Meet Danni Parpan and Molly McCormick of The Fruit Flies in West Side

Today we’d like to introduce you to Danni Parpan and Molly McCormick.

Danni and Molly, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
We met in Chicago at an audition a few months after we graduated from college. We went to the same school, but were never friends because we were always up against each other for the same roles! Neither one of us got the part we were auditioning for, but we had the time of our lives in the waiting room laughing and joking together. Soon after that, we decided to form a Sketch Comedy group with a few of our mutual friends.

One night after rehearsal, we realized we both played instruments and sang, and we started to harmonize on a Christmas tune for fun, and it was like a lightbulb EXPLODED. Our voices matched perfectly together, and we immediately began playing and writing together the next day. That was nearly nine years ago!

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
YIKES! I think for the most part it has felt easy…working together that is! As far as being successful or finding success… well I suppose that depends on how you measure it! Being an artist is tough, being vulnerable is tough, being a vulnerable artist and collaborating with another vulnerable artist is scary AF and it takes a special bond with someone to be able to do that night after night in city after city.

I think for us, the biggest challenge has been making enough money while living in an expensive city to both survive and also further our career. Overnight success stories aren’t really a thing, and with the lovely internet, you’re now not only competing with local acts to get stage time and buzz but also a bajillion trillion other people from across the world who are all uploading their skills from the comfort of their bedrooms!

So we suppose the biggest challenge is continuously working our butts off to share our music and not get lost in the compare and contrast game! We’ve always tried to focus on helping our fellow musicians and building one another up rather than competing for success. We are from the midwest, after all, and that kind of camaraderie is the midwest way!

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about The Fruit Flies – what should we know?
We are an indie-folk band. We write meaningful, serious songs, but will never turn our backs on our comedic roots, so sometimes in the middle of a very sad song, there will be a lyric or two that elicits an audience chuckle. We are known for our stage banter and have been told that our shows are like watching a Netflix comedy special! (Netflix, if you’re listening, have your people contact our people!)

We are for sure most proud of the fact that our musical journey has been 99% DIY. When we first started, we would hand embellish every CD case with glitter glue, and mod podge and every shirt purchased at our merch stand was hand painted. It wasn’t until this year that we decided to spend the money to record with a professionally trained engineer (we love you Ben Brodin) and have someone make shirts for us!

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
OH, SO MANY PEOPLE! This feels like an acceptance speech. First off, we want to thank our drummer, TJ McNeill. TJ came onboard with us late last year and he’s added so much to our sound. We love you, Teej! A big thanks to our parents for their continued support—we’re pretty lucky to have such amazing families. Jerod Walburn for basically naming our band nine years ago.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thefruitfliesmusic.com
• Instagram: fruitfliesmusic
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FruitFliesMusic/
• Twitter: fruitfliesmusic

Image Credit:
Melissa Vitello, Courtney Frederick, Chelsea Layton

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