Pieces of Molly aren't here for your disco rock

Pieces of Molly have a pretty clear idea of what rock ’n’ roll should sound like. Their new album, DON’T TAKE ME TO THE DISCO, is a hard-hitting reminder of that, with the Ōtautahi band pushing back against the watered-down version of rock they reckon has taken hold. Having spent the past few years refining their sound and sharing stages with some of the genre’s best, the band are now heading to the UK for their first run of shows. We caught up with them to talk about the new record, keeping things loud and what comes next.

Your new album is called DON’T TAKE ME TO THE DISCO. What’s the story behind the title, and what does it tell us about the record?

Don't Take Me To The Disco is our way of saying "don't feed us that watered down pish and call it rock n roll" haha... It's not really an insult to any music in particular... more of a way of saying call it what it is... the rock n roll waters have been muddied. W think a lot of people are always asking "is rock n roll dead" or saying "rock n roll IS dead" but it's our opinion that it never has and never will die... but if you look at some major award ceremonies or some big playlists on big platforms, you might be very confused at what ends up being labelled "rock n roll".

Your debut album came out in 2022, and you’ve spent the time since releasing singles and playing shows with bands like Orange Goblin, Sasquatch and The Datsuns. What have you learned about yourselves as a band over the past few years, and how has that fed into this album?

Every time we go into the studio to record new music we feel like we come out having chiseled away at our craft. We've always been very sure of who we are, but every new album makes us even more sure of that. Being able to play with bands like Orange Goblin, the D4, HLAH and many other killers is always amazing for us... at the core of it we are rock n roll fans! so it's a real trip haha... but it also allows us to step on the same stage as them and learn so much  - the rock n roll wisdom they possess only comes with their type of experience, so that kind of thing is amazing for us.   

You’ve talked before about wanting your first album to capture the energy of your live shows. When it came to making DON’T TAKE ME TO THE DISCO, did you approach the recording process any differently, or is capturing that live energy still the main goal?

Capturing the live energy is always the goal, and that can sometimes be tricky! When you are playing live you are moving actual air in the room... you can feel the riffs, and everyone in the room is feeding of off each other. We recorded at the LAB in Auckland with Oliver Harmer. Olly is a real tone hound, like us - so it was easy to capture those raw visceral tones... he has a bunch of old very cool, very loud amps that are right in our lane haha. The LAB is such an epic spot for a big live sound too - awesome big room!

Tracks like ‘Alligator’, ‘Skinwalker’ and the title track have helped introduce the new record. How do you decide which songs to release ahead of an album, and do you think those tracks give people a fair idea of what’s waiting for them on the full record?

We have always just gone with our own instinct on that one. Yeah we try and push out the ones we think are hard hitting... but really, we think the whole album is haha. There is one particular song on the album called "All I Can See" where we really incorporated some of our other musical loves. It's got some lush acoustic guitars, pretty harmonies, and even a bloody trumpet solo from the wonderful Finn Scholes from Carnivorous Plant Society. We envisioned this spaghetti western style trumpet solo and Finn nailed it... then of course it gets pretty heavy haha. 

You’re heading to the UK to support ASOMVEL across seven dates. How did that tour come about, and what do you want to take away from your first run of shows in the UK?

Ralph from Asomvel was loving the new stuff we were coming out with, and we chatted about a tour down the line (thinking maybe 2027) and then about a week later he messaged me saying "hey mate, i know its a big undertaking but we wanted to reach out to you first, can ya pop over to the UK for a tour in a couple months" haha, it all happened pretty quick, but we didnt even bother looking at the financials, we just said lock it in horse! haha... then we got our asses into gear, did a bit of fundraising with the help of some amazing locals here in New Brighton, Otautahi. The UK is such a killer market for rock n roll, so we are really excited to get neck deep in it, make some killer connections, and definitely set the groundwork to get back over ASAP.  Ultimately we'd love to get on some of the killer festivals they have over there.

You’ve built your sound around a pretty loud and direct approach to rock ’n’ roll. What do you reckon keeps that style of music exciting for you, and where do you see Pieces of Molly going from here?

Absolutely, that's it for us -  loud aggressive rock n roll that makes ya feel something. I think it's just in all of us... that's the key i think, it's not forced, it's what keeps us ticking, we need it. Going forward we can't wait to play bigger shows, see more of the world and just get a real buzz out of making killer rock n roll... we've already started writing the next record, and dare I say it's VERY rad haha.