Fanshawe MIA student, Molly Roach, shares the tales and tricks of the trade

Header image for Interrobang article CREDIT: MOLLY ROACH
Fanshawe Music Industry Arts (MIA) student Molly Roach is a talented artist with a strong and bright future ahead of her. She can be seen playing in London at The Cardboard Cafe on Dec. 15 and The London Wine & Food Show on Jan. 20.

Molly Roach is a student enrolled in Fanshawe's Music Industry Arts program (MIA), who has truly immersed herself into the world of songwriting. Being involved in several musical projects and having written hundreds of songs already, Roach's passion for this art form is extremely inspirational.

Roach's interest in writing sprung from her mother who encouraged her to keep a diary from an early age. After discovering a passion in music and learning guitar, Roach found that these two areas of her life were well suited to one another.

“Eventually, my musical abilities and my writing abilities turned into songs,” Roach said.

When it came time to attend post-secondary school, Roach discovered the Independent Songwriting and Performance program at Seneca College, which allowed her to further develop this skillset. “I absolutely adored that program” Roach stated, discussing how immersive it was. “Every single day we would start the class with a notebook, and just free write…I was honestly just constantly writing” Roach said, telling how every day students would also be put into pairs with the task of writing a song in 30 minutes.

The program was an integral to Roach's writing career. “[I have] like 200 songs just because of that program…It was an amazing experience.” Roach said.

After hearing about the MIA program at Fanshawe from a cousin enrolled in the program, Roach decided to attend it to further her music career. It has served as a great place for Roach to evolve both as a writer and a performer. “I feel super well rounded already, I know I'm gonna leave even more well-rounded… I've gone from an acoustic guitar player, songwriter, to a full band player who can play in a few different genres,” Roach said.

Roach, is also involved in a fair amount of community outreach through her work with the London Arts Council. “We run a jam session for mental health patients,” Roach recalled, stating that the program “ties into [her] wanting to help people with music”.

Another area of this program which she is involved in has been running songwriting workshops for kids.

It was here that she met local singer-songwriter Poesy (Sarah Botelho), who invited Roach to join her on a house show tour across Ontario.

“I'm gonna call that a classic case of serendipity”, Roach said. “I love how we just met and then we're driving across Ontario.”

The 10-day tour was run entirely by Botelho and Roach, and served as a great way for both to expand their fanbase.

Roach currently has several projects on the go, including playing lead guitar for psychedelic folk band Psalm Trees and an art rock project called Sweet Tooth launching soon with MIA student Jonathan Midence.

One of her most ambitious projects however, is an album for her solo act that has been in development for quite some time. “I've been planning this project for two years and I've only just recently started having the songs done,” Roach said. According to Roach, the project still has some ways to go, at least a year until songs are fully written.

The project is an album which Roach says analyzes “the idea of how the universe always kind of throws you opposites”. Themes explored include positive thought/ negative thoughts, good days/bad days and isolation/intimacy. With this album Roach says she hopes to “show the dynamics of life and how [she] tries to achieve balance through music”. With all that it entails, this album is certainly an exciting project.

For those looking to get into the art of songwriting Roach had a few tips; “start with a diary, start with just connecting your emotional self, your mental self with your physical self” Roach advised, “Just getting your ideas from inside to outside. Just trying to figure out how to communicate and start communicating. Cause that's what songs are, is communication and it doesn't matter if it's good…just start writing.”

Roach's music can be heard at soundcloud.com/mollyroachsings, mollyroachsings.bandcamp.com or any major streaming platform such as Spotify or Apple Music. She also can be found on Facebook at facebook.com/MollyRoachAndTheDrugBugs or Instagram and Twitter @mollyroachsings. Catch her live at The Cardboard Café on Dec. 15 or The London Wine & Food Show on January 20 at 9:30 p.m.

Even more information about Molly Roach can be found at youtube.com/channel/UCCUBAe-clzFJpiCLj6DUT0w/videos.