Molly Hocking: The voice winner now on a journey to her true self!
Molly Hocking, St Ives
Molly started singing at the age of 5 and fell in love with it instantly, from there she followed her passion all throughout her younger years until the time came that she was unknowingly spotted at an open mic night held within her hometown of St Ives. After being asked to go to London for an audition, she arrived to find out it was for the tv show ‘The Voice’, from there her innocent personality and beautiful vocals captured the attention of the scouts and got her to the official show stages. At the blind audition stage of the show she quickly caught the judges attention, ending her audition achieving three out of four turns from the judges and ultimately ended up choosing Olly Murs as her mentor. A former talent show contestant himself finishing runner up on the ‘X Factor’ in 2009, Olly has managed to forge a successful career from then on in a whole host of different roles on tv and in the music industry. This would make for valuable experience that Molly could learn from going forward.
Molly grew in confidence throughout the competition taking on songs that a lot of the audience would have thought to have been to big for her vocal range at that early stage. However, she smashed every song and challenge put in front of her managing to win multiple head to heads and much admiration from the audience at the same time. This lead on to her winning the show in 2019 finishing with the song “I’ll never love again” (availible on Molly’s spotify). At just 17 when she started the process and 18 at the culmination of the show, this was a big life change for someone so young and someone coming from a sleepy Cornish background. Just six months after winning the show, the nation unfortunately fell into the Covid lockdowns limiting the opportunities she would have potentially obtained had this not been the case. With her positive outlook she used this time responsibly and didn’t try to desperately fill her down time with singing and song writing, rather practicing when it felt right and putting the mic down when it was time to relax. Using this time to take a moment to asses her position post “The voice” success and choosing to set her own goals for the future.
Since then she has released multiple original songs and beautiful covers, solo as well as in collaboration with other artists. As she enters 2023 as an independent artist, she now more than ever wants to follow her own path making the music she wants to make and creating the opportunities for herself that she feels most proud of. Of course, winning the voice is a fantastic start, but contestants are often judged on on how quickly they gain success in the race to achieve celebrity stardom. Unfortunately a lot of the time musicians that experience meteoric rises in a short time period, then fall victim to the impending crash back down to earth when the initial hype dies down. Molly is attempting to take the slightly slower route in building her career but ultimately giving herself a much better chance for longevity in the creative arts industries.
We had the pleasure to meet Molly at the Porthmeor studios (St Ives) and to sit down to learn more about her story so far, and ask her some of the questions we’ve always wanted to ask. Check them out below:
Molly’s interview:
Q.) Why is living in Cornwall important to you at the stage that you are at in your music journey?
A.) “It’s always been important to me and I’ve also experienced living in London. It’s really good, but at the same time it’s not always what everyone says it it. Being alone in the city was isolating at times at a young age, especially when you think I can still build my career whilst being based at home in Cornwall surrounded by friends and family visiting locations further a field when the opportunities arise .”
Q.) What's it like trying to move on from ‘The Voice’ winner tag?
A.) “Don’t get me wrong, winning ‘The Voice’ was a great platform to start, it really was. However, it’s what you become known for and I really want that to just be a part of my journey. I want to be known as a great musician on my own accord, Ella Henderson has moved on from the ‘X Factor’ and Becky Hill has moved on from ‘The Voice’ at a gradual rate, building successful careers with expected longevity. People always ask where I’ve been and I always say I haven’t died, I’ve just been working on my music. I’m never going to be embarrassed that I was on ‘The Voice’ because it was a great achievement and it will always be part of my story but not the only thing I want to be remembered for.”
Q.) Who have been your biggest influences throughout your musical journey so far?
A.) “I get this question quite a lot, the main person I believe is my grandad, hands down my grandad! I grew up with my grandad as my dad worked away from home a lot of the time in my childhood, and also my mum had a business to run. I always used to spend everyday after school at my grandparents listening to their jazz records. Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra to name a few, and this really started my love for music. My personal music journey follows the likes of Eva Cassidy then on to Amy Winehouse, with that being more of the vibe I’m going down for my summer originals coming this year. I also love Joy Crookes currently, how she’s burst onto the scene and even has her song on a car ad, how great is that!”
Q.) For someone from the south west with musical talent trying to decide whether or not to pursue a career in the music industry in 2023, what would your advice be?
A.) “If you are questioning whether to pursue it, that might tell the whole story as to whether you actually should. I started exploring my voice when I was 5, when I was that age it was all I wanted to be doing and in my mind nothing was going to stop me from doing that. If you feel the same just go for it! I didn’t have a back up plan when I started and really I still don’t, I will make it as I’m a hard worker and nothing will stop me from getting there. If you haven’t already started, ask yourself why not? Are you scared? Are you not 100% committed to doing what you love? If your mind is clear and your sights are set, just go for it!”
Q.) What is inside the music industry really like?
A.) “My experiences have at times been some of my greatest, but at others some of the toughest experiences I've been through, but I think that’s just life really. You have your ups and downs, I think some people just think you win a talent show and instantly everything is set and life is easy there on in. This couldn’t be more wrong, yes you can get shortcuts here and there but these often come from having wealthy families and backers to invest in you and give you the tools to climb the ladder quicker. I work a part time Job on the side, just so I can afford my treats like my doc marten boots, and what a treat they are might I add! At the end of the day, in any industry the harder you work the more you often tend to get out from what you put in. Always try and appreciate each step of your career as it comes along, as in this career you never know when you are going to hit the highs or hit the lows so all you can do is try to enjoy the journey.”
Q.) How hard do you take rejection, whether that be songs that don’t hit quite how you’d anticipated or opportunities that pass you by?
A.) In truth, I really don’t any more, it goes right over my head. When I first started I was the most self critical person around. Now I feel I have grown and for example if someone doesn’t like my music, they don’t have to listen to it. My music is my music, I’ve created it and I’m proud of it. Sometimes you can write 20 songs and only fall in love with one of them, this year I’ve written four so far and already love two of them so I must be doing something right.
Q.) New songs coming in 2023?
A.) I’m teaming up with an artist called Bailey Rushlow for a cover of “Here comes the sun” by the Beatles, out at the end of January, after that I’ve got quite a lot of my own originals coming out his year. Quite a few of them are summer vibes and I really love how they are coming together, I can’t wait to release them! Keep an eye out!
Q.) The importance of social media in building a career in music and promoting your own personal brand in 2023?
A.) “I think social media is a very important tool in our day and age, it can be used in great ways and I’ve got quite a big presence on some of the platforms out there. A few being Facebook, YouTube and my main one being Instagram. You can feel a lot of pressure putting out consistent content and new content at that, luckily I’m kind of used to it at this stage. TiK Tok is great but it can give you a false sense of success, you can have a video go viral one minute but just a few videos later you’re brought back down to earth. It’s great for songs and exposure, but it’s short form so doesn’t last forever and you need to keep current.”
Molly X @helfordlife, Porthmeor studio’s
