Molly Jane

(she/her)

Molly Jane just released her debut single, alongside the music video directed and produced by Claudia Bailey. ‘Walk Me Home’ centres around the gut wrenching moment you decide to move forward, leaving someone you love behind. The song is simple and sweet, the continuous guitar motif carrying you through the unassuming melody. The music video tells the story of the ending of a relationship. Being stuck in between staying or leaving. This work creates a mood so reminiscent of the moment you decide to say goodbye, and walk yourself home.

Celebrating this gig on the 29th of September, Molly will play with her full band at the Curtin Hotel. With support from Jeane and Stevie Jean, this will be an all female-lineup not to be missed.

Interviewed by Mackenzie Stolp

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How would you describe yourself and your music in one sentence?

Sad, sexy and a little bit awkward.

How did you get your start in music?

I started singing in high school! I grew up in the outer suburbs and my school had an arts program, which seemed more exciting than regular school. I gradually got more and more into it and decided I wanted to go on to study at a university level. I was lucky enough to get into VCA to study jazz and improvisation where I met so many incredible musicians, including the members of my band!

Where do you source inspiration for your music? Both audio and visually!

At the moment I’m really into singer/songwriters like Julia Jacklin, Lucy Dacus, Stella Donnely etc. I’m so amazed by the expression of femininity in their music; soft, powerful, sweet, angry all at the same time. Their story telling has such depth of emotion and character, which I absolutely love and relate to.

Lyrically a lot of my music comes from my own experiences. Writing music helps me work out how I feel about things. At the start it can be confused and not make much sense, then I try to strip it down and find the source. Every song I write I feel like I’m getting better at saying what I want to say.

You say ‘Walk Me Home’ “centres around the gut wrenching moment you decide to move forward, leaving someone you love behind”. Where did the feelings around the song come from? What was the process of writing it?

I wrote Walk Me Home when I was really struggling with the idea of change, and the inevitability of it. Friends move away, lovers find new lovers, peoples priorities are constantly shifting. I catch myself in moments where I feel like everything is perfect, then suddenly I’m overwhelmed and terrified of things changing. I wrote the song from start to finish in one afternoon, which is really rare for me. I sat down in my room and it just fell out of me onto the piano. It was so cathartic to write and so authentic to the way I was feeling. I wish it was always that easy.

You worked with Claudia Bailey on the music video, what was that process like?

So incredible. Claudia Bailey is such a talented director and so good at what they do. I had been following Claudia for a while and had so much admiration for their work. Claud came to one of my gigs in February and sent me a message the next day about how much they loved Walk Me Home. A few weeks later we were bonding over coffee and

heartbreak and talked concepts for a video. The experience on set was so amazing! Claudia really knows how to command a space and is so dedicated to their vision. We had an all GNC and female cast/crew on set, which was so empowering. I’m so grateful for Claudia's commitment to the project and everyone else involved.

What has been your experience so far in the Melbourne music scene?

My first interaction with the Melbourne music scene was in the context of a male-dominated university course. It was hard and I dealt with a lot of imposter syndrome, which seemed pretty common especially for non-male folk in those spaces. I left uni and slowly started to integrate myself in other circles, and there have been so many highs! I’ve somehow found myself surrounded by the most talented musicians, songwriters, and artists who I can call my friends and collaborate with. I’ve started playing gigs at some of my favourite venues and sold out at some of them. Now releasing a single and a video?! I really didn’t think I would get this far. I’m so grateful.

What are your plans for the future? Any big goals you hope to achieve soon?

After this next gig, I’m going to take a little break to write and collaborate. But I would love to record an EP sometime in the next year!

What can people expect from your upcoming go at the Curtin Hotel on Thursday the 29th Sept?

A lot of fun! I have a really incredible all female line-up, Jeane and Stevie Jean. I’m also getting together a mini choir, made up of some of my favourite Melbourne/Naarm based vocalists, to sing Walk Me Home. It's going to be such an amazing night of music and I’m so excited.