(Click on the band's picture to hear their new holiday tune!)
This year, OC/LB bands are giving us a season soundtrack, so whether you're rocking a merry beat or a melancholy ditty, we've got you covered. Punk-inspired rockers Franki Doll and the Broken Toys–Doll and guitarists Chris Khaos and Alex Smith, bassist Andy Montana, and drummer Jenson Avery–provide a pop gem called “I Wanna Rock (For XMAS).” Don't fret, you'll be covered with Christmas cheer as you listen to our twelve local artists belt their hearts out here. Meanwhile, read on to learn what Doll thinks of this festive time of year.
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OC Weekly: What's the best gift you've ever gotten?
Franki Doll: As a band, the best gift we've ever gotten is the ability to play our music to the world and write a new Christmas song together (and record this song for the OC Weekly!) Individually, we get a lot of gifts from our fans. They are pretty awesome. My favorite gift was a coffee mug that I got from our fan Pilgrim. It had a picture of me and our old guitar player on it. He played one last show with us, and it featured all of us on stage. Oh, and Panties (that's her name) made me a pink leather purse with our band's picture on it. Another friend, Ashley, made us a purse and shoes with our pictures on it. Lastly, the band got a blanket from Christy at the Coach House with our band name and band pics. There are so many awesome gifts we've gotten. It'd take forever to name the best ones.
What do you love most about the holiday season?
Doll: Well, that would depend on which one of us you ask. I just like the fact that it smells of Christmas in the air. You know, cinnamon, pumpkin pie. People seem to be more altruistic. If you ask Jenson, I'm sure he would stand there with a huge set of eyes, and a little kid's smile–clapping his hands and doing a happy dance yelling, “I Love Christmas!!!” (This happens every time you mention Christmas… no lie). He likes the lights, music, gifts–he's like a four-year-old on Christmas! Chris would probably say his favorite things are Ashley (his girlfriend), family, music, Jack Daniels, and I would probably stop with that. My guess is that Alex is would probably say something like his girlfriend Kelsey, his family and new video games. Andy is the newest to the band–so I can't really guess what he would love the most, besides family and video games as well. Since Andy and Alex live together, that's pretty much what they do–sit and play hockey video games on the couch. So it's automatically the first thing that comes to mind.
Were you naughty or nice this year?
Doll: I can definitely say without hesitation… we've all been a little bit of both.
Why did you pick this song? What's so special about it?
Doll: This song is special because it really represents the kid in all of us. We wrote it for the OC Weekly, specifically. We couldn't choose any specific Xmas song. It seemed like something that would be fun. I actually lost my voice and was really sick before the recording, so we almost didn't get it finished. There's more vocally I'd like to have done–but I couldn't sing it at the time, so we decided to give it our best. Honestly, it was very fun, and the world could use another happy Christmas song with a little rock in it. 🙂
What's your favorite Christmas memory?
Doll: My favorite Christmas memory with the band was a few years ago. We shut all the lights off in the house and lit a fire–there was about 15 of us, and we pulled an all-nighter with a few of the Broken Toys Family. We played “the name game” until early in the morning! It's one of those things that you would have to be there to understand. More than the “things we may get” are the people we get in our lives because of the gift of music. Our fans, our friends, our Broken Toy Army has a bond that is beyond the music. Christmas is no different, just more memorable because of the date.
