A Start Of Something Great - The Barb Wire Dolls

By Bill General

Isis Queen (Barb Wire Dolls) by Bill General

It all began on a Wednesday night in December of 2010.  I had a chance to see a band that featured the guitar player from my favorite band, Pearl Jam.  His name is Stone Gossard, and his side band is Brad, which has been around almost as long as Pearl Jam has.  To make a long story short, while in line awaiting to get into the Roxy, where they were performing, an attractive woman (Isis Queen) wearing punk rock gear handed me and my friend a flier for her band from Greece, the Barb Wire Dolls, who were playing for the first time in the U.S.A at The Roxy on 12/18/10.  I knew right then and there I was going straight to iTunes when I got home to get their album, Punk The Fussies EP.

I purchased and listened to it that night and I was hooked on the spot.  I couldn't wait to see them perform live.  Ten days later I saw them perform, and even had a chance to meet Rodney Bingenheimer, the KROQ DJ who invited them to play.  Afterwards I was able to get a photo taken with Isis, and I got more information on their next shows.  I took pictures of the Barb Wire Dolls that night, but I had no idea at that moment that this would be the start of something new, something great. 

Prior to this night, the only bands I really went to see were the major label ones, like Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Metallica, Stone Temple Pilots, U2 (@ the Rose Bowl), Eddie Vedder solo shows, and even Reverend Horton Heat.  Although I've grown up listening to these groups, It also costs a bit of money to see them live.  I never really thought of seeing smaller bands at local venues.  Well, after 12/18/10, that was all going to change.

The next time I saw the Barb Wire Dolls was after the new year in 2011 in Culver City at Silver Factory Studios on Jefferson Blvd.  It was a very intimate setting, and here I met a few more other bands, Trash Monsters and The Swords of Fatima.  After the set, I was able to talk more with Isis Queen and the other members of the band, Pyn Doll (guitar), Krash Doll (drums) and Voodoo Doll (bass guitar). (Note: the band has since parted ways with Voodoo in 2012.)  A few weeks later, 1/26/11, I went down to Anaheim to see them play at the World Famous Doll Hut. 

The Roxy, Sunset Strip:Photo by Bill General

I would spend all of 2011 going back and forth to see the Barb Wire Dolls play residencies at the Doll Hut, On The Rox, and The Viper Room.  I wasn't able to see EVERY show, but I was damn close.  Along with seeing the Dolls, I have seen and met other cool bands, like No Victor, Clepto, Civil Disgust, The Blackhands, Brass Knuckle Voodoo, Piss N Blood, and Flexx Bronco. 
As 2011 progressed, so did my love of photographing these local bands.  Prior to now, I had always enjoyed taking pictures, but was limited by my distance from the stage.  And I might add, I started out with disposable cameras, which only gave me 27 shots per camera at best. This sucked because I wasn't able to see the image I shot until I had the pictures developed.  But fast-forward to the present and I'm using a Canon Powershot (point-and-shoot) digital camera, which allows me to get a few more than those cheap disposables.

Like I said, as I went to see more and more local bands play (either for free of for only $5 or so), I just continued to take more and more pictures, using many different angles.  I try to emulate to style of such photographers like Charles Peterson and Lance Mercer, who were both known for their images of the early nineties Seattle Music Scene (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Mudhoney, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, Tad, L7, Hole, and so on).  When I take pictures, especially in black and white, I think of those other bands I grew up listening to in my late high school to college years and beyond.  That being said, back to 2011.

From January through March I would religiously go to either The Doll Hut in Anaheim or On The Rox and Viper Room in West Hollywood to see and take pictures of the Barb Wire Dolls at their residencies at both venues.  The cool thing about this is that I also got a chance to discover other bands that played along with them, such as Trash Monsters, Swords Of Fatima, Les Aus, Prima Donna, Clepto, No Victor, Piss N Blood, Brass Knuckle Voodoo, Vicky and the Vengents, Civil Disgust, The Blackhands, Symbol Six, just to name a few...and this was only during the first quarter of 2011. 

