Living Dead Girl isn’t interested in fitting neatly into anyone’s scene. Led by Molly Rennick, the Canadian born, Florida based frontwoman has carved out a sound that swerves between metal, goth, and flashes of pop-punk. All while gleefully ruffling the feathers of genre gatekeepers, with their sophomore record ‘Conspiracy’, Rennick has doubled down on vulnerability, anger, and creative control, from the wildness of ‘Poison Me’ to the quarter life panic of ‘We’ll All Be Dead’.
We caught up with Rennick to talk about toxic family ties, working with Mitchell Marlow (In This Moment, New Years Day, Papa Roach), the visual world she builds around her music, and why Living Dead Girl is only just getting started.
Blunt: ‘Poison Me’ really cuts deep lyrically, what headspace were you in when you wrote it, and how did you channel that into the song’s energy?
Molly: Poison Me was written about the same person/situation as Dysfunctional was, actually, and it’s funny how those two songs have such a different tone and mood to them yet are written about the very same experience in my life. I channelled the feelings in a kind of playful, fed-up way in Dysfunctional, then I approached that same feeling from a different headspace, more of a deep-rooted anger, and kind of also a feeling of helplessness, and thus Poison Me was born. The song is about having a really toxic relationship in your family, and how utterly helpless that makes you feel, like you’ve been poisoned and can’t do anything about it. It’s different than a romantic relationship; if your boyfriend sucks you can just break up with him. But when you’re related to an evil narcissist you can’t fully escape them. Like the lyrics “you pollute the air I breathe / with your toxicity”, it’s like, your effect is literally all around me and I can’t get away from it. I put a lot of emotion into the vocals and also the instrumentation is very emotional too, I think it turned out perfect for the topic of the song!
Living Dead Girl ‘Poison Me’ Video
Blunt: You’ve described CONSPIRACY as darker, heavier, and more vulnerable than Exorcism. What changed in your writing or personal life that pushed you toward that direction?
Molly: I think it’s a combination of things but mostly just the time in my life that I wrote each album at. I was 18 when I wrote some of the songs on Exorcism (22 when it came out), and then I was 25 in the studio writing Conspiracy; a lot of things change and happen in your life between 18 to 25, I think my writing style really reflects the years of music experience I gained in between the two albums. There’s a sense of maturity and also a more refined sound in Conspiracy which is mostly just a reflection of my age, like Exorcism felt like my teenage album and Conspiracy feels like my adult album haha. In that time I moved to a different country (Canada to Florida), met my husband and got married, began touring, all kinds of major life changes that have helped shape me as a person and also as an artist. I have more shit to write about now than I did then!
Blunt: Working with Mitchell Marlow (In This Moment, New Years Day, Papa Roach) is a big move. What did he bring to the record that shaped its final sound?
Molly: Mitch was the producer on our first record EXORCISM so for CONSPIRACY it felt like a no-brainer to stick with the same team – if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it! I wanted the overall sound of Conspiracy to be similar to Exorcism as the first two albums for an artist really are still introducing yourself to the world; like the second album can still be your first impression to a lot of people, so I wanted the quality of the production and mixing to be the same level as Exorcism. But I’m not the only one who’s grown as an artist since the first album; I felt like even Mitch had somehow stepped his game up too and the result is an epic album! We made a great team on both records, he understands my vision for Living Dead Girl.
Blunt: Living Dead Girl blends metal, goth, and even pop-punk at times. Do you see yourself fitting into one scene, or are you deliberately carving out your own lane?
Molly: I like that we aren’t a straight-down-the-barrel rock or metal band; I find it fun when people ask what my music sounds like and I have to try and come up with a fitting description (I still hesitate and throw a ton of words at people when they ask haha. “Uh it’s metal, but not death metal, but heavier than rock ‘cause I scream, it’s basically if Avril Lavigne sang modern metal.”) I find it more fun to create music that blends all different elements and styles together, rather than just paying it “safe” and sticking to ONE thing. I think that’s what makes us different from other bands is that blend of genres and the flair of pop punk in it. We attract an extremely versatile crowd which is great too; I love that metal gatekeepers hate us haha.
Blunt: Your music videos have a strong visual identity. How important is that imagery to telling the band’s story, and how much of that vision comes directly from you?
Molly: I love creating the visuals just as much as I love making the songs themselves; music videos feel like bringing the song to life and it’s so cool to be fully immersed in the song while you’re both creating, and then watching, the music video. The videos are all very much directly from me; I write the treatments (basically the script/shot list), I source locations, props, outfits, actors, everything; then I even do some of the editing (in the music video for UGLY I did all the cartoon overlays myself). I love being hands-on with every aspect of creativity for the band; it’s all gotta be authentically Molly or I don’t wanna do it!
