Mollica: "We're lonelier than ever" — inside the making of her single ‘Me Me Me’

There's a certain irony in talking to Mollica about social media anxiety while her song about exactly that racks up views across the same platforms she's critiquing. She knows it. We know it. Nobody's pretending otherwise. That's kind of the whole point of ‘Me Me Me’ — a track that started as a conversation about post-pandemic self-righteousness and grew into something closer to a diagnosis of collective loneliness dressed up as a pop song.

It's catchy and BBC Introducing snapped it up almost instantly. But sit with it for more than fifteen seconds and it stops feeling like a bop about other people's main-character energy and starts feeling a little too close to home. In this interview, Mollica talks candidly about the song's origins, the dry, sarcastic humour she uses and why she thinks a five-second TikTok dance can say more about the state of society than we'd like to admit.

The title is deceptively simple — three words that basically summarise the whole social media experience. What came first: the concept or the hook?

The concept came first. It was the first time my current producer and I met, and somehow we got onto the topic of the current state of society. We were talking about how generally self-righteous people are now compared to pre-COVID, and how we think a lot of that has to do with social media and the idea of posting your life, or going mega viral because you've done a 15-second TikTok dance — which is a concept that wouldn't have happened pre-social media, or even just before short-form content existed.

Not that COVID in itself was an influence for "Me Me Me," but I believe it is absolutely an influence for the shift in a person's level of self-importance — naturally, we were alone and isolated, so we had to find new ways of connecting so we stayed sane, and I was no different to others.

I had my 18th birthday during COVID, so I missed out on the part of my life that opened me up to be more free, independent, and filled with more gatherings with friends. In typical British culture, that usually corresponds to increased levels of drinking, which I don't do. I don't enjoy the feeling, and I don't understand why it's the centre of parties — I much prefer an activity or a board game night, and I think COVID is a big reason why I don't drink and don't enjoy massive groups joined together.

From this, it's only natural to turn to more solitary activities, unfortunately one of the easiest and most addictive being social media. And so, when it's only you against a screen filled with the entire world and beyond, that's how "Me Me Me" comes about.

You've said society has become more self-obsessed and less giving since the pandemic — do you see 'Me Me Me' as a critique of other people's behaviour, your own, or both?

At first glance, it's critiquing other people's behaviour. On a deeper level, it is absolutely about the majority, including me. Everybody is naturally selfish on some level — we have to look after ourselves because no one else will, and we are ultimately responsible for our own safety no matter where we are.

If you're in a dangerous workplace and it hasn't had its machinery checked and you lose a leg, it falls on them for not checking, but you have still lost a leg, so you have to make the final decision for yourself about whether something is safe. But on the "Me Me Me" level, where everything is about you being on a level of higher perceived social status when we're all the same really, it's a compounding effect — it begins with one person having this attitude, then somebody else gets annoyed with it and starts retaliating in the same manner. Before you know it, everybody is acting the same whether they want to or not, and then we've lost care for one another.

Humour and avoidance are two of your signature tools as a writer. Do you think dry, sarcastic humour is your way of processing something that's actually quite painful?

I've lived in an emotionally challenging environment that no child should have to grow up in. I won't go into detail, but as a consequence my humour is dark. I unintentionally gravitate towards dry, sarcastic humour because, in my eyes, there's nothing much else to do if there is always something pressing on you. It's a fantastic coping mechanism.

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There's an irony in promoting a song about social media anxiety via social media, to an audience of 450k+ TikTok followers. Do you think about that tension, or lean into it?

I don't think about it that much. I think it's an important message for people to realise, and what better place to find it than on those platforms. I'm all for people succeeding on social media, but I'm not here for the overly self-righteous, dismissive attitude that often translates into real life — unfortunately, that person is probably also very anxious and doesn't have any genuine friends themselves. Having a higher following can lead a person into a false sense of connection, and "Me Me Me" may come across as blatantly sarcastic on the surface, but the message is actually a really sad realisation that we as a human collective are lonelier than ever.

BBC Introducing picked the track up almost immediately — has the response so far told you anything about how many people relate to what you're describing?

I've had a few comments on posts where people are saying "I think this song is talking about me," so yes, I think people are definitely relating. I also think some people may just be enjoying the music for the sound of it and not really taking in the words to that level, which is also great!

If 'Me Me Me' is a mirror held up to how we perform ourselves online, what do you hope people do after they put the phone down and the song ends?

Go see a friend, play a game, pick up a hobby, walk around a new city — just anything to stop a mindless scroll online. I actively don't scroll, because when I do, it's a vicious cycle: getting hooked into videos, realising it's not that great, moving on, forgetting what the video 10 before that was even about, noticing you're bored, and then not even two minutes later picking up your phone and going through the same cycle again. You're being fed cheap dopamine, and I've noticed from prior use (mainly the COVID years) my body just doesn't know when to shut off, and my attention span is worse than ever — not that it was good before. I can promise you that goals which take longer are far more fulfilling when you achieve them.

You've named Lady Gaga as an influence — two very different songwriters. What does each of them teach you about songwriting, world-building and telling a story?

Lady Gaga's album The Fame was my childhood. I was obsessed with it, and still am. The intense synths, the catchy melodies, and the way you move to it give me an escape from reality and ignite feelings in me that feel like a motor has taken over my heart. This is probably why I'm more theatrical in my performances — it just naturally comes out that way, and I get to live in a different space for a moment.

Music gives me a way of expressing myself that nothing else quite holds a candle to. Songs like "Telephone" struck me massively, especially the music video. Even the production style is eye-catching — the foley for the clothes moving sounds like super stiff leather, and the cigarette scene is completely captivating. Anything that speaks to or presents a taboo topic attracts me almost immediately, which is why most of my songs generally go down this path.

If I interviewed you again in five years, what would you hope I identify as the first clue to where you were headed?

Hopefully the sense of community I'm creating. I want people to feel welcome, able to express how they feel, and not feel afraid to do so. It feels ironic against this track in particular, but some future tracks on my EP are far more heartfelt and dig a bit deeper, and I feel for those who relate — but I'll be happy if they find solace in them.