A Glimpse Into Mollie Elizabeth’s World

For Mollie Elizabeth, songwriting begins with a feeling, a fleeting thought, or a fragment of a story she can't quite let go of. Collected in a years-old folder on her phone, these little pieces of life become the foundations for songs that explore personal experiences, societal discomforts and the strange beauty of being human. From self-directed music videos to the breadcrumbs she leaves through her singles, every detail feels like an invitation to step a little further into her universe. Elizabeth even approaches her craft as an exercise in world-building, with each release offering another glimpse into her imagination. We caught up with Mollie Elizabeth ahead of her North American tour to talk creative control, visual storytelling and finding beauty in the things that hurt.

COURTESY OF UNIVERSAL MUSIC

Pleaser: Just this year, you’ve released five singles. What was your intention having these songs as stand alone records instead of making them a part of one large project?

Mollie Elizabeth: As a smaller artist, it's more of a strategy than anything. I feel like I’m leaving little bread crumbs rather than dropping the whole loaf of bread right in front of people. Everyone gets a little flavor of what I'm doing, and if they like it, they can come along for the ride and see the bigger project I have, and if they don't like it, then they can go to something else. 

Your videos and imagery often feel like extensions of the songs rather than promotional material for them. What role does visual storytelling play in how you communicate your art?

ME: That one's so tough because they feel so synonymous. Whenever I'm writing, I always have a story in my head, and I always have some kind of visual that comes along with it. It is really fun to be able to play more with visuals and music videos, and it’s another layer to the storytelling that I'm doing with the song. So it comes very naturally. 

You directed the music video for “Petty Crimes.” How did it feel to have creative control to bring this song to life?

ME: It was incredible to have creative control with that video. I couldn't imagine it being a different way. I mean, obviously, I love working with people and collaborating. At the same time, with the music that I make being so personal and vulnerable, it only feels right if I have my hands on it. 

Would you say directing this video changes the way you understood the song, or do you think it just allowed you to translate something that you already saw in your head about it? 

ME: There were certainly parts of the song that came alive a lot more on that day because it was very hot and I was very dirty. I was fully shoeless for the whole shoot, and I was running around outside, and I really was tattered and messed up in the dirt. It was like 100 degrees outside. Most of the shoot, I had an ice pack stuffed in the back of my dress. There was definitely an angry, unhinged spirit inside of me that came out during that video, which it was fun. There's so much of that in that song, and I think heat and exhaustion played a big part coming through in the video. 

There’s a recurring tension in your music between the whimsical and the unsettling, the beautiful and the uncomfortable. Why are you so drawn to those contrasts?

ME: It's been something that I've always been drawn to. One of the reasons why I love Tim Burton, he’s mastered the art of combining whimsical and spooky. It's also been my way of processing the hard things that have happened in my life and putting a rose colored, whimsical lens on them. I’m still able to process them and think, “This is the horrible thing that happened, but I'm morphing it into something that's easier to digest.” It's cool being able to put that into my music and have other people feel similar feelings. 

It seems like a lot of your music is a take on societal issues — “Run Rabbit,” having themes of growing up in an unhealthy household, “Dog Eat Dog,” about the dark sides of human nature. Do you draw these themes from personal experience or what you’ve seen in the world around you?

ME: It's mostly from personal experience, but also sometimes comes from things that I'm just observing in the world around me. I would say both, for sure. Being a young woman entering society, whether you're experiencing it firsthand or if you're seeing it being experienced by another woman or you're seeing it on billboards or whatever, you know, I think it's so visceral. 

Do you have a journal that you write stuff in day to day, and then think, I should turn this thought into a song, or does it come visually first? How does the songwriting process work for you? 

ME: Good question. I actually have a folder on my phone with any sort of little thought that comes to mind. Since I already bring my phone everywhere with me. I wish it was aesthetically pleasing, but I need a very direct brain-to-phone process. I've had it since, maybe, 2015. It's goes down, down, down, down. Any sort of thing that speaks to me or little phrase that I learn about or something that I experience, I just put it in the songspo folder. During sessions, if I feel myself getting stuck, I know I can just pull it up. It’s very practical. 

Does it get overwhelming sometimes looking at it and you're like, “Oh my gosh, what am I going to write about next?”

ME: Oh my gosh, yeah, are you kidding me? It's just too much. With the traveling that I'm doing on the plane, I'll go through and delete some of them, because some of them stink. Some of them from years ago, they need to go... But sometimes I remember they can always be revamped, you know? It's like a screenshot of where I was at that time of my life.

COURTESY OF UNIVERSAL MUSIC

You’re going on a tour in November. How do you plan to bring the visual world of Mollie Elizabeth to the stage?

ME: Obviously with some wardrobe, and I really have been getting more comfortable with being kooky with my movements, especially as I'm getting more comfortable being on stage and learning that people enjoy when I'm being myself. Which is awesome. We're brewing on little things I can do budget- wise, but I'm a really big fan of cardboard cutouts that we can put as stage props. I'm really hoping I might be able to make some spindly trees out of cardboard to put in the background, so it's like, I'm in the woods or something. 

You said you're bringing your wardrobe to tour; You have such a cool and unique aesthetic. Where do you shop? How are you going about picking your outfits for this tour? 

ME: I definitely have a bit of a collection going. I've been a thrift and vintage addict for my entire life. I would say a good half of my wardrobe is either vintage or thrifted. There are also a couple of smaller brands that have found me and have been kind enough to send me some clothes, that's been amazing and so helpful for me and my tight budget. They really fit into my world, and it's been great to have worked with them. 

You have one show with The Bob Acre Marionette show, that's so cool. How did that come about?

ME: The Bob Baker Marionette show is an iconic thing in LA. I'm brand new to LA, so I had never heard of it. But, I love puppet shows and any sort of physical media. I'm beyond excited. There's going to be some breaks during the set for the puppet show. I feel so flattered that they're letting me perform there and super honored, it's gonna be really magical. 

Molly Long has choreographed dances to some of your songs. She is a huge figure in the dance world, how did that opportunity come about and how did it feel to have someone so iconic be inspired by your music?

ME: Ridiculous. It was such a pinch me moment and I got to go and meet her and and see her lovely dancers dance in front of me and I almost started weeping, because it's just such a real thing to see how my music has inspired someone else into a different form of art with dance, and she's just the loveliest, sweetest human ever that I've ever met.

Is there anything you grew up watching, listening to or looking at that you think still exists somewhere inside your music today?

ME: Yes, for sure. I grew up watching a lot of older Disney, and that kind of romance of the music and instrumentation definitely inspires me to this day and my wardrobe. The classic Alice in Wonderland is always gonna be iconic, and will live rent free under my roof. I wouldn't say there was a specific album, but I grew up listening to a lot of Doris Day and Rosemary Clooney. The way that they sing inspires me a lot. 

You described your songs as tiny worlds that you build. When did you realize that world building was such an important part of your artistry? 

ME: I think it really hit once I started getting some traction on social media. Music has always been an escape for me and a way for me to process what was going on around me, but I think it really kicked in for me when I saw that people were listening to my music. At the end of the day, what matters most to me is giving people a space to come to where they feel seen and heard, and to put a playful, spooky edge on things that feel so dark and so heavy. Once I started really hearing from people that they were feeling connected, then it was like, okay, I gotta lock in. Music is an art, it saves lives and it changes perspectives.