yeah, too.

SPEAKER_00

I'll be like, Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like it's not.

SPEAKER_02

Where do they get off on serving me that food? Yeah, it's just am I paying for it?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. It's not even just like like whenever I make food at home, because I'm very I'm such a food, I love making all types of food. Whenever I make food at home and it doesn't hit, I like it, it ruins my life. I'm just like, oh man. Because food to me is just like such a comforting thing. Yeah. It's quite meditative for me to like spend a lot of time making food. I love the whole experience. Yeah, yeah. So like it's like a ritual. It's a ritual, yeah. Yeah. I honestly feel like whenever like you like, I don't know, when you cook for someone, I feel like it's it's such an endearing thing to do for someone. It's so like intimate to like actually take your time, buy the food, cook it, and actually give it to someone. And if it if they don't like it, kind of like puts me up. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Also, I just love feeding people. I feel like my love language is like feeding people.

SPEAKER_00

What's your let's talk astrology? What is your star sign? I'm a cancer. You're a cancer? Cancer. I'm a cancer too. Stop. Well, I'm a June cancer. I'm 24th June.

SPEAKER_02

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

So you're like right at the beginning. Right at the beginning. Yeah, loads of Gemini energy.

SPEAKER_02

Almost a month later, I'm the 20th of July.

SPEAKER_00

You're July 20th. Oh, so you're like right on the cusp of Leo. So you must have some Leo in you. I do.

SPEAKER_02

My rising is a Libra. Oh, you Libra rising? I think. A Lovera. It's either a Virgo rising or a Libra rising. And then my moon is either a Virgo or a Libra. It's like one of those. One of those around.

SPEAKER_00

That's quite artistic anyway. Are you into astrology? Yeah, mainly just because my housemates are like, let's check out CoStar. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, not CoStar. No, no offense to Coastar. Well, they're not the best. No. They only give you so much.

SPEAKER_02

No, it's so true. Then they're like, pay for this. And I'm like, no. Oh, yeah, they try to make you pay for it. Why am I paying for that?

SPEAKER_00

Don't you have to pay for the app itself? No, I don't think so.

SPEAKER_02

I didn't have to. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00

Alright. I want to talk about your start to music, your journey. How did you decide that you wanted to do music? How did it like all start for you? Like when did you start? When you first realized that you could sing or like you had like an artistic motivation or whatever it is.

SPEAKER_02

I feel like it was me knowing that I could like perform and sing was like a different thing from me being like this is what I want to do in terms of like career.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_02

I think I always I never really took life that seriously as a child. So I was just like also severely dyslexic and like neurodiverse. So I feel like school kind of failed me a little bit. So I just kind of was just like, What am I doing? Like I'm not even trying, whatever. Um, but I got involved in like a lot of like music productions and I'd like perform for my family anytime that I could get them to listen. Yeah. Um and demoes. Yeah. You put on little shows all the time, all the time. Went to like got scholarships at like different um like not in school but like outside things like musical theatre weeks and stuff. Um, and just like tried to just express myself and find ways that I felt a bit more included in like school through musical theatre and art itself as well and music. Um but I just I was always people were always like you can sing, and I think I got it from my great-granddad or my my grandmother and her.

SPEAKER_00

It's in the family, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Not not through my parents, they can't even clap on beat, but um bless them. They they are massive music enthusiasts. Like my dad's taste in music is amazing, and my mum programmed music when she was younger, um, like on the shows and stuff.

SPEAKER_00

So you it's you've always been exposed to music then. Yeah. What type of music was playing in your house growing up?

SPEAKER_02

I grew up with a lot of like Buena Vista Social Club.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, your family put you up. Yeah, what is that song called? Chan Chan? Yeah, oh Chan Chan is so good to bang. That song just like oh it just makes me feel like everything is gonna be okay. It's that whole album is just brilliant. Good. I love how you said that.

SPEAKER_02

Tell me more, what else? Um, lots of Lauren Hill, absolutely love Lauren Hill, um, Erica Padu. Like then, I don't know, my dad had like he's got such an eclectic taste that then like he's obsessed with like Nick Cave. Oh, nice. So we'd have like so many different records playing in the house, yeah. Um but it just it gave me like a a real appreciation for like songwriting as well as music itself.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so you were exposed to like myriad of sounds, yeah, and then I would go off and listen to Lady Gaga, yeah. Like I I feel like that's that's usually how it starts in it. Like our parents laid a foundation and then were like, actually, I like a toilet. Yeah, actually, I love Lady Gaga, I'm a monster, you know. But I love Lady Gaga though, she's like incredible, yeah, she's so good, and I love how like her eras, all of her albums don't sound the same, like she's always like evolving, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

You know, it's which I think you have for like a lot of the greats, you know. If you look at like Michael Jackson's albums, Prince's albums, Stevie Wonder's albums, like all of them kind of transform and change, and that's like a true artist, yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_00

So, what made you decide to do pop music?

