Let the Future Unfold: An Interview with Æves

by - February 27, 2018


Molly O’Malley and Matthew Adam had been friends for quite some time. They were playing for separate bands when both projects called it quits. Venting to each other about their situations turned into constructive brainstorming, and constructive brainstorming became Æves.

The duo of Louisville, Kentucky had a difficult time deciding on a band name that best represented them.

“We were trying to think of a name that we felt captured us as a band, and who we are as people, and also had personal ties to us,” O’Malley said. “We both took Latin in high school, and so we brainstormed from there. I suggested Aves, which translates to ‘those who fly’ but the name was already taken. So that’s where the weird symbol comes in, and we made it our own because we were sold, and we wanted it to be ours.”

Their latest EP, Desire, comes nearly two years after Ignite and breathes of confidence. While Ignite was O’Malley’s first time in a professional studio, this time around she was more sure of herself as a songwriter as well as a bandmate.

The writing process generally begins with lyrics from Adam, who passes them along to O’Malley for composition and melody. After creating demos and sending them over to producer and member of AWOLNATION/Company of Thieves Marc Walloch, they flew to Los Angeles to record with him.

They had moments both challenging and rewarding in the studio, from using one of O’Malley’s personally-written songs, “Loaded Love”, to rewriting an entire verse of “Haunted”.

“Loaded Love” was a song that came from her personal collection, something she typically doesn’t use for Æves. It ended up being the most rewarding experience for her as she got to watch the song come together with Adam and Walloch. Seeing every song come together, including the rewrites of “Haunted”, made the experience much more memorable.

“This EP has a lot of personal things embedded within the lyrics themselves,” O’Malley said. “Each song individually encapsulates a different aspect of desire, whether it [is] positive, negative, platonic, romantic, state of current affairs and events, etc. The songs themselves each have their own theme individually, but the underlying theme of the EP seems to be the desire. The desire to want something, the desire to desire, and anything and everything in between.”

The vibrance of Æves comes out in this emotional collection of songs that really shows the confidence they’ve achieved since their last EP. Desire comes from their hearts and sharing it with the world has raised the bar for what’s to come.

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