One-Eyed Doll was a gothic rock[1] duo based in Austin, Texas, which was voted the Best Punk Band in 2009,[2] 2010[3] and 2011 at the Austin Music Awards at SXSW.[4] Lead vocalist Kimberly Freeman has also been featured as one of Revolver Magazine‘s Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock in 2011, 2012, and 2015, Guitar Player Magazine‘s Top 20 Most Extraordinary Guitarists and on America’s Got Talent‘s 2010 Semi-Finals as part of ArcAttack. She is known for her acrobatic and energetic performances often incorporating her trademark high kick, and her signature ponytails and onstage baby voice. One-Eyed Doll has had over 1 million YouTube views and has had music featured on several video games, movies and TV shows, including MTV’s Road Rules. One-Eyed Doll officially retired on May 21st, 2021 after a lengthy hiatus.
With a discography of 11 full-length albums under its belt,[5] (six One-Eyed Doll albums, four Kimberly Freeman solo albums and one under the name Ghetto Princess) the band made No. 1 on ReverbNation‘s local chart[6] and has toured nationally with OTEP[7][8] Cold, Wayne Static (of Static X), Peelander Z, Polkadot Cadaver, Wednesday 13, Mushroomhead, and Orgy. The band’s lead singer and guitarist, Kimberly Freeman (who has been described as Gwar meets Strawberry Shortcake)[9] performs on a signature Tregan guitar, accompanied by the lone drummer (and producer) Jason Rufuss Sewell a.k.a. Junior, in a theatrical style[10] which has been described musically as “… Pixies meets Siouxsie meets Hole“[11] and the “bastard laboratory love child of Dresden Dolls meets White Stripes and Marilyn Manson.”[12]
One-Eyed Doll, which was formed in 2007, first gained recognition from their peers when they won their first Best Punk Band at the 2009 SXSW; the award was presented by Exene Cervenka[2] of the first-generation punk band X. That year they also won 2nd place Metal Band, 3rd place Best New Band, 4th place Industrial/Goth Band, 7th place Best Acoustic Guitar (Kimberly Freeman), 8th place Female Vocals (Kimberly Freeman), and 10th place Best Record Producer (Jason Rufuss Sewell, for Monster.)[13] One-Eyed Doll broke into the mainstream media, however, with the release of their third album Break, whereupon Kimberly Freeman was featured in the January/February 2011 Fallen Heroes issue of Revolver in its cover feature The Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock; she also appeared as an awakening zombie on the America’s Got Talent semi finals as part of ArcAttack.[14] She gained musical recognition as a guitarist upon being featured in a full-page dedicated article in the April 2011 Guts & Glitter issue of Guitar Player[15] magazine as one of the Twenty Most Extraordinary Female Guitarists[16] along with the likes of Joan Jett, Bonnie Raitt, and Nancy Wilson.[17] The band has a fervent fanbase,[18][19] and is known for their mutual support of their fans, some of whom have gotten tattoos of the band’s iconography,[20] and for their equally fervent DIY business model.[9][21][22] Amongst its national tours, One-Eyed Doll have been performing at several major anime conventions such as DragonCon,[23] and headlining at the 4&20 Blackbird Festival in Weed, California.[24][25]
One-Eyed Doll in 2009
Kimberly Freeman is one of several real-life people to appear in the massively multiplayer online role playing game AdventureQuest Worlds (where she is styled as the True Sixth Lord of Chaos); the One-Eyed Doll song “Battle On” is prominently featured. She also appears in the AdventureQuest Worlds Anything-Goes Battle On Battle Card Game on two cards,[26][27] one of them a berserker enhancement card quite in keeping with her on-stage persona.[28] She is also the voice of Sally in the Doomwood Saga of the same game.
In real life, Kimberly Freeman speaks Mandarin fluently from a stint in China before beginning her music career, and was a volunteer for the Red Cross at Ground Zero after 9-11. Her producer and fourth drummer, Jason Rufuss Sewell, recorded his first record at the age of fifteen and has been producing records continually ever since. Sewell has helped produce and engineer albums with Grammy Award-winning producer Sylvia Massy working at her RadioStar Studios in Weed, CA. He has also run for the California State Senate seat for District 6 in 2002 (as Jason A. Sewell on the Libertarian Party ticket), coming in second with 26% of the vote.[29] Freeman and Sewell have created music for commercials, movies, and video games,[1] most prominently for AdventureQuest Worlds.[30]
An hour-and-a-half gonzo documentary of the band’s life on the road on tour from Austin to Harlem[31] has been released on YouTube for free by David Bruce Bates, Jr.[32]
One-Eyed Doll’s 2012 album, Dirty, was recorded with Grammy Award-winning producer Sylvia Massy (Tool, System of a Down, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Johnny Cash). Dirty was announced by the band in November 2011 on Dark Matter Radio hosted by Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro. It was reported that the band recorded another album entitled Committed, to be produced by Sylvia Massy, which would see the light of day in late 2013.[33] The “Committed” video released for this album “Committed”, directed by Patrick Kendall (Megadeth, Incubus, Theory of a Deadman) was released exclusively by Revolver Magazine in October 2012. As of August 2019, the video has over 790,000 views on YouTube.com. One-Eyed Doll instead went on to release the album “Monster (Remonstered)” in 2013. Jason Sewell produced. Sylvia Massy was given a Special Thanks credit on the album.[34]
One-Eyed Doll toured with Otep and Butcher Babies on their “Destroy to Create Tour” and as Direct Support with Otep and openers Picture Me Broken on the “Seduce and Destroy Tour 2013”. Beginning on June 14, 2013, they co-headlined with Polkadot Cadaver on their “Last Call in Jonestown 2013 Tour” with openers Exotic Animal Petting Zoo.[35] In September 2013 One-Eyed Doll embarked on a full US Halloween tour as direct support for Mushroomhead.
Towards the end of 2017, One-Eyed Doll embarked on the “Something Wicked World Tour”, which included dates in the US and their first appearances in Europe, performing in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria.[36]