This post was updated Sept. 30 at 9:35 p.m.
The Listening Dolls is harmonizing the visual and musical arts.
Founded by fourth-year music industry student Martine Kolderup-Lane, the monthly music zine features album recommendations, music history articles, collages of lyrics and interviews with musicians. In addition to the printed zines, Kolderup-Lane said The Listening Dolls also organizes accompanying shows for each issue, featuring mostly UCLA-based bands.
“These people are really talented, and no one really knows we have this community of house shows where kids are putting their shows on by themselves,” Kolderup-Lane said. “I thought that was so cool, so I was like, ‘I want to record this because one day, these people are going to be huge.’”
For each issue, Kolderup-Lane said she creates an outline based on a theme and assigns pages during team meetings on a volunteer basis. Annika Brucia, a member of The Listening Dolls’ art team, said their process begins with a Pinterest board to capture the vibe of the issue. Brucia, a fourth-year public affairs student, added that they begin by making thumbnail sketches of the layout based on the length of the articles, then draw and get feedback in a collaborative process.
While working on the zine, Kolderup-Lane said she also prepares for the show by organizing logistics, such as location and equipment, with the performing bands. She said she asks bands to send videos rather than audio recordings to get a sense of how they perform. Kolderup-Lane said she identifies herself as a “huge music history geek” and added that she often melds multiple genres into one show.
“I don’t even like to say that I split it up by genre, … but it’s more like the vibe,” she said. “One of my friends came up to me at a show and was like, ‘You’re a vibe curator,’ and that is the title I will always be happy with.”
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Kolderup-Lane also said the zine mostly gained traction through the shows – attracting around 100 new followers per performance – although the concerts and audiences matter more to her than Instagram followers.
Brucia said they joined The Listening Dolls team after attending a show and seeing on its Instagram account that it was looking for new people to join the team. They added that they enjoy working with The Listening Dolls because it values and honors musicians’ work in the process.
The art direction is influenced by each month’s bands, and the zine’s artists include elements related to the band’s name or performance in the pages, Brucia said. They added that they attend most of The Listening Dolls’ shows because they enjoy the community atmosphere while working.
“It’s really rewarding to see people come in, and they’re excited about the show, and you see people leaving and talk about how good of a time that they had,” they said. “I feel like the cleanup process after the show is over isn’t as bad as it is at other shows that I’ve worked at because we have a community that’s a bit more mindful and caring.”
Bella Andrews, a fourth-year music industry student and a musician who has performed at two of The Listening Dolls’ shows, said she appreciated the zine’s focus on artists and lyrics. She added that one of her songs, “Junk Drawer,” was highlighted in a recent zine through a collage of its lyrics and an accompanying illustration of a junk drawer.
“She (Kolderup-Lane) goes above and beyond with these things, and you can just tell that she loves it,” Andrews added. “It was honestly so meaningful to see my lyrics in a zine like that – so crafted and so intentionally created to look like that. It was really cool.”
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Andrews said she first performed for The Listening Dolls with a band at Sigma Pi after Kolderup-Lane reached out to her on Instagram about a doll-themed show highlighting female artists. For the second show she performed at, Andrews said Kolderup-Lane’s apartment was transformed into a venue by decorating it with collages, posters and vinyls.
Andrews added that she always feels valued when performing with The Listening Dolls because of both the caring, detail-attentive team and the supportive audience community. She also said she appreciates that The Listening Dolls pays its performing artists – which is rare, especially for shows hosted by student organizations – and encourages musicians to work with the zine because it is a great place to meet new artists and feel supported.
“It was so rare and special to have a community like that,” she added. “I feel like it’s one of the only ones I found that I really resonate with. … I think that UCLA needs something like that there. I think it fills something that’s missing.”
Kolderup-Lane said she started the zine in her sophomore year because she was determined to do something creative after her first year, where she felt she had “floundered.” She decided she wanted to spotlight UCLA’s music community after noticing that many of her peers in the music school were starting bands and playing house shows. She added that after a hiatus where the zine printed less regularly, she is hoping to return to monthly printing and is also trying to expand to venues across Los Angeles.
“Passion projects are definitely not something to ignore,” Kolderup-Lane said. “Starting a passion project, whether or not it’s going to be big or something – if it fills you up, it’s an awesome thing to do.”
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