SPEAKER_02

Well, I when I came out of school was kind of like a bit lost on how to navigate myself and make music, yeah, point blank. Um so I started working with a management company that we kind of started making like RB pop Cynthia sounds, which it's funny, I've kind of like circled back to that now. Um, but it didn't quite feel right, like I didn't quite feel a connection to it at the time. Also, I think mainly because it didn't really come from me, it was like they were like, This is what we want you to make.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, then ones, okay. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And then I kind of went and ventured out on my own after I left that contract and dove a lot more into like soul and RB because that was like my peers and everyone around me. Yeah. And I love that music so much, but I always was just like, I don't feel like that's my like thing to that's not my voice to I don't know how to say it, but like that's just like you don't feel authentic enough really, yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's like you know, I'm not gonna go into a into a genre and try and represent it when I don't feel like that's really authentically me anyway. Yeah, but I love to like be there and appreciate it and especially like the actual musicality behind it. Um and then yeah, I mean I've always loved pop music and just like performing and being able to like prance around stage and yeah, true. Just like express yourself and things like that. And like that's what made me feel alive as a kid, is like when I'd go to shows and seeing performers like that. I think like first and foremost, I'm a performer, and then I'm an art well I'm an artist, but I'm a performer like at the front of it.

SPEAKER_00

No, I get that for sure. Like to me, I like to see myself like I'm more of a more of a writer who sings and performs, so that that's like my main thing. So I totally understand that. You said that obviously you're on the spectrum. Yeah. Tell me a bit about how it was like growing up without knowing this. Are you diagnosed? I well, I yeah, I was I'm still not diagnosed, but I should. I should.

SPEAKER_02

I think it's so it's so funny. I mean, I'm not diagnosed with ADHD, but I think it's like a You read this as a human design. I was diagnosed by another thing that was kind of misdiagnosed because they misread certain tendencies. Um but I was diagnosed with dyslexia at f at the age of five um which was the diagnosis was like such a like this is this is how she is and like there's no hope and she can't do anything. Oh really?

SPEAKER_00

So it's like it's like all in one.

SPEAKER_02

So it was like given a box that I then obviously never tried to like do anything with in school.

SPEAKER_00

Is it because of like lack of research? Because now it's more it's much more like prominent that like people are getting diagnosed.

SPEAKER_02

Well especially in young girls, it's like I think the um I mean obviously I'm not a doctor, I don't have all the knowledge, but from what I understand is a lot of girls their symptoms are very different and they're much more like it makes them a bit more like insular, like they they kind of go inwards rather than that sort of um hyperactive.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

I mean I'm sure there's still those symptoms in women as well, but yeah, I think it's more common for them to kind of retreat and be the isolate and be up to themselves or like introverted in any other way.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So I was like having tests done because they were like, Oh, she can't read this sentence, and it wasn't because I couldn't read, it was because I was like, What else is going on? And what's that?

SPEAKER_00

Your brains, I feel like our brains just like works over times, you know, like hanging around. Yeah, I've had this problem my whole life. Like, I should probably get diagnosed because I've read so much online, and obviously I don't want to self-diagnose, but like some things just like hit home and you're like, rah, I'm I must be. And I always had a problem with like concentrating on like when people are talking to me or like whatever I'm doing, but then say it's like this, it's like all it like all or nothing mentality as well. Like I get hyper like I concentrate and not on something, for example, like hyperfixating. Hyper fixating, yeah. Like whenever like I'm into like for example, astrology, like I get so obsessed with it, like I've been obsessed with it for many years, and I can hyperfixate on like things, da da da, but then like other things in life just doesn't matter. Yeah, and like I used to get into trouble because like I never would listen to people speaking to me, like I'll never really like understand things in school as like any other kids will, and I always used to think that like there's something wrong with me, yeah. Yeah, it's like that feeling in it where you always feel like there's something wrong with me, but like actually you're just on the spectrum, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And you just like people learn in different ways, yeah. Like everyone the word ones learns in the same way, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

It's true. What's your favourite thing about being an artist?

SPEAKER_02

Um I love just kind of I like the lack of routine sometimes. The lack of what? Routine. Routine, I do as well. Yeah. I like obviously in terms of like it still requires a lot of discipline and a lot of your own personal sort of like routine and rel like not religion, but like religious. Yeah, and like and doing things in a in a way that you have to execute your own routine and your own way of following something and getting something done. Oh yeah, self-sufficiency. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Okay.

SPEAKER_02

Um, but which I think sometimes you require more of that when you're not like in a nine to five.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I know what you mean. Because like that stability, I feel like that works hand in hand as well. We've just what we've just talked about. Sometimes, like, when you are on the spectrum, you do kind of don't want things to b have like too much stability. You could because like your mind, our mind works in like unpredictable ways. So like we kind of like don't want to be boxing on things, we want to like be free and like flowing and just like a bit unpredictable in ways. You're so right about the routine things because like I'm working so hard to like have a solid routine. I've never been okay with routine though. I've always been like, oh, I I feel confined, I feel boxed in, or things like that. I just like waking up and deciding what I want to do here and then instead of like having a solid plan. Yeah, but like growing up has made me realize that like routines are okay, and also no routines are whatever you want to do, it's alright.

