A chat with Alvvays’ leading lady
Halifax’s music scene is a sort of insular entity; a breeding pool that rarely spits up a nationally-renowned bands, but often tends to harbour its own. So it’s pretty great to have one of our own come back.
Alvvays, who performed at the Dalhousie Quad on Saturday evening, is a Toronto-based band fronted by Molly Rankin of the Rankin Family clan. Incidentally, she happens to be a former Dal student. The Gazette called Molly to talk about her short stint at the school, and about her return.
Gazette: So is it going to be strange to come back to Dal for DalFest? Anything you’re looking forward to?
Molly Rankin: It’s been a long time. I’m excited to go back. From what I remember, Dal shows are pretty wild. The thing I love about Halifax is that it’s a full-blown city, but it’s so compact. You can get everywhere on foot, so I’m excited to just walk around.
G: Where’s your favourite place to go in the city?
MR: We all love Halifax and we love a lot of food in Halifax. We love the Marquee; it was always this kind of iconic place. We have a lot of memories in that building.
G: Well, what’s the best thing to eat in the city?
MR: Thai food. The Thai food in Halifax is so good. Cha Baa Thai is the best.
G: So why did you chose to come to Dal?
MR: I think I was first there for a volleyball tournament in high school and I really liked the campus. I also had a tiny scholarship.
G: And you left Dal’s theatre program when you were 19?
MR: Well it was more of a general arts program, but yeah, my family was going on tour. I left in my third semester. I thought that I’d be going back, but I just never did. I was a little out of my element in the theatre program. I’m a bit of an introvert. I was sort of intimidated by everything.
G: How’d you feel about the cafeteria food here?
MR: Well, I lived in Shirreff. I ate a lot of grapefruit. Lots of grapefruit, bagels and cucumbers. Not a lot of protein. I think that I put on about 15 pounds – too much cream cheese.
G: Freshman 15, eh? Did you have a favourite watering hole when you lived out here?
MR: Well, I was underage through pretty much all of it. I didn’t really go to any bars, but I did go to the Grawood quite a bit. I could still be around my friends and not drink.
G: So if you were to go back, what sort of program would you be into?
MR: I’d probably go into geology. Yeah, one of our close friends did geology at Dal and it just seems really interesting. It’s very applicable to the current state that the earth is in.
G: Can you recall any really good shows that you caught out here?
MR: We went to see Sloan – I think that it was during frosh week at Dal. Wintersleep played.
G: How does it feel to consider yourself a part of this scene?
MR: I don’t know! I don’t really even consider myself a musician; that’s pretty freaky to think about. I just try to avoid those thoughts.
G: If you were to give one piece of advice for students who are at Dal now, what would it be?
MR: Let me think. Um. I’d probably say to explore the city. I didn’t do that enough when I was at Dal. There’s a lot of great art in the city, and great music.
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