Cover and photos by Kayla Creightney
Los Angeles and Bay Area-based group Molly with Charles was founded in 2016 by Molly Arizona and Charles Nutrivore. Along with members Oliver Cooper, Oliver Taylor, David Marcus, and Ari Carpenter, Arizona and Nutrivore cultivate a unique sound that explores crossovers between numerous genres, including R&B, neo-soul, pop, and jazz. Molly with Charles has carved a gentle musical space for self-reflection and peace.
2017 debut EP Q + M gave listeners a glimpse into the soft, soulful Molly with Charles world, with stand-out tracks "Playing with the Moon" and "Q + M" garnering attention and acclaim for the project. A second 2017 EP titled The Paris Tape solidified the band's standing as a promising up-and-coming act in the independent R&B/soul scene. Molly with Charles released their debut album, Ownership, on June 2, 2023.
The LP truly has no skips, from the romantic opening track "I Think That It's Love" to the culminating moments of "Shine". Lead single "Strawberry" captures the very essence of the group. It's dreamy yet grounded, melancholy and nostalgic. The unique arrangement of "Why Did They Talk Like That" commands attention; the stripped-down instrumentation features only minimal keyboards and echoing vocals until the second half of the song, when a drum solo drives the song in a brand new direction. Another fan favorite track, "What Are We After", combines mellow bass grooves, silky smooth vocal melodies, and jazzy guitars. Tasteful backing vocal harmonies throughout the whole album suggest a nuanced dynamic understanding and add warmth to the tracks' tones.
We spoke with Molly Arizona and Charles Nutrivore of Molly with Charles about their influences, songwriting process, and debut album Ownership. Read the full interview below and check out the full LP. Let us know what you think.
How did the band form?
Molly: We first met in middle school and knew each other a little bit, although we weren’t insanely close until later on. We saw each other through the years and I used to have these parties in middle school and some people at Charles’ school would come to those. We kept seeing each other throughout high school and saying we should make something together, but it didn’t happen until the very end of our senior year of high school. Charles asked me to sing a song that he had written and we put it out. It isn’t out anymore, but that kind of started everything and we seriously locked in for about a month before I went off to college. We recorded our whole first EP, Q + M, and we just kept on making music.
Charles: Molly was at school for a year and then decided to come back to pursue music and I went to school. We just kept on collaborating and it felt very natural and good. We maintained it throughout all of life’s other changes and about a year into it, we started to play live more often and brought in a full band of our friends.
How would you describe your sound?
C: We’re definitely influenced by Nick Hakim. The way he writes songs and has very textured production has been inspiring. Our newest project, especially, is very meditative and gentle, which I appreciate. It brings me back to when I first started falling in love with music. I always loved softer music, like Frank Ocean or Elliott Smith–artists I could lay in the dark and enjoy. I think listening to our music can fulfill that role of taking you on a meditative journey.
M: I feel like our genre has always been a little bit hard to define. Vocally, I lean more towards R&B and soul, so in some ways we kind of fall into the alternative R&B or neo-soul categories. Charles has a jazz background with the piano. There are pop elements and some more experimental stuff, but “gentle” is overall the perfect way to describe us and our sound.
"It brings me back to when I first started falling in love with music... I think listening to our music can fulfill that role of taking you on a meditative journey."
Tell us about your songwriting process.
M: We’ve done it so many different ways. My favorite way to write music for Molly with Charles is to write together. Regardless of how a song starts, we always end up collaborating in some part of the songwriting process. Whether I’m writing the first verse and some guitar parts or Charles' producing the instrumental, we always work together. It just happens in so many different ways. Sometimes a song comes from a poem or a little piano or guitar part. Other times, it’s a voice note taken in the middle of the night of one random melody or lyrical idea. We take that seed and come together.
C: A big part of this album is maturity and just kind of coming into our own as musicians. A part of that was creating a ridiculous amount of versions of each song just to see what feels right. It was necessary to have a stronger understanding of who we are as artists and people. On the next one, I think we’ll be able to go in and take a more streamlined approach, but that was something that was unique to this project.
Speaking of your most recent project, share a little bit about its concept and creation.
C: Ownership was inspired by a Lauryn Hill lyric where she sings about a love not based on ownership. We’re thinking about that in a couple different ways. There’s creative ownership and literally owning the publishing and masters on your songs, but there’s also a more fluid idea ownership–which Lauryn Hill is referring to–where it has nothing to do with legal material, but rather emotions. When we started out, I was very focused on figuring out what it looks like to make a career in the music industry. In that aspect of it, ownership over your own work is a number one priority. I still think that’s important, but it’s also super important to own your experiences through writing songs.
M: We didn’t initially have a set amount of songs or even a concept for the album. That came after we’d already started working on the songs. The idea of what it means to be an artist now just came through in each of the songs on the album, even though they’re really about different things. Some are about romantic relationships, but others are more vague and could be discussing anything. We wanted to reflect on our experiences and how we relate to other people. We’re always navigating our own selves and who we are, or what we want in the world. Aromanticism by Moses Sumney was a big influence in questioning some of those ideals. The songs are about seeing friends and relationships come and go, and just trying to accept that through music.
