We were lucky to catch up with Dolly Dagger recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Dolly thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

After living in LA for a while and operating under the band/artist name Doctrin, I felt it was time for a change. The emergence of a new company of the same name and spelling had built a large online presence which was impacting my searchability; I was also feeling like I wasn’t myself operating under that name anymore. Everyone remembered my own name easily and often ‘Dolly’ would come up on show flyer or events where I had to ask the promoters to change it to my artist name. But, evidently Dolly stuck with people so I felt it was time to run with it even though it would mean having to create awareness of all new social and music platforms. I was definitely concerned that I wouldn’t be able to generate interest or get people to jump over to all new platforms, as artists we already rely on and ask our friends and audiences to ‘like this’ ‘share that’ I felt tired of constantly asking people to do what is basically constant small favours. But in the long run, it was the right move! It was a slow start but people started to realise I had changed my name and found Dolly Dagger in all the places that mattered. At the time it seemed so daunting to start again but now I realised how freeing and uplifting it was to jump in and do it!

Dolly , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m Dolly and I make music and music videos. I got started as an independent musician in Melbourne, Australia before spending more and more time in Los Angeles and eventually moving over there; which was exactly what I needed to learn and grow in both of those fields. It’s been a really slow build and a few hiccups along the way of course, but I’ve really found what I love most, what I make time for and more importantly the things that I don’t make time for! It has taken a while but figuring out the things that aren’t good for you is just as important and finding your passion, and sometimes that’s a learning curve. Finding my confidence to stand behind what I do, and how I do it, has been the challenge that I feel like I am finally rising to.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

It used to be whatever my idea of success was at the time, now it’s to live without regret. Did I stop myself from doing something because I was worried about what someone might think of me? Did I hold back my creative desire because of social pressure or imposter syndrome? I’ve done all of these things, and more, they lead to nothing but regret and time wasted so my main goal now is being my truest self, focus on making sure I live honestly each day and make my art!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

It might be cliche but, it’s meeting like-minded people and working with them, learning and growing together whether it’s long or short term. We all have so much to offer each other and this year working with others more closely has taught me so much about myself and how I move through the world, how I show up, what I give back and ho I can do that more and more. It’s also allowed me to learn who I resonate with and how that influences me positively.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dollydaggerxo.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dollydagger_xo
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DollyDaggerxo
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@dollydagger_xo
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@dollydagger_xo

Image Credits
Alex Lang, Kimberly Peterson, Michelle Shires