Come April, the Dolls had to take a short recess to work in the studio on their first album.  They played a gig at the Viper Room near the end of the month to satiate our appetites for punk rock excellence.
I think it was around this time Pyn Doll started calling me the Colonial, the honorary rank in their Street Generation Army.  This was in part to me always going to their shows with camera in hand.  As I continued seeing them play, taking more and more photos of them, along with getting to know them better, I was promoted up the rankings to "General."  To sum things up, this is how Bill General came to be.  More on that later.

The Barb Wire Dolls' goal is that they wanted people to stop being misled by mainstream, corporate rock; to be stop being controlled in a way by what the media thinks they ought to hear.  The thing that really caught my attention with this band, along with the showmanship of their hot lead singer, Isis, is that this band stood for all that is right in the music scene today.  We, as their fans, are a part of the Street Generation, which shouldn't be construed as some corny phrase to describe a music scene.  Hell, there was "Grunge" to describe what was happening up in Seattle in the nineties. 

As Summer rolled in, I not only caught more Barb Wire Dolls shows, I also found myself seeing other bands as well, like Flogging Molly at the Fonda Theater in Hollywood.  Aside from The Doll Hut, I saw them at the Juke Joint in Anaheim (here they were interviewed by Rebel Radio), Alex's and Blue Cafe in Long Beach, Badlands in Hollywood, Weber's Place in Reseda, and finally Tiki Bar in Costa Mesa  (their last show in Southern California until June 2012).  As 2011 was winding down, the Barb Wire Dolls were busy as hell getting things together for their first U.S. tour, starting in Berkeley in late December and taking them all around the country in January 2012.  Check out their facebook page for tour dates.

Even though the Barb Wire Dolls were off touring the country, I found myself meeting other musicians and bands.  It was like a domino effect; one group would lead to another and then to another.  An example of this was checking out Electra open for the Dolls at the Viper Room in July.  I would see this band again in December 2011, and then again in 2012 at Skinny's in North Hollywood.  Next thing you know, I would take photos and get information on other bands, like Kiss The Salt.  Later on, I would check out Kiss The Salt in Silverlake, and so on.

On June 6, 2012 the Barb Wire Dolls made an appearance at the Viper Room for a one-night-only show.  The funny thing is is that on this night, out of all the gigs I attended, some of my best photos of them, especially Isis, came out.  Was it an accident?  Who knows.  But what I do know is this:  The Barb Wire Dolls are the real deal Holyfield.  They aren't a fly-by-night attraction; a fifteen minutes of fame "like" group.  They are the start of something new, something refreshing.  They are the change in the stale state of modern music. 

That being said, I thank them so much for inspiring me to continue documenting other bands, and eventually starting up Bill General Photos.  Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the rest of that story.  As 2012 started up, I went to The Satellite (formerly Spaceland) in Silverlake to see an old friend of mine play guitar in his band Monte Mar.  This was in the first week of January.  These guys, although far different from the style of Barb Wire Dolls, are really down to earth musicians.  (See my next blog on 2012 and Bill General Photos).   Later that night I was asked if I had a card, and all I could do was write my number on a napkin.  Over the next few days, I decided to get some business cards made up and then all of a sudden I came up with Bill General Photos (from the nickname Pyn gave me).  I created a facebook page for Bill General and a fan page for people to "like."  A month later I started my website (a work in progress) www.billgeneralphotos.com.

Let's see where this takes me...
About The Author

"My passion is to show the events in my life as poetically as possible... Many have said that the pictures have inspired, captured the moment, brought to life, animated and memorialized their work. I can do the same for you, bringing a perspective that showcases your work in a way that even you have not seen before. Contact me for your next adventure... and don't worry... where there is a will there is a way... See you soon..."

You can see Bill's work at: http://www.billgeneralphotos.com/