MOLLY PAYTON: “MUSIC IS ALL I’VE EVER BEEN GOOD AT, AND IT’S ALL I WANT TO DO”
Ahead of VOCAL GIRLS’ 2nd birthday event next month, Daisy Carter sits down with our headliner Molly Payton to talk pandemic projects, life lessons, and the pressure to be a TikTok sensation.
Lockdown(s): for some, they were a chance to rest, reflect, and embrace a slower pace of life. For Auckland born artist Molly Payton, whose emotive lyrics and red-wine rich vocals are comparable to those of Joni Mitchell, quite the opposite is true. Having moved to London at the age of 16 before befriending Dirty Hit signee Oscar Lang at school, Molly was just finding her feet as a musician when, all of a sudden, the world shut down. Undeterred, the past two years have seen her release 2 EPs, 1 mini album, and quietly cultivate a loyal following spanning from North London to New Zealand.
Part of a new generation of indie muses who are more Peter Sarstedt than Pete Doherty (think Julia Jacklin and Matt Maltese), Molly begins our Zoom call by enthusing over the relief she feels when she’s tired and her mates cancel their plans: “I love that shit”, she grins. “When I first moved over [to London from Auckland], I was 16 and wanted to do the whole partying and staying out till 6am thing”. However, like many of us, the pandemic prompted Molly to take stock of various things in her life, including who she surrounded herself with: “you can know a million people, but you don’t actually have a deep, solid connection with them”. These days, she says, “I’m happy with my small circle of friends and my boyfriend. And the friendships I do have are fucking tight – I know that they’re there for me and that I’m there for them”.
These shifts – in location, in relationships, in mindset – are audible in Molly’s discography; you can trace a path between the melancholic vulnerability of ‘Mess’ (2020), the heavier, fuller arrangements of ‘Porcupine’ (2020), and finally the more mature, cohesive sound of her most recent project, the mini album ‘Slack’ (2021). A mixture of new material and older cuts deemed not quite right for either of her prior releases, Molly describes ‘Slack’ as a record which “really wrapped up the last three years for me. It has elements of ‘Porcupine’ and ‘Mess’ in it, and then there [are] songs like ‘Honey’ and ‘January Summers’ – those are the ones that I wrote back in New Zealand”. Indeed, spending 8 months back in her homeland whilst writing – a trip extended from the originally planned 2 after meeting her boyfriend – undoubtedly influenced the musical direction of ‘Slack’. “I think ‘While You’re Driving’ is a good example of that”, Molly confirms. “I decided to use it to end the album because it was, to me, a bridge between everything I've done in the past and to what I want to do in the future”.
With her sights already firmly set on the horizon, Molly modestly dances around the subject of new material, clearly excited by the prospect but conscious of revealing too much. “I’ve been writing like crazy over the last few months – I’ve got 14 songs under my belt or something. But they’re all [at the] really early demo stages, and yeah, a lot of them are co-writes”, she hints. Despite the precedent set by the quick succession of her previous releases, fans probably shouldn’t start emotionally preparing for a full LP just yet: “An album to me is something that I want to really consider and be intentional with”. However, that’s not to say there won’t be anything for listeners to wrap their ears around in the meantime. “I'm kind of in the early stages of putting a project together, which is like a duet EP, just as something to tide people over before I release the album”, Molly says. Any clues as to who we can expect to feature? “I can't talk about who I'm working with, but they’re really exciting people, some [of whom] I, as an artist, have looked up to since I was a kid. So being able to work with them properly and put our voices together – I'm fucking over the moon to do that”.
Given that personal, introspective indie-folk has become somewhat of a signature for Molly, it’s interesting to hear how this style might lend itself to more collaborative work. ‘What I’ve learned from writing with other people is that just because you’re writing a song with someone, that doesn’t make it any less personal’, she affirms. ‘Honestly, it almost makes it more personal because you have someone else in the room to ask “Okay, what does that mean? Is there a way you can get that across in a clearer way?”’. Reflecting on how much she’s grown as an artist in a relatively short space of time, Molly smiles: ‘I used to think that writing with other people made me less of a musician and less of a writer, but it's a fucking great thing to be able to do’.
Possessing a maturity and self-assuredness beyond her age, it might be easy to forget that Molly entered the buzz of the London scene whilst only a teenager. Music, like most industries, is an arena in which youth is coveted and capitalised on, often at the expense of the young people themselves. So how has Molly’s age influenced her experiences and interactions within the music industry? “I've definitely had sessions where I've [had] a fucking 30 year old dude telling me everything I want is wrong”, she says, giving a wry smile. “I think you've definitely got to learn to be quite assertive – to learn when someone's advice is valid, and when it's just them thinking that they know more than you”.
