Thomas Needham sits down with Molly Henry from Shallowdrown after the release of their self-titled debut EP.
Featuring photography by Tyler Bartlam, Kat Chant and Oz Raw.
How did you meet? What led to the formation of Shallowdrown?
“So I [Molly Henry, vocals/rhythm guitar/tambourine] was doing some solo music last year, but I wanted to start a band. I was then approached by Lenny (lead guitarist), who I’d seen play previously in Ant Hill but didn’t know very well at the time. He basically was like, “Hey, I think you’ve got a great voice and I’ve got some songs that would work with your voice”, so we had a band practice and went through some songs we’d both written and thought it sounded good, so we thought, let’s start a band. We put out on our Instagrams that we were looking for a bassist and drummer and we were approached by Dom (bassist) and Sam (drums) and that was it. We had a couple of other people interested but at the first band practice we all had together, we knew that was the band. And now we’re all besties lol.”
How did you come up with the name ‘Shallowdrown’?
“It was Lenny! We were thinking of a name for a few weeks, then Lenny came to practice and said he was listening to The Cure and one of their lyrics, “shallow drown”, came to mind. We liked it, so we stuck with that! So I guess we’re named after The Cure.”
What is it about music as an art form that makes you want to pursue it?
“Music is like my therapy, it’s a way I can get negative emotions out and turn them into something that makes me happy (making songs with my really cool band lol). A lot of my lyrics are quite sad, but we do have a few happy songs. I just love writing music. Everyone loves music, why not pursue it?”
What does your creative process look like? Is it personal or largely collaborative? Is there particular techniques or ideas that you try to employ in your craft?
“I think it’s quite a collaborative process for us. Our songwriting differs from a lot of songs. For example, ‘How To Care’, Lenny wrote that song as a demo, then Sam and Dom learned it, putting their own spin on the drum and bass parts, while I wrote the lyrics. I write all the lyrics for our songs. Sometimes we’ll follow that format of Lenny or Sam making a demo and we follow what they have wrote, adding our own spin on it or if it’s a song that I have written, I usually just have the lyrics and rhythm guitar part ready as I don’t know how to do demos like the others, so I just show them what I have and they make it better.
With ‘Fist Fight’, I wrote that song when I was like 16, so I only had the riff, lyrics and basic structure for it, so when I showed the boys, if I remember correctly, Lenny made a demo for it and we all went with that! And songs like ‘I Bet You Hate Me’, we all wrote together, Lenny wrote the riff and we all made our own parts to it. Then we just practice it as much as we can until it’s perfect!”
“Hmm if i could have written any song ever, it would be ‘Bohemian Rhapsody‘ by Queen. I don’t really listen to Queen, but duh, it’s a masterpiece I wish I wrote that.”
How do you think the EP release show at The Soundhouse went?
“Ah- it was so fun! We had a bit of a bumpy start to it, I was quite nervous and messed up a bit, but I think once we all got into the swing of it, we just had such a fun time playing together. The crowd was great too, it was such a nice atmosphere and everyone was having a good time. It was a bit overwhelming as well though. We sold 70 in advance, which was crazy and it was a bit nerve-racking having so many people, but we smashed it and everyone had such a good time.
The bands we had on before The People Assembly, Leave Your Body Behind (featuring our producer Max!) and The Juliettes were incredible, they’re all friends of ours and all of their sets were so good. Different genres but wow, just great bands! Big shoutout to The Soundhouse as well, they’re great and just let us do our thing and worked really hard, so thank you to them!”
What do you think about when you’re on stage?
“To be honest, for the first 10 minutes I’m just trying not to shit myself from being nervous lol. Then once I get into the swing of it, I don’t know, I just think about putting on a good show, I guess. singing from my heart and sharing that with an audience. And just looking at everyone, like awe, it’s my little mates at the front.”
What do you think Shallowdrown brings to the Leicester music scene?
