Rhythm & Alps beckons for Auckland musician Molly Payton

"I’m a strong believer in the idea that if a band is having fun, so is the crowd," says Molly Payton. Photo / Samantha King

Festival season is coming! For one young artist, this New Year’s event Rhythm & Alps will be her first time on the bill at a New Zealand music festival. We catch up with Molly Payton for an R&A Q&A.

1. Tell us who you are and where you’re from.

I’m Molly Payton, I’m from Auckland.

2. Describe your sound in one sentence.

Emotional alt-rock with singer-songwriter roots.

3. What does an epic summer music festival look/feel like to you?

Range is key. For me, a good festival has to have a lineup that covers all the bases; the music you want at 1am on the first night when you’re drunk and excited is completely different to the music you want at 1pm the next day when you’re recovering. Also, bonus points if there’s good food available. There is literally nothing worse to be around than a group of men in their early 20s who’ve been drinking on an empty stomach for two days.

4. What can audiences expect from your performance this summer?

Fun! This is my first time playing a New Zealand festival, and the band and I have put together a setlist of all the songs we enjoy playing the most. I’m a strong believer in the idea that if a band is having fun, so is the crowd.

5. What is your top festival tip/hack?

See the above about never drinking on an empty stomach. I cannot explain how much of a difference it makes the next day if you just eat something every few hours and drink some water every once in a while. Also, if you’re with a big group, don’t over-plan your nights. It’s impossible trying to get everyone to agree on where to go next, and you’ll enjoy yourself way more if you just get into the mindset of, ‘I’m happy as long as I’m with my friends’. I once abandoned the group at a festival in Madrid because I wanted to see The Killers. I spent the rest of the night with a lovely British couple in their late sixties because my phone died.

6. Top five songs on your 2022 summer playlist?

Kickstarts by Example (I don’t believe in guilty pleasures, but if I did this would be one); My My, Hey Hey by Neil Young; She’s so High by Tal Bachman; KICKIN PIMPIN by Shawty Pimp (feat. Reddog); and then something by Cibo Matto or Hole. Always good vibes.

7. What does success as a musician mean to you?

The goals change every year - I try to remind myself constantly that the things I’m doing now would have made my little heart soar at 16. Music is the most rewarding career you could have. I feel successful every time someone messages me saying they connect with a song of mine, or someone comes up to me after a gig and says they had fun. In saying that, I think the big dream is to one day make enough money from music that I can just do music (which is a lot harder than you’d think).

8. What does keeping healthy as a musician mean to you?

I learnt the hard way that touring can catch up to you, especially when your band are all men in their mid-20s who breathe beer and eat only beige foods and don’t seem to change a bit. For me, it’s important that I do at least 30 minutes of some form of exercise (Pilates is the best!) every day to feel ok. Learning to nap and take every available early night is also important on tour if you don’t want to get sick every two weeks. The hardest thing to look after is mental health, though. Even outside of touring, being a musician means having a very unstable life. It’s incredibly expensive and very hard to make money off of, too, which means being stressed a lot of the time. The final nail in the coffin is that you have to be online a lot these days to maintain an audience. I’m lucky enough to have amazing friends around me who make all of the above a lot easier to deal with, and also, recently, I’ve discovered that cooking makes me very happy. It’s all in the routine really.

9. What tips would you give upcoming musicians who want to perform at music festivals?

Perform as often as you can leading up to the festivals, even if that’s just to your family or at open mics. Every gig you’ll get a little bit better, and if you haven’t been ‘discovered’ yet, it’s the best way to go about making that happen. I’ve been playing live for almost 5 years, and I’m pretty sure we only just started to sound good.

10. What is your dream summer vacation if you weren’t performing?

I’ve been living in the UK on and off since I was 16 and have been lucky enough to tick off a lot of my bucket list vacation spots around Europe, but honestly, nothing sounds better to me now than a solid month at my family bach at Lake Rotoiti. I grew up going to Nelson Lakes every year, and that place still holds a special place in my heart.

♦Rhythm & Alps takes place in Cardrona Valley, Wanaka, from December 29-31. The 2022 festival lineup consists of 40+ artists, including Andy C, Chase And Status, Concord Dawn, Cosmo’s Midnight, Dimension, Dope Lemon, Friction, Halfqueen, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Kora, Marlon Williams, Paige Julia, Sampa The Great, and more.