Column: Behind the curtain with Molotov Dress
The equally strange and talented band Molotov Dress is making waves and carving a unique spot for themselves in Utah’s music scene.
The copper connoisseurs, who sell copper pipes for only one cent at shows, flexed their post-punk sensibilities to a new crowd in Logan on Jan. 11 during their WhySound debut.
Kicking off their set, the band erupted into “Bunker Song,” a rolling track built upon drummer KC’s airy cymbal playing. The crowd — mostly made up of metal heads and emo regulars turning out for bands Evaura and Sleep Cult — broke out into dance, proving the appeal of Molotov Dress’ dance-punk and math rock vocabulary.
In between songs the band screamed “free Palestine” and used an expletive to call out U.S. President Donald Trump. Overt political messaging is a common theme in the band’s lyricism and is one way they stay true to their post-punk inspirations.
I was fortunate enough to speak with the band and pick their brains on their songwriting and artistic inspirations.
Q: How do you think politics inform your songwriting, and how do you think that manifests in your music?
Wes, guitar: About 99%. There’s observations, whether those are personal or worldly. A significant portion of [songwriting] stems from political observations.
KC, drums: We try to be more satirical about our music, but growing up in Utah as a queer person is just a lot. Politicians like Mike Lee and senators who are supposed to be representing our interests go into [our writing] a lot.
Sam, bass: A lot of the points of view in our music are very satirical. The songs are speaking from the points of view of people we don’t agree with. It’s putting on their weird lens and just observing how [messed] up everything is.
Q: What are some of the inspirations for Molotov Dress as a project?
KC: All around, we come from a lot of different backgrounds and love all different kinds of music, but we definitely love the sound coming out of the windmill scene in Brixton, like Squid — even Crack Cloud out in Canada and that kind of resurgence of the post-punk scene.
Sam: On the earlier front too, a lot of those ‘80s post-punk bands are inspirations. Where I’m on bass, I’m doing that kind of syncopated style from the Minutemen and Gang of Four.
Q: Would you say that Gang of Four might even come across thematically?
KC: Definitely.
Wes: There’s a lot of direct things that we like that we draw from [sonically], but we also find lots of inspiration from very different genres.
KC: Like Tony Williams and jazz.
Wes: Yeah, of course. Not to bring up politics again, but I think there are a lot of musicians who point out things lyrically who I draw inspiration from in the way they’re able to portray different images or stories.
Jacob, trumpet: I’m going to get a little sappy here with my answer, but the way that I play in this group is very inspired by these three. When I joined the band, a lot of the songs we play had already been written, so I didn’t want to get in the way or change things but more figure out how I slot into things. I pull from what I’m hearing and amplify what’s already there. It’s been a lot of fun to sit on top of the base they have built and to figure out what I think works, responding to the solid foundation that [the band] had.
Sam: Jacob is kind of the secret sauce.
Q: On that note, how do you curate the vibe of your live shows? I feel like the first time I saw you perform, it was unlike anything I had ever seen before. You have such an energy and strangeness that you bring to the table.
KC: When Wes and I started getting together to write these songs, we wanted to make something that was fun and that people could dance to and not take ourselves seriously at all. We just wanted to get out there and make fun of what we think is stupid.
Wes: We never had any conversation about how we wanted to make our live shows feel, even up until now. We did once have a house show where we were all dressed and different gnomes. Everyone was going crazy — maybe under some influences — and I just felt like whatever that was, I wanted to curate and continue. We just try to make it fun.
KC: We draw a lot of inspiration from gnomes and goblins.
Q: In a lot of the Utah music scenes, there are tons of emo and indie rock bands. How do you perceive yourselves as being a part of that scene?
KC: We’re just doing our own thing. I don’t know that we’ve ever drawn any comparisons.
Wes: I think that Salt Lake has a really rally-specific sound. Throughout history, there’s been so many scenes like Detroit House, Chicago or London, and you can hear something and tell it’s from a specific time period and place. I think Salt Lake is like that, and it’s not something that pulls me in. It’s all good stuff but doesn’t speak to us musically.
Sam: It was almost like we were filling a vacancy because there aren’t a lot of bands that are in our lane.
KC: We found our niche.