Feature / One Question Interviews
Pretend Molly

Words: Loren • December 20, 2023

Pretend Molly
Pretend Molly

Taylor (Pretend Molly – guitar)

SPB: Every time I see your name I have to get past the mental association with an Irish-style punk band, so I have to ask: What is the story behind the name Pretend Molly?

Taylor: So we had been struggling to come up with a name for a while, never really having one that sunk in. After many ideas never coming to fruition we gave up and decided that the only person who could be truly unbiased in choosing our name was Rob’s (our lead singer) 2 year-old daughter. According to Rob this is how his daughter’s thought process went:

“My then 2 year-old daughter was a big fan of the Bubble Guppies, a show with great music written by Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne. I asked her what she would name her band, she said Pretend Molly after the lead singer of the show, a mermaid named Molly.”

So we loved the Fountains of Wayne connection just in general. And because our music style does tend to be a little difficult to concretely define, we enjoyed the ambiguity of the name (i.e. are they Irish rock? Is it a drug reference? What’s the pirate sounding song, “Jig”?). It eventually stuck and we’ve been Pretend Molly ever since!

Loren • December 20, 2023

photo by Loren Green at FEST 21 (2023)

Pretend Molly
Pretend Molly

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