This is Justine Dorsey, budding pop starlet and songwriter extraordinaire; she recently co wrote a song for the Disney film “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” with her sister Kerris, who also starred in the film. We fell in love with her, we mean interviewed her, recently. Check out the piece below!
YA Mag: Justine Dorsey, please tell us everything we need to know about you in three sentences.
Justine Dorsey: You need to know that my favorite color is the dusty blue-lavender of the sky after the sun sets. You also need to know that I know every line from the Steve Martin version of The Pink Panther. Lastly, you need to know that I can, from personal experience, confirm that sugar is the worst sort of drug. Stay away, kids. JK. Halloween’s almost here and that would be cruel. This is not three sentences.
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YA: Your music is a cool mix of pop and folk. Where do you draw your inspiration from?
JD: Thank you! It sounds like a cop-out, but I love so many different kinds of music, so I’m inspired by literally anything that is just good! I think it’s dangerous to restrict the genres you listen to because there’s so much out there to discover! Non-music-wise, I get really inspired by what I read. A few short words in a poem have sparked entire songs for me.
YA: You just had a song on the Disney soundtrack for Alexander and the Terrible,Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. That’s super exciting! What was the best thing about the experience for you?
JD: I think the writing of the song was the best part. It was the first time I’d really written with Kerris, my sister. I normally write alone, so it’s a very isolated process for me. Writing with her opened me up so much more. She’s my best friend, and the whole way through we just had fun. But there’s also the moment I heard the song playing in the theater… That was craaaaazy.
YA: Did you get to visit set? Can you dish any dirt?
JD: I did visit! Kerris plays Emily in the movie (that’s how the song came about) so I went up one weekend to watch them film.
As for dirt, the only dirt present was the dirt on the ground; I visited when they filmed at Melody Ranch, which is where a lot of movies are shot, and it’s basically the desert. It was just the happiest, bounciest set, and I loved everyone I met. Steve Carrell and Jennifer Garner were the loveliest people, and Dylan and Ed (Kerris’s brothers in the movie) are now our best friends. It was just good vibes all around.
YA: You also just signed a record deal… can you tell us about that? Is there an album in the works?
JD: I’m signed with Unison Music Group, which, after me jumping from one not-quite-right-fit to the next, finally feels like home. I remember leaving the first meeting with my team there thinking, “This is the place.”
And there is indeed an album in the works! I’m approving mixes on the singles now. We’re releasing them this year, along with music videos, and next year I am going to have my first full-length album out!
YA: If you could describe your style in three words, what would they be?
JD: Are we talking style in terms of clothing? Because if that is the case, the three words I would say are “no longer hippie”. I was really into long skirts and super boho stuff for a good while but I’m starting to transition into some weird world of 50s-baseball-player-meets-Amy-Adams-in-American Hustle. I don’t know. Just go with it.
YA: What’s your most inspiring/ touching fan story?
JD: Okay. There are two girls named Devon and Rubi who are the first people to be, like, bona-fide fans of my music, and they are the best. Rubi made me and my sister a joint fan account on Instagram (it’s @themdorseysistahs), and she always posts the sweetest things. She also brought us CANDY at one of our shows because she’s awesome.
Devon lives on the East Coast, and we became friends on Twitter, so I’d never met her before. But in July, my beautiful singer/songwriter friend Regina (btw you should go listen to her: http://bit.ly/1yiEBC3) and I met Devon for the first time! She is just as funny and smart in person as she is on Twitter.
Those aren’t really specific moments, but just the fact that they are good people and they love my music is touching. #muchcheesiness #noregrets
YA: What do you think about most when you’re alone?
JD: Ooh, I am in love with this question. I’m stealing it, just so you know. Although I don’t know that anyone would answer it entirely honestly. Because I don’t intend to answer it entirely honestly. The deeper, darker things- those don’t need to be said here. Maybe some other time. I will say that I think WAY too much about what I’m going to eat next. I should have lived in Italy. I feel like that sort of obsession with food is way more socially acceptable there.
YA: What’s your favorite pastime?
JD: Being with my friends, because they are my favorite people in the world and they are what maintain whatever modicum of hope I have for humanity. That sounds incredibly pessimistic but I mean it positively!! They are all such uplifting people. Such good people. My friends inspire me so much and I always leave feeling lighter when I hang out with them.
Also, listening to music, because DUH.
YA: If you could have dinner with any pop star living or dead, who would it be and what would you ask them?
JD: Aargh this is haaard. The title of “pop star” is really specific. I feel like the number of people that are universally acknowledged as deserving of that title is incredibly small. Honestly I think it would have to be Taylor Swift. I’d ask her if her cats were actually natural-born cats, or if they floated down from the sky, tied to balloons, one spring morning, and she was just like “Oh! I have cats now!”
YA: Which five songs are playing on your digital music player?
JD: Okay, I love that you called it a “digital music player” instead of an iPod. No one says that ever, but I appreciate the fact that you’re being INCLUSIVE here for the NON iPOD-HAVERS, bless their confused little souls.
In no particular order, the five songs I have on repeat right now are: “Wuthering Heights” by Kate Bush, “Army of Ancients” by Dr. Dog, “I Blame Myself” by Sky Ferreira, “Lust for Life” by Girls, and “Warm Foothills” by Alt-J.