Picking Flowers: Alvvays’ Mindful Approach to Music

It’s been almost 15 years since the band Alvvays was born, a dream taking flight as original bandmates Molly Rankin, Kerri MacLellan, Alec O’Hanley and Brian Murphy packed up their lives and left their small-town home. “We decided to move from the east coast of Canada and drive to Toronto with all our belongings in a U-haul and see if we could get jobs there and form a band,” Rankin remembers. “It [was] kind of a wild transition, but we wanted to try at least, and we put everything into it. We didn’t really have a backup plan.”

And they still don’t have a backup plan, she adds with a laugh: “Every record we make now is like our last swing.” 

Since 2011, that’s been their philosophy, creating music and performing at their own pace. They released their self-titled debut album in 2014, followed three years later with Antisocialities and then, most recently, Blue Rev in 2022. Each collection ranges from nine to 14 songs and were released all at once.

Why no singles? That’s just not Rankin’s style, or personality.

“It’s like I have a little basket, and I’m walking around picking out little flowers or something. It just takes a long time to fill up the basket.”

“I’d rather have an entire chunk of something finished before you start planting seeds about anything existing,” she says, explaining that it takes her a long time to write songs. “It would probably be years after releasing the first single that it would take to make a whole record … So until the vinyl is laid, I really have no interest in talking about its existence, and I think that’s just me being a control freak and probably a little too traditional.”

Her writing process sometimes involves years of research, gathering ideas and inspiration from new bands and songs. “It’s like I have a little basket, and I’m walking around picking out little flowers or something. It just takes a long time to fill up the basket,” she says. This methodical approach results in a collection of work true-to-style, even after over a decade of personal and collective band evolution.  

Many of the band members have been the same since day one, with the current lineup including drummer Sheridan Riley and bassist Abbey Blackwell. Rankin and keyboardist MacLellan grew up together in Charlottetown, Canada, both heavily influenced by the area’s Celtic traditions. 

“I feel like the core and spirit of the band has definitely made it through all of the different curve balls we’ve seen over the years.”

“We grew up next to each other, and we went to square dances throughout our whole childhood and did a ton of Celtic lessons and piano. So that’s a big part of where we come from and what informs who we are today. I guess we are kind of like little old people, and [we] spent a lot of time with the elderly growing up,” Rankin says. Her connection to her family’s musical group, The Rankin Family, meant she spent most of her childhood around Celtic and Scottish fiddle music.

The others are also friends-turned-bandmates, Rankin says, which is one of the reasons they’ve stayed together for so long. 

“I feel like the core and spirit of the band has definitely made it through all of the different curve balls we’ve seen over the years and just being open and communicative and, honestly, just having a blast traveling the world,” she says. “I think we’re able to really see it for what it is, which is an incredible opportunity.”

That attitude also helps them overcome challenges, like missing or stolen gear, new band members and the COVID-19 pandemic. “Those experiences that really can make you grow and transcend or also recoil,” Rankin says. “We’ve all gotten to a place where we’ve had to be very confident. I do feel like it’s taken a long time to hone that type of self assurance.”

Now they’ve just started another tour, along with New Zealand–based indie rock band The Beths. Touring with their album Blue Rev, Rankin says the song “Belinda Says” is her current favorite to perform. “It’s a very loud song that brings me to another place in life when we play it. It’s the perfect strummer for me right now to sink my teeth into,” she says.

“That element of wander—it just has to manifest in its own strange way, and finding that sometimes can be the hardest part.”

Utah has been a frequent stop for Alvvays, with past shows at The Depot and two Kilby Block Party appearances. “[Kilby] is a really exciting festival. I feel like they do a good job of curating it,” Rankin says. “It doesn’t feel like the lineup is full of TikTok people that have one song that people know, which is honestly pretty rare.”

Alvvays is scheduled to play Ogden Twilight with The Beths and SLC dream-pop band Homephone at the Ogden Amphitheater on August 23. Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door.

Once they finish touring, Rankin says she’ll likely disappear for a while to contemplate the band’s next creative endeavor. 

“It’s like this mystery of how you make something that moves you, and that chunk can never really be ironed out in advance. That element of wander—it just has to manifest in its own strange way, and finding that sometimes can be the hardest part,” she says.

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