Moollz’s DIY mentality spans all things Moollz, not just her music. In addition to such endeavors as writing, production, and promotions, she designs her own album art. To make Moon Fruit, she painted, drew, scanned, printed, ran into a printer snafu which, she determined was, “kinda dope!” and put the beloved mistake into Microsoft Paint. Proximity is simpler; it’s an intimate photo of her and her co-writer/co-producer/friend-turned-boyfriend. “It felt kind of right to have a picture of us on it.” Laughing, she compares the Proximity cover (a photo of her holding her creative partner and now ex-boyfriend in the pool like a baby) to Michelangelo’s Pieta, a sculpture of the Virgin Mary holding a decrepit baby Jesus. “It was also very Los Angeles.” She remarks on the dichotomy between the EP’s sound and lyrics; the sound is reminiscent of Los Angeles’ glowy aura and the lyrics are starker, more New York. It’s a Southern California-grown young woman who craves fast subway cars and fresh faces while knowing her soul is still tethered in Lost Angeles.
My recording stops in the midst of our interview. I apologize profusely, embarrassed we have to backtrack, but Moollz is calm and instructs me to listen to where we left off and pick up from there. “New album stuff!” she announces with gusto to kick off my new recording.
Following Moon Fruit and Proximity, Moollz is diving into a full-length record. At a showcase for Tigris Records in Bushwick, Brooklyn, where she has found a home as a signed artist, she debuted “Alien, My Dear,” the track that is the new album’s jumping off point. Moollz is drawing new inspiration for this project, praising Bollywood female vocalists for their technical abilities and nodding to the band Hiatus Kaiyote’s musical style.
Though Moollz is studying production at Clive Davis, her focus and energy is shifting to live performance. “My favorite thing about music is performing it,” she gushes wanting her shows to incorporate aspects of both “performance art” and “a visual art” type of experience. She admires artists who create a world through their performances; people who whisk you off and offer you a piece of their heart. I picture Moollz cultivating a world that is extra terrestrial and extra heartfelt.
With our parking meters about to expire, it’s time to say our goodbyes. After sipping tea and listening to Moollz’s musings, I want to take the long way back to suburbia and blast feel-good music with my windows rolled down.
Whether you share a tea with her or let her melodies move your mind, Moollz takes you to another galaxy while reminding you to keep your eyes on the road ahead.
You can find Moollz on…
Instagram.com/moollymoollz
Twitter.com/moollymoollz
Facebook.com
SoundCloud.com/moollz
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC29bDYk2a7CtKDEVvru991Q
moollz.com
edited by Janice Bremec Blum
Photo by Lisa Durkin
Natalie Durkin is a content contributor and social media assistant at TribeLA. She is a student at Bard College in New York’s idyllic Hudson Valley and returns intermittently to L.A. to see her parents and black Labrador Retriever, Buoy. Don’t ask her what she is majoring in; she doesn’t know yet, but she plans on pursuing a career in drama therapy. Once, she was a debutante. Sometimes, she is an actress, waterskier, and snow skier. She is always a Sex and the City fan, animal lover, and proud Angeleno.