Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Molly Cottrell. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Molly, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
The funny thing about this question is that…the riskiest thing I’ve done in my life wasn’t something I considered to be a risk at all. I didn’t feel that I had a choice – it was something I knew in my bones that I had to do. Even if the action is risky, I think the bigger risk would be going against your intuition and heart.
As soon as I graduated from college I packed up everything I owned in my car and drove halfway across the country to start a new life in a city where I didn’t know a single person, where I didn’t have a job, and didn’t even have an apartment yet. I headed straight to Los Angeles because I knew that was the best next step to build a career in music, even though I had no idea what that would logistically look like once I got here. Looking back, I do see how risky that is of course. But at the time, it felt like my only option. I couldn’t fathom NOT pursuing my dreams full-force.
Within a few short weeks, I shared a 1 bedroom apartment with a roommate, where I slept in the living room on a futon next to my keyboard. I walked down Hollywood Blvd every day for my new job as a hostess at a restaurant, and I began booking shows for myself without a single friend in LA to invite to my sets. I would carry my ridiculously heavy keyboard in and out of my car, in heels, all by myself to various venues and hope that whatever crowd was left from the previous act would stick around to listen to me since I had a grand total of about 5 contacts in LA, and they were all my coworkers at the restaurant who I had met about a week ago.
Whenever I get frustrated with where I’m at, I try to make it a point to remember how far I’ve come, and to give myself grace. I’m very grateful to my younger self for the risks she decided to take.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am an R&B artist. Singing has been my passion for as far back as I can recall. I begged my parents for voice lessons at the age of 9, as well as piano lessons. I’m so grateful to them for taking me seriously at such a young age, because I don’t remember any pushback from them. They encouraged this passion in me right from the start, despite neither one of them being involved in music whatsoever. My love of literature and words is another lifelong passion that then evolved into my love of rap and songwriting. Throughout my life, I’ve often felt misunderstood, or like the “black sheep”, so songwriting has become a deeply therapeutic practice for me. I can say things in my songs that I wouldn’t speak out loud to anyone for fear of being misinterpreted or put into a certain box. I can contain a fleeting thought into a song, where it can exist without me having to explain myself any further. My influences range from Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding and Nina Simone, to Erykah Badu, André 3000, and Amy Winehouse. My sound is some deep blend of old soul melodies and harmonies, and hip hop beats and lyrical cadences. It’s important to me that a song SAYS something. Lyrics and messaging matters to me very much, and I’m infinitely intrigued with the juxtapositions in humanity – all the contradictions one human can contain.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being a creative, to me, is how it illuminates the seemingly infinite capacity we have to continue learning about ourselves – and therefore others. There’s this strangely beautiful thing that happens often when I’m writing a song that used to completely puzzle me and give me a bit of imposter syndrome, but now I understand it as one of the purest forms of channeling that a creative can experience. I will find myself writing about a situation or scenario that I haven’t necessarily experienced yet. The words are coming out of me so effortlessly and natrually, and yet I can’t attach them to someone or something in my life, so it feels as if it’s out of nowhere. But then, I will realize later – whether it’s a week later or a year later – that I have then experienced EXACTLY what I had written about…so it’s as though I was writing about it in a very authentic way before having gone through that exact thing. I don’t know how that happens necessarily, but I believe it is one of the most rewarding aspects of creating for me. Understanding my own experiences and feelings in the context of all of humanity and our shared experiences.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
I spent my entire life singing and knowing that this is my passion. I have spent my life perfecting my craft, exploring my voice, learning my instrument, and paying close attention to it. However, you don’t always realize over time that you put unconscious limitations on your own abilities. For me, there were things that I began to understand as “not something my voice does”. Vocal abilities in certain areas that I had relegated to the realm of things I can’t do because it’s “not my voice type”. However, I had an incredible vocal mentor that shattered that reality for me and made me see that it was time for me to unlearn these beliefs. He gave me some of the simplest vocal exercises to do that, on the surface, seemed very elementary and like they couldn’t possibly affect change. He promised me that if I dedicated myself to this simple practice for just 1-2 weeks I would notice changes. So I did this, and honestly it blew my mind that I was able to do things with my voice after 10-14 days that I had believed for years weren’t achievable for me! I try to keep this at the forefront of my mind when it comes to my craft, so that I can be sure I’m not boxing myself in unknowingly and holding myself back from my own potential.
Contact Info:
- Website: mollycottrell.com
- Instagram: @mollycottrell
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-mWWKoRT4U
- Other: TikTok: @mollycottrellmusic
Image Credits
Dennis Roy Coronel