SPEAKER_02

I just like every day being different, yeah. Like being able to still work hard at something, but it looks very different to what it looked like yesterday. And I'm not like moving about or traveling at the same time, or like being in this room or this office exactly the same time, like doing something different, and also following almost I feel like as an artist, you kind of your um journey each day or month or phase or you know album cycle or EP cycle, whatever you're doing, kind of reflects your own emotion and like things you've gone through. And I think that's something that I've almost kind of like crave in the way that I express myself is um you know, I've I've gone through this, and then I feel like I need to to have an outlet for it, and then also go through like a cycle in life around that, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that makes so much sense. Yeah, I feel that, but to me it's more like because of like always wanting to do different things all the time, it got into a point where I just kind of like I get burnt out because like I'm always wanting things to be different, but also like trying to be an adult. I feel like when you're on the spectrum in some way, like normal things that like you should be doing as an adult just becomes really hard. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? I don't know how you feel about that, but like just things like just normal days, day-to-day things like uh opening your mail, you know. I don't know like opening like my mail is just like I don't know what it is. Like I have to leave when I get a post, even if it's like something that I just bought online, it has to marinate for a while before like I get the feeling of like okay, now it's time to open it, or like sometimes it's like straight on where like I want to do it right now, but then like sometimes it's like I just need things to just like be there, and whenever I get the energy to like do it, then I would do it. Yeah, like procrastination is a big thing for me. How do you deal with procrastination?

SPEAKER_02

I um there's definitely certain things that I put off and then I get really anxious about because I find it. Yes, yeah. Um, but I I think the only way I actually can deal with it is I just have to like make myself really uncomfortable by doing it. Yeah, and then I get locked into doing it because I'm then I'll be like, okay, actually it's not that bad.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Um but yeah, I definitely I fight with my mind a lot before doing something. Fighting with the mind is so real. But I do a lot of um med not meditation, well meditation you could call it, but mindfulness, yeah. Mindfulness breathing, and yeah, um, and I feel like that really helps me like centre back to being like, actually, the fact is like doing that is really not that bad. I can do it. Yeah, it's just gonna take me a second.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it's uh it's like it's funny how you talked about the the anxiety behind all of that. It's like I get worked up a lot with anxiety, I deal with anxiety a lot, and it's just like knowing, like practicing mindfulness has also helped me a lot. I don't know about you, but like because of my anxiety, I tend to like do things very fast or not at all. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, so it's like I'm trying to find a perfect balance where like just like it's okay. You can brush your teeth for 40 minutes if you want to. You don't have to like it's like my nervous system is so dysregulated for so long. I don't know if it's just because of like the pandemic or just like life, but like I have this thing where like I do things so fast or not at all. Yeah, and I'm just trying to find that perfect balance of just kind of like it's okay, you can wash the dishes for two hours, just just take your time, yeah. You know, because when you practice mindfulness, you're in tune with your breathing and you you actually relax, you're aware, you're doing it intentionally. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, and you're present in that moment.

SPEAKER_02

You're present in that moment. Yeah, you see everything and and the importance of or the non-importance of things.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. What makes you more um what's the most uh how do I say this? What makes you more what's the most uh anxious thing about the industry, if that makes sense? What makes you anxious in the in the industry? What thing in the industry makes you anxious? Um we got there eventually. I think networking. Yeah, I hate networking. Yeah, like we should do it in it, but like I just I just hate it.

SPEAKER_02

I'm like fine if I go into an environment most of the time now, actually, to be fair, I go into an environment and I know I will see people that I know, or there'll be artists or producers or someone that I'm like, oh my god, hi, and then I feel a bit more. But going into a room and I'm like to go and like approach people and talk to them. Yeah, I'm an extrovert, but I'm also quite introverted. Extroverted introvert, yeah, me too. Like, so then in those situations, and I think sometimes as a woman, also you feel like you do have to try and present yourself in a very different way.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Um do you know what I mean? So I don't know, I just feel like I get very anxious in those environments.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, like I don't. Want to go into astrology, but like you said, like you have like uh either you have an Ermin or a Virgo mean that's very anxiety induced, yeah. That's me as well. Like, I get I don't like going to industry stuff, I really don't. I like going to shows, like you know, obviously, yeah, yeah. And but like when it comes to like, oh yeah, let's network is just to network, it's so anxiety inducing, and it's just kind of like, but once you do it over time, also normally at the end of the night, I'm like, that was great, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

But it's like the beginning part of it.

SPEAKER_00

The beginning is that to to get to that point where you're like yourself and you're like comfortable, it's like I'm gonna need a drink or two, like just to like, and that's another thing about like that. I feel like I'm on I'm you know on the spectrum. It's like when I have a drink, I become my real self. Like I I feel like because I I go through anxiety so much that like whenever I go out it gets even worse. Yeah, yeah. But like whenever I have like my first drink, that's when like I I like self-medicate, you know where it's like, okay, I'm my real self now. I can chat for days and I can, you know, oh I hate that though, but hey. Okay, tell me about your maybe not your favorite, but like what is your go-to-feel good album that you like to listen to? Like if you want to get in a good mood, what do you play? It's a hard one, though. That is a really hard one.