Whilst artistic control remains firmly with her, Molly is nevertheless humble enough – and wise enough – to acknowledge the gaps in her own skill set. “I also go into things wanting to learn. On the technology side of things, I’m fucking useless”, she laughs. “So I tend to work with people who are really good producers, or I’ve loved writing with people who have a background in drumming. I’ve got all these amazing, talented people around me – it’d be dumb not to get them to teach me a few things”.
Defying the stereotype of the perma-online, digitally native Gen Z, Molly’s self-confessed ineptitude with technology extends to social media – something which, for many artists, proved invaluable in maintaining a sense of connection to their audience during the pandemic. “I had a panic at the end of last year because I had a conversation with someone that really made me feel like if I didn’t do TikTok, I wouldn’t be able to carry my career”, she says. Citing her friendship with Leo Wyndham of Palace as a steadying influence, Molly explains that, in reality, there’s a lot to be said for quality over quantity: “the fans I’ve found through the very limited amount of promotion I did online are the most amazing people”.
Still, as valuable and fulfilling as online connections can be, they’re no real substitute for the crowded buzz and heady togetherness of live shows. Molly agrees: “being able to share the songs in real life and connect with people that way – that’s a fucking amazing feeling, and that’s why I do [music]”. Having released nearly all of her material thus far during a period in which collective gatherings were illegal (except, it seems, for the government themselves), returning to the stage post-lockdown was particularly poignant for Molly. “I remember [at] the first gig I had back, people were singing the songs back to me and I just realised, ‘oh shit, people have been paying attention’”, she explains. “Obviously, everyone just felt a bit isolated during those first big lockdowns, and it was nice to know that there have been people listening and supporting me the whole time”.
Looking at the images from our shoot (photographed by Megan Graye and styled by Dani Murden) taken to accompany this piece, Molly now cuts a figure that is difficult not to pay attention to. “That shoot was so fun”, she grins, “because some I’ve done up until now [have felt] quite busy and scary. Whereas that was just like hanging out – we were just getting dressed and talking shit and then going down to a little fruit market”. Although she makes sitting nonchalantly on a laundrette washing machine look like the most natural thing in the world, Molly explains that she doesn’t normally feel all that comfortable in front of a camera. “It’s all learnt”, she assures me, “figure out what works with your face and your body, put that bad bitch persona on and just do what you can”.
But surely, as a musician, having people look at you is a fairly central part of the job description? “I think I’m more myself on stage”, she muses. “When I’m singing and we’re actually playing the music, I’m not nervous at all”. Indeed, nerves seem to be the last thing on Molly’s mind as conversation turns to her upcoming gig at the Shacklewell Arms – VOCAL GIRLS’ 2nd birthday celebration, and her first time headlining a London venue. “It’s bloody exciting mate”, she grins, sounding perhaps the most Kiwi she has throughout the whole interview. “My band is fucking awesome – we tend to just have a really nice, wholesome, fun time on stage”.
Just don’t expect any stand-up comedy between songs. Referencing the onstage, witty repartee that seems to come naturally to some artists, Molly explains: ‘You’ll see at the gig; I probably won’t really talk much. I’ve tried faking it – I had a few practices, and it went really well a couple of times’. She pauses, laughing, ‘but then we had a few times where I'd make a joke and it was silent, and that is a fucking soul-crushing feeling’. As painfully relatable as this anecdote may be, her words allude to the increasing pressure on artists to be multi-talented – simultaneously performers, influencers, activists, and yes, comedians. As Molly puts it: ‘So much about music has changed in the last few years. Suddenly musicians are expected to be able to do the social media thing, and the Tik Tok thing, and put a real show on, and fucking dance and make jokes. And that’s amazing, I think it’s great. But I'm not really anything except a musician’.
And therein lies the central, undeniable appeal of Molly Payton; for her, the music is and always has been front and centre. ‘It's all I've ever been good at, and it's all I want to do’, she says simply. Secure in her abilities and unfazed by industry noise, it seems to me that Molly is far closer to the coolly confident girl in the laundrette than she perhaps thinks.
Grab your tickets to see Molly play at our Birthday Bash HERE.
Images:
Photography Credits: Megan Graye | @megangraye_
Styling: Dani Murden | @danimurden