“I think we’re a pretty good band, but I’m not sure what we bring really, just some toe-tappers lol, but I think it’s good to have some female representation in the scene! When I started going to gigs in Leicester in late 2019, there weren’t a lot of girls in bands that I knew of, so it’s nice now that I’m in Shallowdrown and I’m a girl, I guess! I think there’s a lot more female representation now, though in the scene, there are so many girls that go to gigs, and amazingly talented women on stage like Rebecca French, Heather McDowall, and more women in bands like Kat and Eleni in Black Horse Hotel, there’s an EMHC band Teef, they’re female fronted I really wanna see them.
There’s a lot more queer representation in the scene too, which is amazing. I love gay people! We love seeing queer people having fun at gigs and on stage! And there are so many amazing all-female bands coming from the Riotous Collective, my other band [St. Brigids] is a part of, which is a great group of ladies all making rock bands; me and my mum are in a band together and she’s never played drums before January- after we did the ’66 Days to The Stage’ with the Riotous Collective, she’s become an amazing drummer!! Everyone should go check out the Riotous Collective right now!”
Are there other bands or artists in Leicester you’d recommend to our readers?
“BLACK HORSE HOTEL!! They’re incredible, on of my favourite bands in the scene, they started this year, I believe and they’ve just released their first song ‘Andy and The Lotus Flower’; they’re such a good band and they’re so lovely and talented as well. The People Assembly, The Juliettes and Rebecca French I have loved seeing recently. There’s so many, come find me at one of gigs, I’ll give you a whole list!”
Shallowdrown drummer, Sam, wanted to give special mention to Easy Eights and The Juliettes.
How have you found the reception to your latest self-titled EP?
“I think it’s gone really well! People have been really enjoying it, my little brother loves it and he listens to it on the way to school, which is all that really matters ahahah. Only joking- but it’s been really lovely to hear people enjoy our music, we’ve had some new followers and we’ve got some gigs coming up (hopefully one out of Leicester), so it seems people are enjoying it! All our mates like it, so I think that’s a good sign.”
What is your ambition for Shallowdrown? How do you define success?
“We all had a drunken chat about this a couple of months ago but I think I speak for all of us when I say this is just what we want to do with our lives. We love playing music, we love playing together and writing music together, we work really hard on our songs and we just want people to hear them. My dream would be to just travel around the world singing to people, being able to share our music with crowds and they relate and maybe find comfort in our songs. It would be nice if people connected with our music. I want little me, lil mol to be proud and be like, ‘wow I’ve done it, I’m a singer!’, music is just what we love and we want to do it full time. It would also be lovely to get really rich and never work in a pub again lol. I wanna go Hawaii one day. Oh and live in Spain.”
If you had to suggest one song and/or moment from your debut EP to a new listener what would it be?
“‘I Bet You Hate Me’, I love it. It’s a bit more indie-pop, but I think it showcases our individual talents and how we come together as a band very well. It’s a song I’m really proud of and I can’t lie I do like the song I will listen to it even though it’s our own song lol.”
What is your message to those looking to get into the local scene, whether that be as musicians or attendees?
“MAKE MUSIC, JOIN A BAND, GET ON STAGE, SUPPORT LOCAL ARTISTS, SUPPORT THE VENUE, BUY A BEER. Don’t be scared, just do it, or else you’ll regret it. I think that sums it up well. Believe in yourself, just do it and treat yourself to a nice Guinness (or your drink of choice). And hey, if you want to go to a gig but have no one, you will make friends.”
What are your plans heading into the big ‘26?<
“We’re hoping to be having some more music released soon, but you will have to wait and see. For now, we’re hoping to get some gigs outside of Leicester but you’ll have to wait to hear more on that – look out for updates by following us @shallowdrown!
Our next gig’s on December 20th at The Big Difference for Ant’s Big Christmas Party and after that on January 18th we’re supporting Rebecca French for the release our her new single ‘Cursed’, so come down xxx”