Today we’d like to introduce you to Doomcupcake Doomcupcake
Hi Doomcupcake, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Our story begins with our singer, Zaza Historia VanDyke, making a name for herself over the last 10 years in the Salt Lake music scene playing her own acoustic, coffee shop, sad girl songs, stand-up bass for bluegrass bands, and working around town with her other reggae-based project, Something Special. But, being a black, trans femme, single mother, and living in the Spencer Cox political climate that is Utah, she felt she needed to express her anger, fear, and aggression through, well, angrier and more aggressive music. She took to her laptop and started writing songs, including all instrument parts and lyrics, and birthed Doomcupcake’s first album by herself. She made some quick videos of her singing and playing different instruments to the tracks, put them up on the internet and shortly thereafter another local trans band leader, Sofia Scott of Shecock With A Vengeance, asked Zaza to split a bill with Shecock. Zaza said, “Sure, I’ll bring my acoustic guitar” and Sofia replied, “No, I want Doomcupcake.” So, Zaza spread the word that she was looking for musicians and at the first rehearsal she played the tracks on her laptop and said, “Make this come to life.” And that’s how Doomcupcake was formed. Over the last 2 years Doomcupcake has been playing shows from Ogden to Green River and climbing our way to the top of the bill. We’ve booked opening slots for touring bands like Tallah and local legends Royal Bliss. We’ve worked our way to the mainstages of Utah Pride, SLC Pride, Utah Arts Fest and Craftlake City DIY Fest, and we got there by playing as many bars and local venues as we could.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Being black and trans in Utah is not a smooth road by any means. Playing loud music and speaking the truth over it is also not necessarily welcomed by local pub goers in Utah. When Zaza transitioned in 2021 she was effectively blacklisted from many of the local bars that host live music and would regularly book her for 3 hour gigs. Being a working artist, her bills became harder to pay, and she had to invest more time in her glass blowing business, Sassy Ass Glass, which then forced her to take time away from writing music. Also, playing loud, aggressive music makes it is harder to book the higher paying, longer gigs that pay the bills for many working musicians. The music scene of “Small Lake City” can be a beautiful and supportive community of eclectic, talented, individuals while also juxtaposing itself as self-devouring. It makes it a very rough road when individuals in the community would rather tear each other down than build each other up.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Doomcupcake packs the heavy riffs you loved if you went to high school in the early 2000s with the poppy ‘ear-worm’ melodies that haunt the radio, and lyrics that express the oppression, mental health struggles, and fearlessness that our Trans, POC lead singer, Zaza Historia VanDyke, walks with every day. We are known for our live shows, led by Zaza ferociously running around the stage and jumping into the crowd, while our drummer, Cashel Barnett, hits harder than any drummer in town and our bass player, Fred Thorne, sits stoically cross legged on his amp and produces a wall of low-end sound. If you can’t find something within Zaza’s lyrics that you identify with you can at least head bang along, because we play HARD. We love when we are playing a festival, and we see people walking by and their heads turn, and their jaws drop, and they stay for the rest of the set. We all pour our hearts out every time we play, no matter how big the stage. Music is the great unifier and the way we perform people connect with the intensity.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
*Whole band busts into “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey*
Pricing:
- Venues – pay the musicians.
- Patrons – tip the musicians.
- Venmo – @doomcupcakeuwu
Contact Info:
- Website: https://doomcupcake.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doomcupcakeuwu/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DoomcupcakeuWu/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@doomcupcakeuwu
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0CQytfM4685o5s2JZcxEkO?si=4nIIqe0TTSW4nt-7MH0r8g&nd=1&dlsi=14de2d2ca76345cb
