Molly's Kiss talk about their recently released debut album, “A Piece Of Us”!
Hello Molly’s Kiss, hope that you are doing good :) Thanks for your time! Would you mind introducing your band to our readers? Madeline: We're a french folk band, based in Clermont-Ferrand, a city lost in the middle of France. The band is composed of Nicolas, as vocalist and guitarist, and me, as vocalist. We had played for years as a trio, with an accordeonist. But since 2018, it's just the two of us. Nicolas: We wanna be honest, genuine and human (just as we try to be in our lives). We want to create a relationship with the audience, to play a music we could play in your living room. We don't want to use digital effects, auto-tune, computers... Unfortunately, a lot of music programmers, in France, only swear by electronic sounds... We're really big fans of The Lumineers, Jack White, the Tallest on Earth, Eddie Vedder or Nickel Creek... Madeline: We are also big fans of hard rock and metal music. I still listen to Guns'n'Roses or Nightwish almost everyday! How did you come up with the name of your band? Nicolas: It is wink to Nirvana's song « Molly's lips ». Otherwise, Molly's Kiss represents the kind of perfect love we all seek but which is not really necessary to find to be happy. What made you decide to start a folk duo? Nicolas: We began performing together in 2014. When my previous band split (a rock band), I was just a rock guitarist. I started singing, and I began to take a keen interest in songwriting. At that time, I had already written a couple songs in french, and some poetry. At this moment, I really fall in love with folk music. I had this urge of expressing simple things and freedom. I wanted to write some songs you can play anytime, anywhere. And my first folk songs were written within this frame of mind, with no bad spirit. Madeline: Initially, I'm a metal fan. But I ended up in a folk band, and I enjoy that! (I guess!). I had never sung in a band before. Nicolas called me for backing vocals, and now, I'm a lead singer. Nicolas: Yes, she just stole the spotlight! (laughs) You have recently released your debut album, “A piece of us”. Would you mind introducing this release to our readers? What's the story behind this record? Madeline: The title say it all: it's a real “piece of us”. Even with our faults! We tried to mix studio's quality and live spirit, as we don't want to listen to something perfect, cold and sanitized. We want that the listener feels our presence next to him. Nicolas: As we said before, we really love The Lumineers, Jack White or Neil Young. Their music isn't perfect but so real and enjoyable. We try to go down this path. Madeline: This album sums up the first five years of the band. There are new and old material. We rearranged some “old” songs with banjo and mandolin, or percussions. How long have you actually worked on this album? Nicolas: These songs have been writtten during five years. We have selected our favourites. We had three days to record and three days to mix. It goes fast! Madeline: On the album, Nicolas played the guitar but also the banjo and the mandolin. The third musician was Denis Clavaizolle. He played the piano and some additional instruments. He also recorded the album and we mixed it together. We enjoyed the idea of a small group recording. How did you approach the writing process? Nicolas: I'm inspired both by Anglo-Saxon and French songwriters. I like your sens to find the right phrase and I also like the “french way of storytelling”. (I'm a huge fan of songwriters like Brassens, Brel or Renaud). The subject of the songs generally reflect our personal vision of the world. Some of them could probably be called “protest songs”. For example, «Layabout» talks about a way of life in which money and work aren't the priorities. Some people think that the poors are necessarily layabouts, I don't agree with that. Some songs are more lightweight. If you had to pick one song off of this release, which one would you pick and why? Nicolas: Our first single “A Fork on the road”. It's our favourite, without a doubt. It's a song for Madeline, a kind of biography. Her first wish, initially, was to be a singer in a metal band… But she finds herself today in a folk project. She is not dissatisfied though… Well, I hope so (laughs). Sometimes, you find yourself somewhere when it was not necessarily the basic plan. The last words are for you. If you have a message to convey, here’s your chance! Madeline: Thanks a lot for your interest and your open-mindedness!
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