Oh Darling has made the most of their two years in the City of Roses. Capitalizing on a wealth of adorable melodies and a healthy propensity for matching outfits, the group has scored themselves a recording deal with Los Angeles-based Creative Works Records and a healthy local following to endorse their speedy rise to prominence. The band consists of Oregon natives J. Marie Hall on bass, Jasmine Ash on vocals and keyboards, Jake Endicott on drums and Daven Hall on the guitar.
Darling girls and boys
Oh Darling has made the most of their two years in the City of Roses.
Capitalizing on a wealth of adorable melodies and a healthy propensity for matching outfits, the group has scored themselves a recording deal with Los Angeles-based Creative Works Records and a healthy local following to endorse their speedy rise to prominence.
The band consists of Oregon natives J. Marie Hall on bass, Jasmine Ash on vocals and keyboards, Jake Endicott on drums and Daven Hall on the guitar.
On Sept. 16 they will be releasing their debut album, Nice Nice, on Creative Works and in the meantime you can catch them playing at the Doug Fir on Aug. 9.
The Vanguard was recently able to catch up with the group, by means of the Interweb, to ask them a few questions which they happily answered en masse with a wealth of excellent information.
Richard D. Oxley: Where did the name come from?Oh Darling: We came up with a list of about 20 names that we put together by adding random words from books we had laying around. Stuff like, “Honey Comb and The Wolf,” “Sound Fight” or “When a Bee Flew.” All pretty bad. Oh Darling was on the list, we all thought it fit what we were doing. So it stuck, our name is not taken from the Beatles song. RO: Who is who in the band, personality wise?OD: Well the three of us, J. Marie, Daven and Jasmine, all live together and drummer Jake lives in the house directly behind us. So, we spend pretty much all of our time together, which is really conducive for lots of songwriting and tons of hanging out together. We’re really lucky because we’re truly best friends and work well together. I suppose Jake is the talker of the group. Daven would be the quiet one. Jasmine and J. Marie are the lively, outgoing and good-looking ones in the band.
RO: Describe your sound. Is there any style(s) you play or aim for?OD: Our goal has always been to write simple, catchy, straightforward songs. We just come up with stuff we think is cool and sounds good to us. We don’t really follow a formula or anything like that and so far the songs have come pretty easily. Either J. Marie or Daven will come in with a part and then it will just develop from there. So far it has worked out well, and our style has stayed pretty true through these past couple years.
RO: If you possessed your very own personal island, and it was therefore your own country, what would you name it?OD: Darling World.
RO: What was the best and worst show you guys have played?OD: We had an amazing show at Spaceland in Los Angeles in June. So far all the shows have been great. One time we drove all night after a gig in Los Angeles to get to San Jose, arrived at our hotel around 6 a.m., slept for a few hours, got up and went to load in for an outside noontime gig at San Jose State University, just as it started to rain. When we pulled up the guy just handed us a check and sent us on our way. So, would not really say it was our “worst show” because it never really happened and we did still get paid, just the whole driving all night and it raining during the summer pretty much sucked.
RO: Describe your first show.OD: Our first show was at the Doug Fir here in Portland. It was very exciting and action packed. It was only a few months after our band had formed, but we think we pulled it off pretty well. Since then we’ve really come into our own and really developed our live show.
RO: What do you look for in a band that makes you enjoy them?OD: Passion, sincerity and good songs.
Oh DarlingDoug FirAug. 9, 9 p.m.21+