SPEAKER_02

At the moment, my dunno. I love Sabrina Carpenter. Oh yeah, I'm loving her. And I feel like her albums are very lighthearted that I mean there's obviously still depth to them, but they're yeah, they have a fondness about them that like just picks me up and I'm like, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. What's your favourite song? Well, what what do you gravitate towards her uh her music? Which song? I love it's hard, isn't it? It's really hard. I love her short and sweet album more. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

That's like it's really good. I love um Well, emails I can't send was the album just before that. Before that. I love that album. I need to listen to that properly. That's I love the album. Um and like just like the fun, and like there's a song on there called Nonsense, and just like the fun of nonsense is good. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, um, that's what got her viral when she was yeah, I think so. That's when she started shows with ending shows with like different things. Like that's when everyone was like, a star is born. Yeah, she's so cool. Have you seen her life? No, yeah. I wish I wish I saw her on her.

SPEAKER_02

I know I feel like she's been on tour for like five years.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I feel like the industry does this thing where like obviously if you just blow up, they'll just like pump you up, right? But I wonder if she's like I don't know, I wonder her relationship would burn out because like she just done short and sweet. Uh nonsense went viral, short and sweet happened. She did like a wall tour. Yeah, which is still on it. She's she's still on it. I thought it's sweetish.

SPEAKER_02

No, she's literally like doing the last few shows of the short and sweet tour.

SPEAKER_00

Wow. While she's just done an album, an album, which you're like, are you gonna go on tour of that album? She was playing like radio shows, she was doing like um festivals. Um I was just kind of every time I'm here, I'm like, you're working so hard. Like wow, like I I I wonder what her relationship with like burnout is. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? Like how what is your relationship with burnout? Have you ever been burnt out before?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I like to actually now I've just learned to just like stop. Um and like towards the end of the year, I could feel like I was actually getting to a boiling point, which I feel like is quite normal come like November, December time. Oh yeah, true. But my mum lives in the Isle of Wight, my dad lives in the my mum and dad live in the Isle of Wight. Oh nice! So I will just like take myself out and go there. Oh just be like back home in the middle of nowhere, go for walks, go by the sea. I think being by the sea for me is like so healing. Cancer. Yeah. Give me that water.

SPEAKER_00

Give me that water.

SPEAKER_02

Um, but yeah, I think allowing myself to actually do nothing, because I used to just beat myself up the moment I had a day where I didn't do anything.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

But I think intentionally doing that then stops me from having like over procrastinating, but also leading to burnout. I'm just like actually allowing that time to be like, I'm just gonna like enjoy time with my family and just like enjoy life as it is right now.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and just live life because once you start living life, then you have things to write about. Yeah, do you know what I mean? I totally relate, like I also just have a problem of um not doing anything. I was I don't know, it's like the hustle culture mentality, or I don't know if it's that or just like being in the industry. We always feel like we could be we could be doing more. You know, we scroll online and we're like I could like they're doing this, I could be. Let me just uh but like sometimes it's like it's like it's not your turn yet. Like sit down, yeah, watch telly, yeah, read a book, take your dog for a walk or some shit, and just like be present and actually live life so that you can have things to write about. Like I'm currently dealing with like a huge burnout that I'm just trying to shake, but um, I'm also just like dealing with it in a way whereas like I don't have to do everything in when it comes to like my own music, like singing and whatnot. I can do other artistic things, like cooking is like my way of like doing another art thing, you know. Like podcasts is a different way of me just kind of like doing something else that's still artistic, but not just me singing and like performing and things like that. So yeah, what how do you how would you say you get over how do you deal with burnout, except from like going to your parents and things like that? How do you deal with burnout in London?

SPEAKER_02

Um kind of the same thing to run as go and find myself in nature, yeah, rest, um, be with friends, enjoy again, like enjoy doing things that I think as artists and as like people who're self-employed, freelance, there's a really fine line between like your life and your work, and I think selectively actually taking time to be away from it.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Um, and and that's in London as well. So, you know, being like, I'm just gonna hang out with my friends, or I'm gonna go for a walk, or I'm gonna go for a hike and be in the park all day. Like, I'm such a nature baby.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

That that really is like restores me a lot. Yeah, vigilance. Also, like actually, you know, if I need to be productively dealing with burnout, I'll be like, maybe let's look at the bigger picture. What have I actually achieved in this so-and-so time?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Why am I like what am I, what's going on, and what do I need to be doing to actually alleviate this? And am I doing too much? And yeah, I mean, so it's yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, sometimes it's just like too much pressure on ourselves because like the world and the industry is always moving too fast that we feel like we should always move along with it. Yeah, but also as an empath, like I just absorb everything that's going on in a way. Do you ever go to like uh a show or like music? I don't know, any places where it's like loads of people, and whenever you come home, you feel like a shell of yourself, like it's like whenever I go out and socialize with big groups of people, I come back home and I'm like I have nothing to give. And it's that like empathic thing where like we absorb. Yeah, yeah, I hate that. Quick shout out before we get back into the episode. Do you like retrofits? Are you into gingham? Look no further. Because summer is officially here, and my gingham tie tops are ready to come outside. Cute, flirty, vintage inspired, and perfect for hot girl walks, festivals, dates, or just being the best dressed in the room. And while you're at it, make sure you join my newsletter for exclusive updates, behind the scene tea, music drops, and all that juicy extras. Links are below. But anyway, let's talk about no means no. I love that song, it's in my head right now. No means no. How did you come about it? What inspired the track? The inspiration for the track.