Living Dead Girl ‘Ugly’ Video
Blunt: ‘We’ll All Be Dead’ tackles the quarter-life crisis head on. Was it daunting to be so blunt about that experience, or did it feel freeing to put those thoughts into a song?
Molly: It’s funny because originally the lyric “one day we’ll all be fucking dead” was in the verse, then as I kept writing the song Mitch and I were both like “that line is really cool, I think that should be in the chorus”–then it ended up being the hook. It just has such a bluntness to it that felt right like it needed to be said over and over. It felt kinda scary to put these thoughts into lyrics and I didn’t want anybody to take them the wrong way – the lyric “the things that I want, the things that I dream, they don’t align, I’m standing at the crossroads losing my god damn mind” – I think sum up the whole song perfectly. I was writing it while experiencing some existential crisis where I was thinking “damn, I’m 26 years old, I’m married, I should be like, buying a house and having kids soon but I feel like a teenager still and I choose to travel the country with my friends in an RV playing music instead – can I have both of those lives in one? Is that even possible? Can I have more time to figure it out??? Nope, there is no more time, the clock is ticking, better figure your shit out!” I think a lot of people in my age range – or even not, maybe older people still feel this way – can really relate to feeling like you don’t have anything figured out but need to get it sorted. It’s a super relatable, blunt song!
Living Dead Girl ‘We’ll All Be Dead’ Video
Blunt: You’ve been hitting festivals like Rock Fest and Upheaval while also headlining your own shows. What’s the biggest difference between connecting with a festival crowd versus your own audience?
Molly: Playing a headlining show is a lot more intimate than a festival, and I love both! But there’s so much ENERGY at a festival vs a regular show that it feels like such a Cloud 9 experience to get to play them. Anytime I’m on stage at a festival I’m like “am I dreaming?? Is this really happening??” Regular shows have become a routine and I’m so comfortable on stage and running through the motions knowing what to do–then at a festival it’s like “holy shit!! Stay calm, you got this!”
Blunt: Looking back at Exorcism and now CONSPIRACY, what’s been your biggest lesson about balancing personal vulnerability with the intensity fans expect from Living Dead Girl?
Molly: I feel like I’ve been good at channeling vulnerable emotions in my lyrics and songs in a way that keeps our sound consistent, heavy, upbeat, etc – but I do need to throw in a softer song here and there for my own creative sanity. I need to play with versatility in our sound and experiment a bit to keep myself feeling artistic and creative; I don’t ever want our songs to feel cookie-cutter. I did that on Exorcism with “Stronger” (which many fans have told us is their favourite song of ours so I’ll consider that a win!) and now on Conspiracy with “Survival Mode”–as much as I am a metal singer, I still do love the more singer-songwriter vibe and love doing one more stripped down, raw song on the album. I purposely kept Survival Mode more of a rock anthem and less of a ballad so we have the ability to throw it into our live sets–that’s the only problem with “Stronger” is it doesn’t fit in our live show, hence why we never play it. Survival Mode is perfect because I got to make my softer song that I wanted, but it’s still a Living Dead Girl song in intensity. I really got to show off my vocals on that song too!
Blunt:The album title CONSPIRACY feels loaded, what does that word mean to you in the context of this record?
Molly: It is a very loaded title and a lot of different ideas were rolled into one to get that title. To CONSPIRE is to secretly make a plan to do something unlawful and harmful–I think that word really suited a lot of the lyrics and themes in this album. Like there are hidden evil plans unfolding in the world around me but I am able to see them and I wonder who else can see them with me. Then in the album artwork we have eyeballs on the palms of my hands (“hamsa” symbol) as a way of saying I’m warding off the evil and keeping it out of me; I can see it all, and I’m aware of it, but I won’t let it infiltrate me. That’s kind of the overall vibe of this album.
Blunt: Where do you want to see Living Dead Girl by the time the next album cycle rolls around? Is there a goal or milestone you’re chasing beyond this release?
Molly: I would love to see us supporting more well-known artists on larger tours, playing in bigger venues, playing more festivals. I would love to tour overseas and get to travel and experience more places. I don’t have one specific milestone but overall I just want to keep seeing Living Dead Girl grow and reach a larger audience. I just want our music to reach as many people as we can, and get to travel and bring the live show to more people in more countries!
Support the Band
‘Conspiracy’ marks the next chapter for Living Dead Girl, and you can be part of it. Pre-order the album and connect with the band online below:
Pre-order ‘Conspiracy’: https://www.livingdeadgirl.ca/ (Available October 10)
Follow Living Dead Girl
‣ /livingdeadgirlband
‣ /livingdeadgirlofficial
‣ /ldgbandofficial
