Molly Kruse: Taking Us to New Heights

An artist on the rise, Molly Kruse has been capturing our attention with a string of singles and releases, most notably her new video for "Ruby." The singer-songwriter goes above and beyond the call of duty to bring enlightening songs to the table, with dashes of intimate moments laced throughout. We had the chance to catch up with Molly Kruse in the past few days, as she discusses what she has on board this Spring and beyond.

You have a new video out right now. What can you tell us about the new release? What fueled the inspiration?

The video is titled "Ruby", and it's the first single off of my debut, self-titled EP. What fueled the inspiration was a young girl I once knew, who, along with her siblings, was abandoned and neglected by her parents. I wrote the song very quickly - in a feverish, midnight writing spree - and many visual images of the girl and her family were swimming in my mind's eye. At that point, I knew I had to make a music video because I knew we could create something really artistic and beautiful, in addition to further clarify this young girl's story via film. I sent the song to my friend, Jamie Holt - a producer on Dear, White People and Lady Gaga's "Til It Happens to You" - who instantly fell in love with it. From that point, we sent images and vision boards back and forth to each other and honed our visual palette of how we wanted the music video to come out. We filmed "Ruby" all in one, twelve hour day at one location, and I couldn't be happier with the final product!

Was there any specific storyline you had for the song when writing?

Yes, absolutely! The song - told by an unidentified, first-person narrator - details the story of a little girl named "Ruby", who's family mistreated and neglected her. It's semi-autobiographical but also relates closely to my experience of watching a young girl and her family go through hell at the hands of the parents. After seeing this little girl's story unfold before my eyes, I felt consumed by her pain, as it so closely intertwined with my own childhood experiences; one night, I sat down to write, and "Ruby" poured out of me in about 4 hours!

When writing music, what are your influences? How long does it typically take you to write a song? Do you keep coming back to the piece and revising?

It totally and utterly depends on the song, in terms of influences and how long it takes to write. Little snippets of melody and lyrics come to me throughout the day, and sometimes, they can be completely country or purely jazz or intensely soul or anything else in between! It just depends on what I'm going through at the time of writing. Generally, it takes me about 4 to 6 hours to write a full song, but there's also been quite a bit of variance in that as well. Some songs - like my single, "Come Back to Me" - took two full days to write. For others, I've written the chorus in one evening but then I wasn't able to finish it until well over a year later. I generally don't keep coming back to the piece and revisiting; once I've written it, I lay off of it.

What are your influences musically and lyrically?

Musically, there are so many! Marvin Gaye, Ray Charles, Joni Mitchell, Elliott Smith, Silvio Rodriguez, Carole King, Glenn Miller, Lauryn Hill, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, and Django Rheinhardt are a few of them. Lyrically, I've always been drawn the wordier, more poetic artists, like Joni Mitchell and Silvio Rodriguez; however, I've also been deeply influenced by pop star lyricists like Taylor Swift who write incisive, catchy lyrics and know how to structure a solid pop song.

What was the recording process like for the latest release? Did you self-produce? How long did it take to write and record the album as a whole?

The recording process was fun, exciting, and nerve-wracking, as it was my first release and everything felt new and intimidating. I didn't self-produce but ended up collaborating with one of my close friends and colleagues, Brandon Eugene Owens, who's produced for the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Fergie, and Lana Del Rey. There were a couple of tracks that I ended up re-recording because I wanted a different sound and style out of the band, though, and on those two - "Come Back to Me" and "Caprices" - I suppose I was head producer. It look a lot longer than I expected to write and record the album - about two years, start to finish!

Do you have any plans on touring this year?

Yes! In the works right now. Stay tuned.

What do you hope to accomplish in 2018 with the new music and beyond?

My goal is to release either a full album or another EP in the fall (or at the latest, early next year), to tour over the course of the next few months, and to keep writing what's in my soul!