High Five with Mark Mallman
Between October 7-10 Twin Cities musician Mark Mallman will be attempting to one up his previous 52 hour music marathon by performing at the Turf Club for 78 hours straight(!) Mallman will have help from about 100 backup musicians (in shifts) as well as around 400 pages of lyrics to choose from, and will apparently play non-stop the whole time (presumably with bathroom and food/water breaks).
1. If you were going on a cross country road trip and could bring a long any three people in the world, who would they be and why?
Last night I had a dream that I was in this tiny New York bar seeing a three piece band made up of LOU REED, JOHN CALE, and JOE JACKSON. We kept calling him JOE JACKSON, but it was really TOM WAITS in a hat. I don’t know the state of dreams, but the played on a tile floor with only three of us watching. After the show, I went up to (New Sensations era) Lou, and complimented him on how well he spun in a circle. He was the bass player. I don’t know what this dream meant other than that there are both 3 people in the dream and your question, so I’m assuming that my psychic sense was telling me to answer with these 3 dudes.
2. What is one album that you feel has changed your life and how?
CHUCK PROPHET’s fantastic album “AGE OF MIRACLES” surely changed my life. I supported that record on my first tour of Europe. Chuck and his band The Mission Express played flawless renditions night after night. It was an amazing experience, musically and personally. Without “AGE OF MIRACLES” I wouldn’t has seen the world the way I do today. I love Chuck so very much, he is one of the most important figures is my musical world.
Who are a band that you feel should get more recognition than they do, and why?
There are some Twin Cities bands who are rockin’ good. My town(s) is mistaken for Indianapolis these days it seems, at least when I talk to LA music biz hot shot types. A band called CHOOGLIN just tears it up like a Hunter S Thompson gonzo bar band hallucination. There is a fantastically accurate retro act CLAPS here that does this HEAVEN 17 / HUMAN LEAGUE England pre GARY NUMAN thing, that blows my mind every time. And Koo Koo Kangaroo, who are on tour with AQUABATS and REAL BIG FISH – well, I guess they are getting some attention, but they are sooo funny and positive and brilliant nerd dance comedy music.
What is your favorite live music memory (performing or attending)?
So may amazing things have happened in my short life thus far, it’s hard to decide. So, I guess I’ll just pick one at random. Shortly after the STROKES “Is This It?” record came out, I went to see them in the 7th St. Entry. The Entry is a 200 person rock room attached to our much bigger, famed FIRST AVENUE nightclub. So, U2 producer, STEVE LILLYWHITE, was in town that month to work on a record. Steve is such a great person, he would just hang out with all of us local musicians and make jokes and be just a fun person. So, I totally forgot he was a famous rock producer when I was chatting him as the Strokes were playing. I said “Hey Steve, did you watch the VMAs last week?” and he said “Yeah, Mark, I was there. I won one.” and we both laughed. And then the band prolly played New York City Cops or something and history was made.
Finish this sentence: “Minneapolis is a great place to…”
Minneapolis is a great place to sing Sintara at Nyes Piano Bar, then run downtown for last call at Eli’s, take a cab to Little T’s for some deep fried Ice Cream, then sit on the Lake Calhoun pier drunken at 4am discussing Bergman and house cats.
Mark Mallman: Myspace
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