Northern California native Molly Hanmer currently presides In Glendale, California. Her gritty voice is unique, soulful and beautiful while mixing country, blues, and rock n roll. Hanmer tells stories with her simple and dark songwriting, creating simple old fashioned folk that will withstand the test of time. Her band, the Midnight Tokers provide steady beats that move like a freight train while her guitar moves in and out of the songs with expressive blues style. I spoke with Molly Hanmer on her inspirations, songwriting, and being a female guitar player.
Where are you from originally?
I am from Pacific Grove, California.
Has moving to Los Angeles changed the way you write and was it everything you expected?
I don't know what I was expecting when I was moving down here, a lot of people up north have a negative bias towards Los Angeles. There was not a lot happening up in San Francisco as far as meeting other musicians and stuff so I decided I would give LA a try with a pretty open mind. My friend, Claudia Miles, who is now my manager, encouraged me to move to Los Angeles for my music and start writing again. I got lucky and met my band pretty quickly. Having a band that I met in LA has changed the way I write for sure. It's cool because there are so many people trying to pursue music professionally, it forces one to fall in line with that and really become a worker if that makes sense.
When did you start writing and performing your own songs?
I wrote my first song in my senior year of high school when I was 18. I didn't really write for a good while after that because I didn't have a lot of confidence that I could do it. So probably about three years later I wrote another song and started playing out regularly. I guess I was about 23 when I started playing out and writing more consistently, but I started playing the guitar when I was 13.
What inspires you to write?
I find the human condition fascinating to write about, also anything that has feeling and makes a connection. Even if it is about something else other than you, it's still a reflection of yourself. But overall, I try to write stories.
Do you find that it's difficult to be taken seriously as a female guitar player?
I find that once I start playing it is not an issue, people are always surprised that I can play guitar the way that I do. I am the front of my band so I find that I kind of have to assert myself in that place sometimes. I don't feel that people do it intentionally. Whether it is a sound guy at a show or a crew member, people will address the guys in the band and I kind of have to pop in and be like "hey! I am like the leader here!"
Could you tell me about your upcoming single "Real Love?"
Well, that one is actually a cover of a Lucinda Williams song. I don't have a release date yet, we recorded everything and we are mastering it later this month. Then we are going to approach some independent record labels and see if they will release it and help us put a tour together. My producer, Marvin, was playing with her late one night and got these four track cassette recordings of "Real Love," which was a song that she had just written but she had not really finished. They were up until 5 one night and she was recording and it came out this really raw awesome song. She has released a full band version of it, but it's a lot bigger than the version I had originally heard from Marvin. So we wanted to record the stripped down version which sounded like a party where people are just fucking around with guitars and stuff.
Who are some musical influences of yours?
Well I mean The Beatles and The Rolling Stones obviously. Green Day was a big influence on me, Bob Dylan was a big influence on me, Jackie Green, Janis Joplin, I could go on for miles (laughs).
What are you listening to right now?
I was just listening to Donavin but I've been listening to him for a while. I've also been listening to Steve Earl a lot lately because I just went to a songwriting camp that he was at.
What are your favorite places to see music in LA?
The Troubadour is an awesome place to see music but I can't always afford to go there. Cinema bar is a good place, I like the Escondite, that's a really cool hockey bar that has this tiny beautiful stage, and The Hotel Cafe is always a good one.
What is some advice you would give to other female songwriters?
Don't let your insecurities get in the way of playing your guitar with confidence and just having fun with it. That is so much easier said than done but it is important to keep in mind.
