- May 5, 2024
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Molly Rennick’s earliest memory of music dates all the way back to when she was 3 years old.
“(I remember) singing and dancing into a toy microphone in my living room (while) standing on the couch pretending it’s a stage,” she said. “My favorite song to sing was ‘Get The Party Started’ by Pink. I always played ‘concert’ and told my parents I wanted to be a rock star my entire life.”
And that is exactly what she has become.
Rennick, 24, is the vocalist for Living Dead Girl, an up-and-coming Canadian metal band with a unique and powerful sound that has gained them the attention and admiration of fans worldwide.
Living Dead Girl consists of three other members: Jordan Storring, bass; Steve Haining, drums; and Jonni Laww, guitar.
The band has amassed quite the fanbase — with more than 31,000 followers on Facebook and nearly 13,000 on Instagram.
Rennick, a West Orange County resident, said the journey has been nothing short of incredible.
“We have had people travel to come see us — several people have literally flown from other states to come to our shows,” she said. “People bring us gifts and fan art, and there’s even people with our name and pictures of me tattooed on them. It’s all the kinds of things I’ve dreamed about since I was a kid. So, to see the hard work paying off and seeing the music actually reaching people and resonating with them is so incredibly rewarding. I get emotional about it. When I heard my song on SiriusXM Octane for the first time, I actually cried!”
BANDING TOGETHER
Originally from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Rennick was in choir when she was young but wanted to sing alone, so she switched to one-on-one singing lessons.
She said none of the lessons over the years helped her, until she met her current vocal coach, Jamie Vendera.
She auditioned for a few Canadian children’s TV shows, such as Karaoke Star Junior and The Next Star.
“I remember singing on a stage in a big Toronto mall for some Polly Pocket event when I was 6,” she said. “I performed in public many times and was always really comfortable being on a stage and the center of attention. I played my first actual bar show when I was 16 years old. I didn’t have a band yet, so it was just me, a guitar and backing tracks.”
At age 15, she decided to start putting a band together, but it didn’t evolve for years, because she couldn’t find people who shared the same aspirations.
“People either wanted to jam for fun or they were serious musicians and already in bands,” Rennick said. “It took me a while to find people with the same ideas as me.”
That’s when she met Storring.
“I met Jordan first when I was 16 years old, so he’s the only other ‘original’ member,’” she said. “Jonni was the guitarist in a band supporting us on our first tour and, after hitting it off with us, he decided to join our group in 2022. Steve was already my fiance, who was tired of me complaining that it’s hard to find drummers. So, he came out of his drumming retirement to help me out.”
With a wide variety of influences, such as Marilyn Manson and Avril Lavigne, Living Dead Girl has a unique and distinct sound, blending genres such as modern metal, pop punk, goth rock and nu metal.
“I pull inspiration from absolutely everywhere,” Rennick said. “I will be in the middle of doing something and randomly have lyrics pop into my mind. Then, I have to quickly write them down. I get ideas all the time out of nowhere without having to think about it. It’s like subconsciously I’m always thinking about music; I never turn it off. … I love the style of music we create because it emulates all of my favorite elements of music. I love heavy, down-tuned guitar riffs and screaming, but I also love the fun, upbeat energy of pop punk music. With Living Dead Girl, we found a way to really blend the two worlds together, and it’s my favorite thing ever — that I get to have both of them rolled into one and not that I had to choose one or the other.”
LIVING THE FAST LIFE
The band’s debut single “Alive” reached No. 17 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Indicator, No. 4 on the Foundations Secondary Market chart and No. 10 on SiriusXM Canada’s Indigenous Music Countdown.
Currently, Living Dead Girl has one all-originals LP called “Exorcism,” which came out in June 2021, along with its expanded deluxe edition. The band also has an EP of cover songs called “Not That Innocent.”
Living Dead Girl has completed eight tours across the United States and Canada, as well as played at a variety of festivals such as Earthday Birthday in 2022.
“It’s so inspiring to play a show, get off stage and then have people excitedly come up to us to tell us what their favorite songs were, their favorite part of the show, telling us their story, telling us they’re musicians, too,” Storring said. “Seeing people enjoy our show just makes us strive to keep doing it and keep growing as performers. It inspires us to be the best we can be.”
The group’s newest single, “Dysfunctional,” was Living Dead Girl’s SiriusXM Octane Debut.
The band has been featured in publications such as Revolver, Outburn, Hustler and MetalSucks.
Although the band has enjoyed much success, Storring said the thrill of performing and making music still gives him a huge rush.
“I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” he said. “Everyone (who) comes to our shows is there for different reasons. Maybe they saw the ad at their local venue or our music has helped them through something. It has such a rewarding feeling to play live. If we can make someone’s day, goal accomplished.”
Since last month, the band has been back in its Nashville studio working on new music and beginning to book tours for 2024.
“We have just booked a big festival this summer, as well as the headlining slot at a horror convention in Canada this fall, and we’re building a run of shows around both,” Rennick said. “We hope to just keep being able to do what we love and see where it takes us. We have lots of goals to crush like playing overseas, opening for our favorite bands, and watching the crowds get bigger and bigger.”
When Rennick isn’t performing, she always is still focused on Living Dead Girl.
She fulfills all the band’s online orders, does graphic design for the merchandise and website, and conducts meetings with management. She serves as the group’s agent, producer and publicist.
When she’s not doing work, she can be found either at Walt Disney World, at home cooking or planning her upcoming wedding with Haining. The couple also has two cats: Minnie and Boo.
“I feel like what we do is so much deeper than just music,” Rennick said. “Music really is a community. When you go on tour and play in tons of cities and states, you meet so many different people from all walks of life. There’s young people and older people, men and women, all different backgrounds, but they’re all at the show for one thing: the love of live music. The metal community really does feel like a big family. We’ve made friends with so many people on tour, and it’s amazing to think of how music brings people together. I feel more a part of that community now, since moving to Florida, than I ever did before.”
