Viva Los
Dolls Joshua Aubry from The Cherry Dolls. The rock star among us.
PHOTOGRAPH BY DYLAN JONES
WORDS BY ELKE FLINT Some people just have theatre running through their blood, they can take to the stage like a fish takes to water; The Cherry Dolls front man, Joshua Aubry is a rock‘n’roll shark. If you have not had the pleasure of hearing The Cherry Dolls, they are a Melbourne five-piece who play swaggering rock ‘n’ roll and never fail to put on a killer live show. The Cherry Dolls are Jacob Kagan (guitar), Thomas van der Vliet (drums), Jim Stirton (guitar), Brendan West (bass) and of course, Joshua Aubry (vocals). Aubry’s stage presence is infused with a natural intensity. One minute he’ll be hanging from the lighting rafters and then next he’ll be straddling a speaker, sipping a beer while his boys crack into a hearty instrumental. His vocals are raspy and range from melodic to guttural screaming in a matter of seconds. The band is tight and their musicianship seeps through fine tuned tracks with ease and flare. I personally believe the justice of their music is best served in live form. I am told to meet Josh at the recording space of Alex Markwell, guitarist for The Delta Riggs. This surprised me but I understood the gravity of the invitation. I had always seen Josh out and about at gigs, constantly surrounded by or talking to people. I understood that this studio was no mere hangout space and I was going to get a rare glimpse into the bands working life. When I arrived at Markwell’s studio in Melbourne’s north, I felt like I had walked into an Urban Outfitter’s catalogue despite it being cobwebbed with cords. The walls were plastered with posters and a huge Persian rug lay under foot. Timber tables were dressed with pedals, cables and microphones and a couple of vintage leather office chairs were scattered around the space.
were scattered around the space. Josh was sitting on a worn leather sofa at the back of the room; the color of the sofa was a dark cherry. I thought this was fitting. He stood when I entered, shaking my hand and introducing himself in his natural husk. “Have a seat,” he said gesturing to the leather sofa. “We just finished recording our new single, Slave. Alex and the boys have just gone to grab some food”. I ask when the single will be released. “It comes out in a couple of weeks, April 21st. We start our tour Viva Los Dolls then as well”. I had seen The Cherry Dolls play a fair few times and was curious to see if Josh’s stage persona and general flamboyancy would carry on into the ‘real world’. He always seems to have a classic rock ‘n’ roll look about him and today was dressed in a Ramones tee had tucked into black jeans with a leather jacket and red printed neck scarf. He took a seat next to me, propping his foot up on his knee and throwing an arm over the back of the sofa. This introduced me to the glory of his winkle picker boot. I tell him they are glorious. “Thanks heaps, they are my new favorites”, he says with excitement. “Got them online from Underground England”. I ask him about his distinct style, if there is effort in this distinction. I also ask if fashion fuels his confidence on stage. “I was never a shy kid or anything but I admit I was pretty concerned with my look when I was younger. Clothes were a big part of finding myself. I think growing up in a small coastal town up north (in Queensland), I always felt out of place not being a littlesurf grommet and just kicking
around in flared jeans. None of that stuff really bothers me anymore; it’s who I am. I’ve grown to indulge my wild side, and to let myself let go. I guess that comes across on stage too.” Josh then got up to retrieve a tobacco pouch and lighter from the a coffee table next to the guitar rack before resuming his position on the couch to roll a cigarette. It is not hard to pick some of the musical influences in the bands sound, a dash of Lou Reed, a touch of Stooges, an arm and a leg from The Rolling Stones. I ask if it bothers him when people try to dissect their music in this way and call them out on their influences. He laughs and it turns into a slight splutter. “Sorry, asthmas playing up at the moment”. The irony is not lost on my when he lights his cigarette. “We get that a lot actually”, he continues. “People like to tell us what we sound like all the time but I just take it as a compliment, like yeah probably ‘cause I’m influenced by the music I listen to, aren’t we all are. I don’t see any issue in that being evident in our sound. I started my tribute band, The Smokes as a direct outlet for my love of The Strokes because of those comments”.
“Clothes were a big part of
finding myself ” Josh Aubry gave me a very Ferris Rotter got trapped in the late 60’s kind of vibe and I tell him this. He almost cuts me off in his fervor. “Oh man! I was actually obsessed with The Horrors when I was in high school. Ferris was my style icon. I was pretty influenced by The horrors and, yeah, just music and videos from the 60’s and 70’s, so you’re pretty on point! I was fascinated with the whole lifestyle of it.”
Aubry’s musical endeavors seem varied and constant. Apart from The Smokes, Josh and fellow Cherry Dolls Guitarist Jim, also play in another band called Batz in which Josh plays drums. He also spends most of his spare nights DJ’ing at The Evelyn Hotel, Ding Dong Lounge and Yah Yah’s. He tells me about this with enthusiasm and my response is simple, do you ever sleep? This warranted a huge grin from Aubry and as he took a drag of his cigarette, he lightly poked the bags under of his eyes. “I do, I just might be nocturnal now”. We spent another hour talking about Aubry’s love of 60’s rock, the obvious name influence from The New Yorks Dolls and how spinning tunes until 3 am can mess up your sleep. I had momentarily forgotten I was talking to a twenty-five year whose music career had exploded since moving to Melbourne some three years ago; playing sold out shows with adoring fans. It was refreshing to forget I was talking to a local star. I finally took my leave at the return of Alex, Jim, Brendon, Thomas and Jacob. Evidently, the rest of The Cherry Dolls were a lot less outspoken than Josh, saying their hellos to then position themselves on the various leather chairs, lighting cigarettes and sipping coffee. In the aftermath of our meeting, it would be easy to sit here and paint a picture of a young rock star that got too big for his boots, which I was prepared to do. We thrive on the rock star façade, but Aubry’s persona, this cool cat we see all over social media, at gigs a nd on stage; this seemingly staged character is just him, that is Joshua Aubry. I think we’ve finally found the real deal.
The Cherry Dolls new record, Viva Los Dolls is available now on iTunes, Spotify and in stores.
THE CHERRY DOLLS Left to Right: Jim, Thomas, Brendan, Jacob and Josh.