Interview with singer-songwriter Molly Kate

               Salem, Oregon singer-songwriter Molly Kate, says that many (if not all) of her songs reflect her early environment in the Pacific Northwest, a deep sense of place that gets spun into the flow of folk stories that fill our ether, scrapbooks of personal experience; mountains, verdant forests and overcast coasts. "I can’t remember a time when I didn’t feel music in my bones, in everything I do" Kate says. "I know that the songs I write now will become a capsule later on for this time in history. I think musicians, writers, and artists in general, are the documenters, the folklorists. If we write what we know, what we see, how the world is making us feel at this time, it solidifies something that’s often intangible." Here Molly talks to AHC about her musical inspirations, a new album slated for the summer  and offers some heart warming advice to her younger self.



AHC: What has this journey in music, so far, been like for you, the highs and the lows, and what life lessons do you feel you've picked up along the way?

Molly: It’s been a lot of spinning all the lovely, awkward, amazing, painful, parts of life into something tangible.

I’ve found that the highs are when someone tells me that my music has impacted them somehow, or when I write a song that makes me feel that indescribable something – like a key in a lock. My lows are often the same lows that a lot of artists experience – not feeling like your work is worthy, or good enough.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned so far is that you absolutely cannot compare yourself to others, and that it’s a lot easier to get through the lows when you show yourself some radical compassion.

AHC: What first drew you to music and what was your early musical environment like growing up? Were there pivotal songs for you then that just floored you the moment you heard them?

Molly: I can’t remember a time when I didn’t feel music in my bones, in everything I do, so a lot of my musical journey is tied into that – this idea that music is something that’s always been a big part of me.

A lot of my early experience with music revolved around my grandpa. He would play old folk songs, and teach me the chords and lyrics. So rather than a single song, it was hearing him sing and play – that was magic to me, the stories he could tell with his guitar.

AHC: Do you remember the first song that you ever wrote or played? Or that first moment when you picked up a pen and realized that you could create whole worlds just by putting it to paper?

Molly: I wrote this song (about magicians) when I was in the fourth grade – I even got my little sister to sing it with me. She was so excited about it! I think that was one of the first times I realized I could actually make something that other people might like.

AHC: Which musicians have you learned the most from? Or writers, artists, filmmakers, teachers/ mentors etc?

Molly: This question is so tough! I’d say as far as musicians go, I learned a lot from my grandparents’ record collection – Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, John Denver, Pete Seeger, Bill Withers, The Beatles, Woody Guthrie... I could go on. I’ve also learned a lot from poets like E.E. Cummings, Mary Oliver, Maya Angelou, Edna St. Vincent Millay – essentially musicians and poets with so much heart you can feel through their words.

AHC: What do you think makes for a good song, as you're writing and composing, is there a sudden moment when you know you've found the right mix, that perfect angle of light, so to speak?

Molly: Most of the time it’s completely random. There have been songs that took weeks or months to write, while others just hit me all at once. I’d say typically it takes a great surge of emotion after a moment of soft reflection – so for me the setting doesn’t usually matter, though, I prefer to write music alone. Sometimes just stream of consciousness playing/singing is really helpful for getting things going.

AHC: Do you consider music to be a type of healing art, the perfect vehicle through which to translate a feeling, a state of rupture/rapture, hope lost and regained? Does the writing and creating of the song save you in the kinds of ways that it saves us, the listener?

Molly: Yes! And to be quite honest I think I forgot that and re-found it recently. Music has always been my way of self-soothing, and when you’re working really hard to get your music out in the world, I think that can get lost. I believe that when you write something that is true to you, it’s also true to the listener. So, in that way you get a validation, and healing.

AHC: What are your fondest musical memories? In your house? In your neighborhood or town? On-tour, on-the-road?

Molly: One time when I was little I was in our back yard sitting on my swing-set singing. And not just casually humming to myself, no, I was full-on belting my made-up songs to the world. And when I was done I heard clapping and cheering, and I could see that our next-door neighbors had been sitting in their yard watching me the whole time. I’ll never forget how much bigger than myself that made me feel (also very embarrassed haha.)

AHC: When you set out to write a song, how much does 'where the world is' in its current moment, culturally, politically, otherwise, influence the kinds of stories you set out to tell?

Molly: I find that it influences my music a lot. I may not always write songs specifically about what’s going on in our world, but I know that the songs I write now will become a capsule later on for this time in history. So in a way, I think musicians, writers, and artists in general, are the documenters, the folklorists. If we write what we know, what we see, how the world is making us feel at this time, it solidifies something that’s often intangible.

AHC: Do you have any words of advice or encouragement for other musicians and singer- songwriters out there who are just starting out and trying to find their voice and their way in this world? What are the kinds of things that you tell yourself when you begin to have doubts or are struggling with the creative process? Or what kinds of things have others told you that have helped push you past moments of self doubt/creative blocks?

Molly: I always try and imagine young me, and how I would take care of that budding soul. If I could tell her anything, I’d say experience the world as much as you can, allow yourself the time and space to truly feel your feelings, start drawing healthy boundaries now, and earnestly follow your heart. I also realize that “following your heart” isn’t always an easy, or practical thing to do. But I find that you can always start somewhere – it’s all about baby steps, just chipping away at the end goal. When opportunities arise it’s because you showed up. If nothing else, always try and listen to your heart with an open mind.

AHC: Do you have any new projects or musical ideas that are percolating for the future?

Molly: I actually have a new album coming out this summer! It’s really exciting because it’s my second EP, and my first new release since 2014. A lot of heart, soul, and hard work went into this one and I can’t wait to share it with the world.


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*Please take a moment and visit:
www.mollykatemusic.com
https://mollykate.bandcamp.com/
www.facebook.com/mollykatemusic