Molly O’Neill recalled getting their first poetry book while in second grade, and from then on, writing would become one of many creative outlets for them.
O’Neill is a second-year student studying communication sciences and disorders at the University of Vermont. They have released two singles that can be heard on almost all streaming platforms. Their debut, “Trainwreck,” released in July of 2023, followed by “The Reaper,” which came out on New Year’s Eve.
O’Neill’s love for the fine arts began when they were in elementary school, and received a poetry book.
“It’s been like that ever since I was little,” O’Neill said. “My writing isn’t a coping mechanism, but it’s a place I can go to put down everything that’s happened to me. Some of it’s happy, some of it’s sad and all of it’s exactly what I’m feeling. I do really like to share it.”
This love for writing was combined with a love for music at an early age to help mold O’Neill into who they would become today. They were introduced to the piano when they were very little and transitioned to guitar around middle school.
“With guitar I decided that this is how I want to share things; this is my instrument,” O’Neill said. “I started writing little songs in middle school, and recording them in my notes app. But I didn’t share any of my music, or even view any of it as finished, until the start of college.”
O’Neill mentioned they met a friend who was able to convince them that their music was worth sharing. This led to them attending their first of many open mics. They realized then that there was a place to put everything that they had been writing.
When it comes to the songwriting process, there are no right or wrong answers on where to start, or how to finish. For O’Neill the choice is clear.
“So usually it is lyrics first,” O’Neill said. “It is a package deal though…Sometimes I latch onto one word, and it’s just exactly how I feel.”
Their style of music, primarily acoustic guitar played fingerstyle, is heavily focused on lyrics, as well as metaphors. This allows their background in writing and poetry to be factored in. O’Neill’s combination of poetic and instrumental skill lead to creating songs with thousands of listens on streaming services.
O’Neill’s track “Trainwreck” was their debut single. They described it as a flow of thoughts, and reflected on the process, talking about both writing and recording it.
“It’s the first song that I viewed as finished,” O’Neill said. “Lyrically and emotionally it’s pretty self-explanatory… I was just sitting in my bed in my dorm freshman-year, it was raining outside and I saw my reflection and I got scared for a minute. But that’s kind of how the first verse was born.”
O’Neill is referring to the opening lyrics to “Trainwreck.” which describes a feeling of being unsatisfied with oneself. The track opens with “There’s a stranger making faces on the window, and I keep on forgetting it is me.”
Most artists have a muse or a heavy influence on their work. O’Neill is no different, citing numerous names in the indie-folk scene that have helped shape their style of music.
“It’s so many,” O’Neill said. “It’s a very hyper-specific genre. When I was in middle school and early high school, the people that showed me what I wanted to write were people like Hozier, Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus.”
As for long term goals and what to expect, O’Neill said they have an album in their notes ready to be recorded, and it is expected to be finished sometime in the summer. They mentioned that one of the most difficult things in the process right now is finding a place to record.
“I definitely want to respect and uplift some of the first things I wrote,” O’Neill said. “Along with a mixture of more recent stuff.”
All of O’Neill’s music can be found on platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, Youtube and Amazon Music.