Date Signed: July 15, 2021
Label: Enci Records
Band Members: Melissa Brooks, vocals; Jacqueline Proctor, drums; Keilah Nina, bass
Type of Music: Rock
Management: Rick DeVoe
Booking: WME
Publicity: Mike Cubillos - Earshot Media, [email protected]
Web: the-aquadolls.com
A&R: Chris Georggin
It took nearly 10 years for mermaid rockers The Aquadolls to find a label, but it finally happened. The trio’s manager, Rick DeVoe, had been sending demos to various outfits, one of them being Enci Records. At the start of June, the ladies had a meeting in Huntington Beach with DeVoe, Enci’s Chris Georggin (who managed Blink-182 with DeVoe during that group’s golden years), and a few other key players. Lead singer Melissa Brooks calls what transpired “a cute little lunch.”
“They kind of fell in love with the songs,” explains bassist Keilah Nina, as the ladies rolled through Vegas. Continues Brooks, “I think they liked our energy, and we liked theirs.” The band’s first single with Enci, “Disappearing Girl”, emerged in late July.
Since they’re on a small label, a massive budget was never in the offing. That’s fine with The Aquadolls, as they’ve always followed a D.I.Y. aesthetic. For example, Brooks and drummer Jacqueline Proctor recently put together an audio-visual masterpiece to accompany “Disappearing Girl,” in lieu of a properly funded video. “We’ve been doing everything on our own since we started the band,” declares Brooks. “They believe in us and wanted to push our music. We were down with that.”
Besides having a smooth rapport with the label’s honchos, Brooks was already familiar with some of Enci’s artists, including Beach Goons and The Joy Formidable. The vocalist was also personally acquainted with Georggin. Given these connections, she figured, “This was probably a good fit.”
In the past, it was they who were knocking on doors. Now that they’re with Enci, the roles have reversed. Suddenly, they’re getting interview requests and their music onto playlists, one of which has a million followers. “A huge thank you to Enci,” gushes Nina. “We wouldn’t have been able to do it without them.”
Expect multiple fresh singles from The Aquadolls to be released later this year.