SPEAKER_02

Um yeah, the inspiration for no me know no means oh my god, let me say that again. The inspir The inspiration the inspiration for no means know was just general day-to-day like echoing from men and frustration, really. Um, but I I didn't want to go at it in like a really angry way that might be a bit like counterproductive in terms of. It's interesting you say that. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. I think I'm not an angry person. I think things really frustrate me and upset me, and I um feel really passionate about things, but I think anger is like an emotion that I don't really feel.

SPEAKER_00

I get well. Like it's an emotion that you don't like to be subjected to.

SPEAKER_02

I think I get well I do get angry, of course. Of course, there's things that happen to people and groups of people and that absolutely like infuriate me and make my blood boil, but I think how I then respond to it isn't in an angry motion. Yeah. Um and I think I wanted to then like reflect that in no means no, in how I would talk about something. So, you know, there is little tinges of like anger in it.

SPEAKER_00

I like it.

SPEAKER_02

But it's like also a bit like tongue-in-cheek, yeah, a bit like you know, like F you but without actually being like straight. Do you know what I mean? I don't know it's it's it was a bit like it was fun to write. We had like a play of like each word, and um yeah, it kind of came about just from me just typically just like I was on I was out walking in the woods and was just voice noting um the verse, like the rhythm of it, and then kind of came out with some words. Nice, yeah. Who do you work with? So I work with mainly work with two different producers called Adriano and Siegs. Um, and then I produce a lot myself as well. So me and Seegs kind of co-produced quite a lot. Okay. Um and then so but no means no was uh produced by Adriano and mixed by Siegs. Okay, um, but yeah.

SPEAKER_00

I like that, I like that a lot. I really it's funny how you say um you didn't want it to be like an angry song, but like maybe we should be angry, don't you think? Maybe we should say I think we should be able to do it. I feel like as as a woman, we're like whenever we try to set boundaries, because this is a very like boundary song, like you know, whenever we try to set boundaries, we're called difficult, yeah. We're called mean, we're called bitter, but maybe we should, and it's I think it's healthy to be angry about when people are trying to mistreat us, do you know what I mean? Especially in an industry that's like male-dominated, yeah, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And whenever you try to set boundaries for the betterment of yourself, you get a lot of pushbacks in this industry, and it's just not right. And maybe we should be angry, maybe we should voice it.

SPEAKER_02

Women have so much to be angry about.

SPEAKER_00

We have exactly that's what I'm trying to say. We have so much to be angry about. So I don't I don't like stay stray away from like my emotions in terms of like not that you do, but like in terms of like voicing my opinions and like being passionate about what I'm talking about. And I think that's that's what makes like music so beautiful and sometimes quite authentic because like someone's is basic so we're all channeling our experiences to a song, and yeah, women have so much to be angry about, and maybe we we should be angry, you know. No means no. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02

I mean, I feel like it's especially like playing it live. I do feel like it does give like an opportunity for us to just like scream and stick it at the top of the lungs, which I think is also a very healing thing to do. Yeah, so it's like I didn't really write it for men to be like, let me educate you.

SPEAKER_00

I wrote it for women's full of them for the gays, yeah, for the queers. I love that. I really like the with or without you as well. Yeah, that's really good. That's my favorite one, though. I've just really liked how like poppy it is. Yeah, yeah, it's it's it's like your songs are quite anthemy, you know, like quite anthem. It's like I see when you just said right now, like you like playing it on on the show at in shows, and you you know, women chanting and things like that. I see that. When I listen to this, I'm like, yeah, this is very much like if I go out, we're gonna like say, like, no, I mean snow. Yeah, you know, it's really sick. I love with or without you. How did you come up with that?

SPEAKER_02

That is a totally different thing. So sometimes music obviously takes a while to craft, and you're like, I had this idea. Yeah, that was um, me and Jack, well, me and Siegs wrote that in 45 minutes at the end of the session. We were just ride themselves. We were like, We finished this, let's work on something else. And um we were just like, How long have we got? We've got like, I don't know, a little bit of time. Um, and yeah, it was really sunny when it sat in his garden, and it just all came in. The whole song came together in 45 minutes, um, and then the production I think took another like hour or so, so it's probably like the quickest song ever made.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. So, what is in terms of like your how do I say this, your process of recording? Do you prepare before because this one sounds like quite spontaneous? So you don't always prepare, do you just like go to the studio and just let the magic?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I think sometimes when you overthink stuff or you're like, oh, this is what I want to try and achieve. Yeah, you a lot of people don't then aren't satisfied with what they make. Of course, yeah. Um, so I think I'm very free when I go into the studio in terms of like if I have had an idea recently that I'm like I do maybe want to explore, I'll bring it up. But if it doesn't flow, if it doesn't feel right, I'm like Yeah, you just like Yeah, I get too frustrated if I get stuck on something for too long, and I feel like I just have to see what comes next. Um yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Have you ever like written a song like years ago and then it starts to make sense in like today's age? Absolutely like those old demos, I have a habit of like going through like my five-year-old demos and just be like, hmm, how can I remake this in a way for like to fit this type of uh I don't know, evil whatnot that I'm creating at the moment.

