Death Doula Weaves Magic Between Heavy and Light

Love Spells is in the air, and love spells are in the air. Kyle Alexander fell under the spell of love and possibility and moved to Portland to continue a blossoming collaboration with Kerry Jones. The newness of the situation, accented by an obsession with art and the freshness of an 11-year age difference, inspired a flurry of music. The flurry became Death Doula.

Joined by Keith Vidal on bass (Marjorie Faire, Nyles Lannon) and Adam Kozie on drums (Pollens, Crystal Beth), Death Doula crystalized into a formidable unit. Recording Love Spells commenced, and the resultant self-released album delights in texture, melody, and occasional rocking-ness. The guitars can be Sonic Youth-adjacent or floating above clouds, with Kerry's lush vocals switching, sometimes mid-song, from folksy to dream-poppy to Grace Slick-ish psychedelia. The rhythm section handles the backbone tremendously, chugging with tight certainty and always motoring in forward motion regardless of tempo.

I've given in to the many moods of Love Spells and the album's crafty fusion of catchy and discordant. I contacted Kerry and Kyle, the core of Death Doula, to learn more about this captivating music and the unique genesis of the band.

Michael Donaldson: There's the phrase "death doula," one who assists the shedding of the mortal coil, as it were. And there's the album title, Love Spells, which may assert a magical act of attraction. Is there an otherworldly aspect or affiliation to Death Doula?

Kerry Jones: I feel aligned with the concept that there are mystical, otherworldly ties inside this band and that everyone who hears the sounds we create gets pulled into our world like a siren song. Lyrically and visually, my fascinations are far-ranging, including tarot, Human Design, social injustice, smell and taste, love and attraction, Christian symbolism, and, of course, reincarnation, the afterlife, and death.

Michael: How do these "mystical, otherworldly ties" influence and shape the band?

Kerry: I think there's a mysticism to even being alive at all, and one either taps into it or they don't. Kyle and I like to see the world that way, and that ethos seeps into every aspect of our lives. Death Doula only agree to play with bands at venues and on dates that feel aligned for us. We're very intuitive regarding choosing the right moves. Sonically, we gravitate towards more enigmatic, mystical sounds, whether through a sonic palette on guitar or bass, a chord progression, or a texture for my vocal. We also integrate our interests and worldview into the aesthetic piece, from what we wear to our vision around music videos and merchandise. It's a holistic ball of yarn.

Michael: The coupledom and the age differences reflect closeness and distance. Does either aspect affect the dynamics within Death Doula or even the execution of the music?

Kyle Alexander: As the youngest one, I sometimes feel that I have to push harder for my ideas to come through, but everyone almost always likes my ideas, and they work out. We're focused explicitly on creating music together. If there's any way that the age differences inform the band, it's the collective sense that there is no time to waste! As far as being a couple goes, well, the album is called Love Spells. Kerry and my relationship informs every aspect of the band. We're always on, always talking about band stuff, gear, visual ideas, working on songs, and so forth.

Michael: Is the songwriting still in the hands of the two of you, or did adding a rhythm section change how songs are conceived?

Kerry: We've been working on this body of songs over the last two years or so, and we've had numerous lineup shifts inside that time. Finding the right group of musicians to bring these songs to life proved a challenge, and once we secured Adam Kozie and Keith Vidal, the songs began taking on their fully completed shapes. Usually, the core components of the songs are Kyle's chord progressions on guitar and my vocal melodies and lyrics. Then, all of the other elements begin to build upon that foundation. That said, we're looking forward to exploring different writing techniques and paradigms.

Michael: Where do lyrics come from? How does Portland play a part in lyrical inspiration?

Kerry: I'm writing all the time, whenever I'm struck with inspiration, which usually is at least a stanza or two per day, sometimes much more. This group of songs largely focused on the burgeoning romantic relationship between Kyle and me, sharing my insecurities, doubts, worries, and dreams. But "Dory" discusses the death of my grandma and more abstractly questions the purpose of life.

"Entanglements" is a commentary on the wealth disparity here in Portland and at large. I write about whatever I'm thinking about. Anything that feels relevant and penetrating to me must feel the same to others.

Michael: I'd love to know more about how you wrote "Entanglements."

Kerry: I was cruising around on the west side of town, across the river from where we live, and musing on how different it felt. No one made eye contact, smiled, or wanted me to engage with their dogs. There are fewer houseless folks over there. It felt like a cleaned-up version of the east side of Portland, like a strange alternate reality. We rarely spend time there, but a former client lived in northwest Portland, so I spent more time across the bridge. It doesn't feel like home to me, and it makes me angry sometimes to witness the extreme wealth. As you drive higher up into the mountain, the houses become more highly valued, and the view is unbelievable.

The lyrics speak for themselves:

I am awake
If waves can break
If bones can fracture
What even is structure?

Ears popping
My jaw dropping
These houses on the hill
The wealth is unreal

I never cross the bridge except to go to work

None of the cars are dented here
None of the cars are rented here
None of the cans turned in for change
Nobody smiles or says my name

I am alive
If I remember to survive
I did not consent to life
But I'm not drawn to die
Drawing a bath in which to reside
Sweat out my rage, grow my tolerance wide

Is this how you like it?
A realm that you've devised
Imagined hierarchy writ in black ink
Dried and can't be revised

Michael: The term "art rock" is often used when referencing Death Doula. Your band photos are certainly artsy, faded, and glowing in muted tones. The cover to Love Spells is cool enough to hang on a wall. Are the visual arts an inspiration?

Kerry: Yes! I studied visual art in college and have always been passionate about photography, fashion and fabrics, color stories, texture maxing, music videos, analog tape, and VHS relics—decay and delay. Our music doesn't fit cleanly into a genre category, and art rock seems to encompass it well enough. The cover of Love Spells IS visual art. It's a photograph of a bubble, blown and shot by my friend Emily Wick. Her work serves as the singles' art for the four songs we put out ahead of the album, all photos of bubbles. Several appear on or in the CD jacket, which her partner Brian Brooks laid out for us. I love thinking about music video ideas, and I never stop. For me, making and sharing music is about the opportunity to tell other aspects of our story as artists through our visual art.

Death Doula singles cover art photography by Emily Wick

Michael: The music floats, but it's also damn heavy at times. Musically, the influences sound like New York City, but maybe there's something from the slower, early proto-grunge from the Pacific Northwest—though Death Doula are hardly grunge. How do Death Doula fit in with Portland's music scene?

Kerry: I lived in NYC for nearly a decade, so I'm not surprised to hear that the city is in anything I make. I think there's just a passion and confidence in our music that takes itself seriously, that honors itself. We're not swimming in irony; there are no jokes in what we do. We value dynamics as a band of seasoned musicians. It's more rewarding for us to have a pulse inside of a song, an ebb and flow, a narrative arc to the sonics, sometimes floating and sometimes throbbing. The music scene here in Portland is certainly full of a variety of different genres and sounds, but I think the entire band feels that there's nothing else quite like us here. We fit in, perhaps as the outlier, the new kid at school who no one can figure out or pin down yet.

Purchase Death Doula's Love Spells on Bandcamp or Qobuz and listen on your streaming platform of choice. Visit Death Doula at deathdoulaband.com and follow them on Instagram.