"There’s creative ownership and literally owning the publishing and masters on your songs, but there’s also a more fluid idea ownership–which Lauryn Hill is referring to–where it has nothing to do with legal material, but rather emotions."
Do you have a favorite track on the album?
M: I have two. We have one shared one right now, but it’s changed between every version of the songs. Right now, my favorite is “Paint”. It’s a really special song; it feels right to me. It’s also one of my favorite songs to sing when we perform live. The other favorite right now is “Why Did They Talk Like That”. It’s this very stripped-down song with a gorgeous drum solo in its second half. The whole outro tugs at my heart.
C: I definitely agree. The second half of “Why Did They Talk Like That” is really beautiful and it’s such a good example of my interplay with Molly in songwriting. Molly’s writing these amazing vocal lines and Oliver is underneath that with a ferocious drum solo. Dave does this acoustic part that just fits in with everything else in a really nice way. Subject-wise, Molly wrote that one at the beginning of the process. It’s just taken on a greater relevance in my life after seeing certain relationships falter. Specifically, marriages. The song is all about being a young person and questioning why people discuss that ideal at that age. Seeing how life has thrown some surprises makes the song really poignant for me.
What was the most challenging part of making and releasing Ownership?
M: It took a long time to finally put out the project. I feel so grateful that we landed on the versions of the songs we have now. I think spending that much time on any song, we’d get to the point where we’d just heard it so many times and didn’t even know what it sounded like anymore. There were some moments where it felt like, "is this ever gonna come out?" COVID-19 really threw a wrench in the process too, because everything slowed down and everyone was struggling, both physically and creatively. It was not knowing when it was finally going to be done that was the hardest part for me. Ultimately, I’m really glad for the time we spent on it because the songs are the best they could be and we learned a lot about ourselves while making them.
C: Our first project (Q + M) was very much like, “let’s just write things and put them out and not think about it too much,” which was nice for that time. Spending so much time obsessing over every little detail and the uncertainty of the pandemic everyone was experiencing was really challenging, just to echo Molly’s points. Having gone through that uncertainty and built our trust in each other made us even stronger as a band and as people.
"I think spending that much time on any song, we’d get to the point where we’d just heard it so many times and didn’t even know what it sounded like anymore. There were some moments where it felt like, "is this ever gonna come out?"
Is there one overall takeaway you want fans to have when listening to the album?
C: I think it all goes back to my younger self as a teenager and a child who found a lot of solace in music. I think I kind of made the album for that part of me, for that person, and I hope there’s someone out there who can find the same space with our music. I want it to bring people peace in their day.
One other thing I’d like to add is that my younger sibling, Phoebe, did the art for the album cover and it foregrounds all or many of our collaborators. I want to express the underlying message of all the gratitude I have for the people who come and bring their own creativity to your vision. We want to shout out Oliver, Stari, Oliver Taylor, Matt, Ari, and Dave. There are so many people who we could not have done this without.
M: Mine’s pretty similar. I want the album to be an opportunity for self-reflection and a sense of peace. It’s a space for listeners to explore their own experiences through the lens of our songs.
What’s next for Molly with Charles?
M: We have a couple different things planned. We may or may not be doing a deluxe version of the album with a couple of new additions. For a few years now, I’ve also been working on a solo project, which still has me working for all the same people, but it will be under my name, Molly Arizona. I’m excited for people to hear that!
Is there anything else you’d like people to know?
C: For anyone who wants to make music, I just want you to know that you can. I have very simple tools that I used to produce these songs, so I would say that if you feel like you want to make songs but don’t have access to a really nice studio or equipment, just do it anyways. You can make it work.
M: We spend a lot of time working with what we have, so I feel really grateful that I have a home studio setup here, where I have a nice enough mic to track everything. Another huge takeaway from this project, which we touched on a bit before, was all of the people that went into it. I want people to know that Ownership was really a communal effort. Every iteration of every song was informed by all of our live performances with the band and cool melodies that someone would create–or cool arrangements that we would come up with.
That’s a super important aspect of who we are as Molly with Charles now. It’s not how we started, but that’s who we are now. To find people to work with that you’re friends with and love as humans is awesome… finding a community is very important.
"It’s not how we started, but that’s who we are now. To find people to work with that you’re friends with and love as humans is awesome"
Who are three other artists, bands, or music industry professionals you’d like to see covered on Enharmonic Magazine next?
C: Jon Bap would be crazy; he’s been putting out music that blows my mind, so I’d love to hear him talk about his process.
M: Our good friend King Isis has a really cool punk-type sound. They’re just an all-around incredible artist and they’re seeing their success right now. Things are starting to happen for them and we couldn’t be happier about that.
C: The other artist is Molly Arizona, for sure! When that project drops it’ll make an awesome feature.
What do you want to see covered on Enharmonic Magazine next? Let us know.
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