SPEAKER_02

I I've almost had a circle, like a full circle from that. Is um when I was starting as Dolly Dupes and I was coming up with like that concept as an artist, um I spent a lot of time in New York on like songwriting trips.

SPEAKER_00

That's so cool! Yeah. Oh, I want to do that one day. You have to tell me all about that after this.

SPEAKER_02

But so I was kind of living between here and there for like 18 months back and forth, and a really good friend of mine, Haven Bell, who I met there, um, we wrote a song in the studio together like three days after we'd met. It just glints like clicked instantly. Um and that was in 2022. Oh okay, and that song of just like has just been finished last week and is going on my debut. Oh no. So it's like but that's almost shaped the sound, and I've worked towards getting like getting the right sound for that song that I want to eventually make. That makes sense. Yeah. So it's like how I wanted to execute that song took me three years to try and understand because I was like, I actually that needs to be like that is a really important song to me, and it needs to sound like the music that I want to make. Um and like these are the influences, and I you know want these sort of sounds and sonics in, but I had to sort of get out a lot of music before that to then come back around to it. But I think it's really important when you know music lasts more than a year or whatever, you know.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I hear that. I wanna talk about your New York trip. So, how do you get into artist camps and how how did you go about stuff?

SPEAKER_02

Well, all of the stuff I did was kind of just independently led. Um I got a grant from the Arts Council to go for like two weeks. No back in 2022.

SPEAKER_00

Oh nice! What artist camp was it though in New York?

SPEAKER_02

It wasn't it wasn't a camp, it was just grant and I got a grant to just go and like explore networks and just meet people um and hire out studios and just write and get as many different writers together as I could. Yeah. That's actually a cool idea, actually. Yeah. And then from that, like came home and was just like I need to be back. So then went and like sofa surfed with the artists that I met um and literally was there for like three or four months. That's cool. And then came back, did the same thing again. Um, and yeah, I just kind of built network there and like did lots of gigs and put on my own gigs with other artists as well. It's just really fun.

SPEAKER_00

That's really cool.

SPEAKER_02

So, what do you think about the New York uh music scene in contrast to like the general scene in London um in New York is so cool, and I think I think there's real similarities of the cities. Okay. Um, and I know a few people like from New York who have now like come to live here because it's you know it's the kind of place that they feel sort of instantly at home. And I know a lot of Londoners who feel the same way. I mean, that's how I felt when I went, I was like, oh my god, this is my home, like I need to move it instantly. I feel that way in my episode. Um, but I love how queer it is as a city as well.

SPEAKER_00

Oh no, so it's very London, cosmopolitan. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02

City of the gays. Yes, love it. Um yeah, I think the music scene, there's like a really big like alternative scene there. Okay, maybe like less pop scene, but I think it is there, but not maybe so much as LA. Um, but just general art is just really cool there, and there's just art everywhere in every form.

SPEAKER_00

Um where did you um s uh spend most of your time?

SPEAKER_02

I was I literally actually was l in loads of different places. I was in Bushwick in Brooklyn a lot, um Green Point, Fort Green, Prospect, like around Prospect Park. I was in Manhattan, a very like one of my oldest friends lives in Alphabet City and the Lower East Side. Um, and then Haven, my very good songwriting bestie, lives in um Jersey City, so I'd kind of go between like New York and Jersey. Um and then also someone I stayed with lived in Harlem. Like I was just kind of literally just all around.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Um living your best life, yeah, exploring the big city.

SPEAKER_00

Lovely. Okay, I because I I wanted to ask you, like, what's the coolest place you played? You said New York. That's well, you didn't say New York, but what is the coolest place you've played? Would you say New York? Um, yeah, I think as a city, yeah. Yeah, New York. I think absolutely. Love that. All right, now we're on to our second segment of the show, Spicy Questions, where I'm gonna ask dupes some cheeky questions. Cheeky questions. And what's your pronouns? She her she her. Okay, I don't want to get it wrong. No, you're fine. Um, where she can decide if she wants to take a shot or tell the truth. So I'm gonna I'm gonna answer his own question. Okay. Let's actually put it on.

SPEAKER_02

Cut up some of this to have after a shot.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, of course. We actually do eat the cakes on the table, guys. This is just not for decoration. Alright, here we go. I have a shot as well. Um only if you like actually, we see how you do, we see how you do. Okay, first question. Dun dun dun. What's the biggest fake friendship you've you've experienced in the music industry? Tell us or take a shot? You don't have to say names by the way. Okay. You can just tell us a story or take a shot.

