My name is Molly Monahan and I am a electronic music producer who creates dance music under the pseudonym Papa Molly from San Francisco, CA.

My dance music falls across genres with particular inspirations from house, UK garage, and disco. Thematically, my music is gay af and heavily influenced by SF queer culture.

I was born and raised in West Michigan and got my start in music as a classical pianist and composer. I still compose, orchestrate, and score stuff all the time. You can find my music in that realm at my other website,

I moved to San Francisco when I was a teenager and got a BM in Technology and Applied Composition from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Besides my work in scoring and concert music I also have experience working in the tech industry doing sound design, voice work, and building algorithmic music systems. Companies I worked at include Electronic Arts, Women's Audio Mission, Facebook, and a few startups.

It was while working for a startup creating a music remix game that I began producing dance music. I had already been in love with dance music just from going out to queer dance parties, but when I started actually creating it I couldn't stop, and transitioned from doing it for work to doing it for myself, and thus Papa Molly was born.

My music as Papa Molly blends my technical and classical background together; it often features intricate synth lines with lush string palettes or other classical instruments. I love crafting my own specific color palettes; due to my background as a recording engineer and sound designer I almost never source samples from the outside and instead create most everything from scratch.

Apart from releasing my music on the internet, I often perform and DJ around San Francisco. I've played at places such as the Make Out Room, Local Maker Mart, Monarch, and the Boom Boom Room. To stay up to date with my shows, follow me on Instagram at