doly toro - In Through the Out Door   By Jeff Reid

In many ways, a band’s vision is as important as their music.  By understanding it, you can begin to develop a sense of the underlying motivation that inspires them to make music.  For Wilmington band doly toro, their vision is simple: expression. “The vision of the band is to express ourselves through original artistic music,” states songwriter and founding member Jamin Belmont.  To them, it is one of the essential elements of rock music.  To liberate their social, personal and spiritual constraints through their words and music, it enables them to “learn about life” and in the process, makes their art complete.

Formed five years ago, doly toro has experienced the natural progression of attrition of members and experimentation of sound that most bands go through. However, what is striking about this group is their dedication and commitment to their muse. As a result, doly toro is squarely at the heart of Wilmington’s indie music scene. Band members Belmont, drummer Justin Tinkler and Paul Hendrix on bass and newest member, vocalist/keyboardist Lynn Casper, stress the importance of maintaining an atmosphere of idea-sharing within the band and use it to create something that often “feels bigger than us”.

“Recording is basically how our songs are formed,” explains Casper. Now in the process of recording their fourth CD, the band realizes the importance of performing shows, but also understands that they need to record their music. Casper continues, “We make music because we can’t get certain melodies and sounds out of our minds. Jamin usually writes the lyrics, but we all have lots of ideas. So coming together and creating songs is something that is fun to us. When we have it how we want it, we practice, practice and practice so that the songs and our shows are tight.”     

But doly toro is more than their recorded music or live performance. Focused and dedicated, they are always doing something music related. From making flyers for their shows to custom stenciling T-shirts to performing in various music side projects, Belmont explains, “It’s all art. Collect it.  To me, everything with this band is important.  It’s going to be included in our body of work.”  Casper adds, “We have lots of ideas and so much creative energy that we use our performances to showcase these ideas and projects.”  She gives the example of how Jamin makes flyers for most of their shows. For the last show, he made a herd of sheep out of random materials that he found around the house and placed them in different locations and businesses downtown to announce the show. “We also made a giant poster for a show at the Whiskey and had it up in their window,” she says. “We like to make things that people will appreciate and take time to look at and listen to. Sometimes we spend so much time making things that performing is just an excuse to get out of the house.”    

However, no excuses are necessary.  It is all a part of the vision……..for themselves and the world around them. This band believes that if people aren’t open to hearing something new, then they are missing out.  “I don’t know what’s harder for people, opening their minds or opening their ears,” states Jamin.  Even though their songs are often based on narrative, somewhat archaic lyrics, greatly appealing and utterly charming, doly toro can be a little disarming in concert, leaving the average listener befuddled. “As artists and songwriters, we can’t be afraid to sing or play the songs and sounds that we hear in our head and feel in our hearts. If we were to play music solely to please other people, then we wouldn’t be remaining true to ourselves,” explains Casper.         

Good music is undeniable. You can feel it. Doly toro’s music side-steps the angst and introspection common to modern rock, instead favoring the storytelling approach, giving audiences a sense of intimacy and a glimpse into their world. As a result, you can not help but sense the passion and their complete involvement with the art of music.  That is what we feel when we listen to their CDs, watch them perform or admire one of their posters. It makes them unique, not only to the Wilmington music scene, but to the world of indie rock as well.