Fiona Lynn, frontwoman of NYC-based indie band Whisper Doll, talks Perfume Garden, Courtney Love, and grunge musician-style.
The visualizer for Whisper Doll’s single "Change" begins with fast-moving flowers blooming in a dark purple filter, the echoey vocals of the intro moving in — straight from a Fairyopolis book. Perfume Garden, Fiona Lynn’s debut album under the moniker Whisper Doll, was released on October 24th. Each song is like a dream rock Garden of Eden, with fantastical Mazzy Star-esque vocals. The band’s live shows are the same, with venues and basements bathed in a familiar blue glow. For the album release party, co-sponsored by Kitsch Magazine, crowds of girls dressed like dolls came to sing along feverishly to "Doe Eyes." A couple of days before the show, we chatted about artist's identity, stage style, and visual language.
This interview has been edited for grammar and clarity.
Mila Grgas: How did you come up with the Whisper Doll persona? How does your stage style manifest your artist’s persona?
Whisper Doll: The name of the band came from my favorite movie, Daisies (1996). It has this scene where the two main girls talk about how they feel like they're dolls, and the world is rotten, so they will be too. Feeling like a doll and that other people view you as a vessel is something I connected with. Throughout the movie, they wrestle with being seen as real people. I write a lot about these themes, especially in my song "Lady in Blue." The Whisper part of the name is a slightly creepy element. Also when we play our louder songs, I like the contradiction.
Mila Grgas: Who or what are your biggest style inspirations?
Whisper Doll: I was really inspired by KatieJane Garside. She is this cool artist who makes a lot of creepy neo-folk music and some hard rock. She toured with Hole and inspired Courtney Love's style. The images that are out there, I was really inspired by [them]. And she kinda dressed like a disembodied doll. I’m inspired by all the ruffles and lace, Mori Kei style, hyperfeminine mixed with some sort of masculine element, whether some sort of hypermasculine accessories like a military belt or the loud grungy music itself. I love the contradiction. I like how Sky Ferreira and Courtney Love have interpreted this style, too.
Mila Grgas: What are your opinions on the '90s feminist grunge rock style and the kinderwhore look that artists like Courtney Love and Bikini Kill are known for?
Whisper Doll: When I was younger, I really liked it. When I found out KatieJane Garside inspired Courtney Love, that made a lot of sense. I think that style is really cool and I love how it subverts traditionally feminine clothing.
Mila Grgas: Which songs on the new album have a particular look to you?
Whisper Doll: I normally have visuals associated with songs, and I can kinda direct my music videos around them. With the song "Cheap," I always had an image of a beach in my head, so we shot the visualizer on Rockaway Beach at dusk. I was seeing a lot of light and dark blues. Then, the "Change" music video was placed on a New York City street in the East Village. The drum beat sounds like a march to me, like marching yourself through "Change," and blossoming out of a bad situation. I saw grays and purples for that song and visuals of the walking and of blooming flowers. All of my songs I associate with colors and snapshot images, and I try to bring that to life when I create the visualizers.
Mila Grgas: What led to having the audience dress up as dolls for this release? What do you think about artists having their fans dress up and its popularity?
Whisper Doll: Since it’s so close to Halloween, people were asking if we had a costume theme for the show, and I thought it would be fun. I think having people dress up is cool, it gives an extra kind of creativity for the audience and creates community in the crowd. I can't wait to see what people wear.
Mila Grgas: How have you been sourcing your stage outfits? Do you feel like you source them from those visuals?
Whisper Doll: I normally feel pretty rushed, I throw on whatever feels right. If I’m playing a basement show I go a little more grungy. The stage outfits are always a heightened style of my own outfits.
Mila Grgas: What is your dream stage look?
Whisper Doll: It would definitely be some sort of tattered lace frilly doll-like dress. Something entrenched in that '90s hyper-feminine-yet-tattered style. There’s this Etsy seller, Zollection,
who makes tattered, recycled, [and] stained vintage dresses, so something like that.
Mila Grgas: Do you have your stage outfit for the album release?
Whisper Doll: [laughs] I have some ideas. I got this really cool dress while touring in Japan when I was with Kara [Lu, bassist]. Probably I’ll wear it with a blouse over it and some tall boots. Maybe I should get that dream dress from Zollection’s Etsy. I wonder how fast it could come. That dress is so disembodied, tattered, and torn. It is a very emotional look and it speaks to the music. It's how my songs would look if they were a dress.
Mila Grgas: When I first met you, you were a stylist for a shoot we were on. How has styling and working on shoots influenced your style?
Whisper Doll: It’s emphasized how important visual images are to musicians and how important crafting some sort of visual that people can attach to. Our generation is so visual and music is so much more impactful when you have a visual to connect it to. And it’s really fun.
Mila Grgas: I feel like you’ve done an amazing job of defining your image. Just by looking at your flyer for Thursday, you can tell what kind of art, and music you are out to make.
Whisper Doll: Hell yeah, thank you. It's definitely very intentional. The way I make art flyers and stuff, it’s all building off of my own personal style and relating it to the music.
Perfume Garden will be available to stream on Spotify on October 24th. For more information about Whisper Doll, including ticket availability and concert dress themes, please visit their website.
Mila Grgas is a writer, filmmaker, and New Yorker. Her work often covers feminist mythology and art.