SPEAKER_02

Oh. Oh, she's like she's like, I might have to say. Take a shot.

SPEAKER_00

She's gonna take a shot. Okay. I feel like you're gonna you're probably gonna end up taking like five shots today. She's a good girl. It's Sunday. It's Sunday. And it's Mother's Day as well. Oh my god. She called my mum. Oh my god, yeah. It's Mother's Day here, but is it Mother's Day in in the rest of the world?

SPEAKER_02

I think the US has a different You're always trying to be different.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Oh my god. Alright, you can do however you want to do it. I can hold your mic. Shut, shut, shut, shut, shut, shut, shut, shut, shut. Do you like tequila?

SPEAKER_02

I love tequila.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. I love tequila as well. I can't wait to take a shot as well.

SPEAKER_02

I've never had tequila this early on a Sunday.

SPEAKER_00

Well, here you go. It's not even that early, girl. It's 2 p.m. Hey! I don't even need a liner. Not yet. Not yet. Okay. That's uh question number one. Spicy question number one. Okay, we're gonna do three. We'll be nice to you, okay? Okay. Have you ever felt like someone tried to block your career or gatekeep opportunities? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Ooh, I don't mind asking answering. Um I think they had in their head they had good intentions, but I had a my first experience with a manager, which I will also say I learnt a lot. We always do in it. He taught me a lot, um, especially being in like a studio environment. Um but he I would do things and spend days recording, spend days writing for briefs and pitching stuff, and um never quite saw the like benefits or even the check that maybe I should have seen from it.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, them ones.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, and I think I then spent a lot of time in a really important uh part of you know, my teenage years, especially focusing on something that someone of a much older generation wanted me to do. Um and made a lot of promises and never saw them through.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that happens a lot in the industry. Yeah, yeah. How did you navigate that though?

SPEAKER_02

How did you I saw it through, I saw through the contract and respectfully was like, you know, we we mutually parted um and you know, there's no bad blood, I've like still kept in contact, invited them to shows, um, and I don't hold them grudge or anything.

SPEAKER_00

No, it's just how you just learn from it, and like if if the good thing about it is like if you can have a honest conversation with someone and be mature about it, then you can move on smoothly.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I just felt like I dealt with it a lot maturer than yeah, 60-year-old man.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, oh honey, this it's the industry we're talking about. It's like high school, men with what we're like it's men we're talking about, and it's high school. This industry, you know, like they yeah, it's mad. Anyway, next question. Ooh, what shall I ask you? What's one thing in the music industry that everyone complains about privately but nobody says publicly? Actually, no, let me ask you this, let me ask you this offered an opportunity that felt morally questionable. I just sounded like, you know that meme where like the guy is like, let me tell you something, let me do something, let me tell you something Um I yeah, I have a lot of um I'm still trying to work out how I feel about AI and AI's Oh yeah. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02

What are we gonna do? About their yeah, about AI's sort of presence in music. Um and I've had a few things come up that have been quite big checks that I've turned down because I don't really want my music to fall into that yet. Maybe that maybe I'm not I'm not supporting AI, but I'm also not ruling out. I think that at a point there is things in the industry that will just begin to change and there's no there's There's no stopping it in a way. So yeah, exactly. I mean I'm not I don't think I'll ever get behind like my songs being written by a robot.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I just like people do that, you know. That's actually crazy. Did I know that we can tell? Like energetically, and just like I don't know, like you can just tell, right? When some I don't know, yeah. I've seen a few things online where it's just kind of like, yeah, that's definitely AI. Yeah. I feel like AI though is one of those things where like there has to be um rules and legislations put forward.

SPEAKER_02

And I understand like I'm not here for it in a creative sense at all. I understand that there's ways in the industry that you can't avoid it now, and especially with like research and marketing and there's obviously amazing ex like circumstances where for like health research and stuff, it can pick up on things a lot faster than other like doing it by hand or whatever. Um again, I'm obviously not a doctor and not completely scientist in it, but I hear you you know, I've listened to a few different things about it, and I'm mainly I think very strongly against it in terms of like what it's doing with wars, especially like things like chat GPU and what it's doing for the environment as well, but also the creativity side of just like killing that creativity and people who've trained their whole lives for things that then you know, just like at a click of a finger or a type of a sentence, you're just gonna completely like wipe that. Um so yeah, that's how we feel about it.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, we need to straighten up the rules and registrations and all of that stuff because yeah, it's just wrong. Moving on. The last segment of our show is called May This Situation Never Find Me. Please. Please. So tell me, dupes, what situation in the industry have you observed that made that has made you feel like I hope I never find myself in that situation?

