|
|
The Donnas is the name of an all-women punk rock band that go by stage names. Donna C. (Torry Castellano, Drums), Donna F. (Maya Ford, Bass), Donna A. (Brett Anderson, Vocals), and Donna R. (Allison Robertson, Guitar), all of them born in 1979 make up the band. As best friends, they formed in the 8th grade to play for their school's "Day on the Green." They were the only girl band in their town, Palo Alto. They were relatively unknown until they were out of high school. They are all self-taught musicians and practiced in Castellano's garage nearly every day during high school.
Experimenting with different musical styles, they underwent a variety of band names (Screen, Ragady Anne, and The Electrocutes) before settling on the Donnas. They worked with producer Darin Raffaelli for their first two albums. They took a week off of their senior year of high school to tour Japan and experimented with riot grrl under The Electrocutes. They initially signed with Lookout! Records. As the band grew, they were urged to sign with a major label company. In 2001, they signed with Atlantic Records.
In 2002, the Donnas released Spend the Night. The album was their mainstream break through, and spawned the hit single "Take it Off". In the summer of 2003 they played the main stage at Lollapalooza. In 2004 they released their sixth album Gold Medal.
The band has been together for 11 years. Some of their influences include KISS, L7, Bikini Kill, Shonen Knife, The Muffs, R.E.M., The Ramones, and Bratmobile.
|
|
