Bands take themselves too seriously. Let’s face it, even in their red, skin-tight jeans and neon-rimmed sunglasses - worn indoors - they still think they are the coolest thing on the planet.
But not girl band the Duloks, who sing songs about wizards, Mick Jagger, unicorns and eating fish.
Legend has it they formed via MySpace after drummer Mar said she needed a “female with balls with no shame.”
Mar says, “The actual quote is ‘NEEDED: FEMALE WITH BALLS!’ I never said anything about shame.”
That part was added by former Teen-C Princess Mira Maga, who replied, telling her to not accept applications for anyone else.
So, has Mira delivered? “She definitely has balls and is the official ‘dude’ of the band” Mar says.
Her onstage persona is definitely masculine – from the way she deals with hecklers to the way she once publicly told her future bedfellow he would get “hugs, but no fingerbanging.”
But even as the official “dude” of the band, she concedes, “We don’t really have any groupies.”
Not through want of trying though. After the Duloks played a show in Toulouse one French fittie hunted Mira down to the backstage area. “He came to see if he could kiss me,” she said, “but found me passed out backstage. He must have spent intervals of 5 minutes over two or three hours trying to wake me up to no avail. That's dedicated.”
The band’s travels did not end on the French Rivera either, the trio recently flew to Nuremburg where they were the top billing for Club Stereo.
The gig goes down in history as Mar’s favourite European gig so far, “we had a lovely audience of friendly Germans who knew the words to many of our songs and sung along,” she said.
Keyboardist and youngest member, Mina agrees: “We were a lot more prepared for the gig in Nuremberg and the people were amazing - friendly and knew the songs.”
From the delicate poptastic beauty of debut single (I’m Gonna Follow Your) Star Trial to the you-just-have-to-be-there humour of Bag Vegetarian the Duloks unashamedly write songs from the heart – even when they’re about having sex with Mormons or fears that you may be turning into the Rolling Stones’ lead singer.
“That's the whole point of the band,” explains Mar, “We are silly, even the serious songs are fun.”
Songs like (Don’t Leave Me in the) Lighthouse about a long distance love. With lyrics like “I can’t bear to be so wherewithal without you / Skies grow dark when your star is far” it could easily rival The Smiths for abject misery, but then the middle eight hits and Mar leaves her drum stool to perform a ritualistic sea dance with Mira, leaving Mina in charge of the music.
Mira explains “Dulok dances just seem to happen! If we do it in practice and it makes us laugh it stays.”
And that is the Duloks philosophy, to share the laughter, and to invent silly dances.
Originally published in UPP Magazine, 2007