SPEAKER_02

Um, I think there's been some incredible female artists that have really like led the way in terms of just putting their foot down and how they don't want to be treated or or um be made to be like a puppet. I think Ray and all she's been through is someone I I mean I admire her so much.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, she's incredible. Do you see how she strengths? Yeah, I'm not sure. Like how how do how do anyone play after that? Well, if Ray is playing, yeah, before me, I'm not playing. That's her night.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, that's her night. Um yeah, I think she she's someone who's really like put her foot down, and everything she's been through is insane. And I would never want to go through I mean in parts of it I've I've been through maybe like micro versions of it, but I would never go want to go through that in that scale. And then another person who's really putting their foot down is like Chapel, Chapelone. Chaperon, especially with like paparazzi, yeah. Um and the anger that she's being met with online is crazy.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it's just like because you're like people Because she she says no. Yeah Like fucking fucking check yourself like because she said no, it's crazy.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, also you know if someone if someone like um Princess Diana had that protection and actually had more not her I don't think it was her responsibility to tell their proper Ralsi, but yeah I think if she had people protecting her more you know and people would have people will be fighting for that online but then it's the moment they do see a woman actually stick up for themselves, it's like they're like Yeah, she's angry, she's she's difficult, she's yeah, or she's ungrateful, she's not using the same right.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, she's ungrateful, like but did you hear Boy George?

SPEAKER_02

What Boy George said of I'm just I mean anything coming from him, didn't he lock someone in?

SPEAKER_00

I'm sorry, I'm just like, why why are you in the chat? Get off the chat, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Get off the chat. A massive predator, anyway.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, he's just saying that because like no one cares about Boy George right now, no offense to people who do, but like it's just if someone wants to have their boundaries, let them have their boundaries. Like, it's it's never that deep, it's not that deep. It's just like anyway. We have some questions that people send in, and then we try our best to give them advice. So there's a few friendship question questions here. Someone said, My friend never supports my shows but expects free tickets. I stopped inviting them. How do you feel about that? I what's the advice?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, no, they don't need to be on the guest list. Yeah, if they come to the show. If you're not supporting, yeah. Also buy a ticket or don't come. As a smaller artist, you know, if I'm playing it of anywhere, I've got a big guest list. My friends know immediately they're on it. And when there is a guest list, I always put them on. Yeah. Um, but that's the friends that make an effort, the friends that like will be there, buy a ticket.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Um actually support. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Do you ever have those friends where like they yeah, they they they want to come and support, but they just stand there and just watch you the whole time, they're not really supportive. What do you mean? Like, have you ever had friends where like they you invite them to a show but they're not really enthusiastic about that? Have you ever had that? Um case study that I'm asking.

SPEAKER_02

Maybe uh, yeah, but I maybe wouldn't call them my friends.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that's so real. Um that sounds like a friend of me. I don't think we're friends. No, you're doing that. Friends support friends, and then support friends. Another last friend question. My friends say they support my music but never show it. Am I overthinking? I think it's like I feel like also I don't know. My thing is like I let people do whatever they want. At what at the start of like my career getting seriously, I used to feel like all of my friends and family should support me. But like most times, like strangers are gonna be the one who raps.

SPEAKER_02

Also, strangers are the people you make the music for.

SPEAKER_00

Yay, most of them.

SPEAKER_02

I mean, a lot of my friends are like my biggest fans, and I love them. So especially my housemates. You're lucky, but I do. But it's not always for everyone. Yeah, but also I have friends who like that's not their music, they don't listen to pop music, and I will never hold that against them. I mean, they'll they'll still share things for me um without me asking, and you know, they'll still when they're proud of me, or they'll post things like they'll post my song and stuff. Um, but I also don't ever have that expectation that they show it or that they will. So then when they do, it's a really nice surprise. Yeah, it's a nice surprise to you. I think when it's really hard to have that expectation for I do, you know, I think people should still support their friends and family and stuff, but I think, especially with something like social media, it's not the thing to get hung up on sharing it.

SPEAKER_00

It is hard though. I do see how like people can feel like um people the closest people around you should support everything that you do, and obviously this always coming to a right place. Like I would be I would be damned if my parents didn't support me, you know what I mean. That's like but at the same time, it's like when it comes to friends and things like that, it's like the expectation has to be very low, and you should thrive for people who don't know you to listen to because strangers are your your biggest supporters, like on the other hand, I'm like I don't want to have the low expectation for that support from my friends in a way like they'll support me by understanding if I, you know, am making in the process of making something and I'm not as free as I am, and they they allow that space for me to be distant sometimes when I'm really involved in music or um too busy to like meet up at a certain point, or if I'm broke because I'm paying for so much music, you know, that they're there to support that.

SPEAKER_02

So I feel like there's other ways where people can support you. But I do I do think you know there's a certain expectation you should have for your friends, and if it is something that's really important to you, obviously like voice and communicate it, yeah. But I think just like sharing music and stuff, like it's okay.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it's okay, don't fret. Yeah, well, with that comes the close of this episode. Dolly dupes. Thank you so much for being here. I've had so much fun having a chin wag with you, and I hope you have too. And then yeah, thank you so much for watching. Please like, share, subscribe, listen to Dolly Dupe's amazing music, and we'll see you soon. Goodbye. Bye-bye. Alright, we did it. Time for me to take a tip to keep that short. Sorry, I feel like I can ramble sometimes. I can't ramble. No, bro. I ramble too much at all. I'm just like trying to because it's very nerve-wracking for me because I you know, I don't really have any experience for the light. So this is like I think it's basically.