Warn the Glitterati, Jesse Malin is in town...
JESSE MALIN is a rock legend in the making. Quintessentially New York, he started in his early teens playing various hardcore punk bands at salubrious venues such as the legendary CBGBs. He has since fronted two seminal New York punk bands, the hardcore band Heart Attack and glam-punk outfit D Generation.
In 1999 Malin embarked on his solo career, releasing three solo albums, including ‘Glitter in the Gutter’ where he collaborated with rock veterans Bruce Springsteen and Ryan Adams. His latest release is an ambitious cover album where he puts his slant on a wide range of artists, from Neil Young, Elton John to The Kills.
Whisperin & Hollerin caught him on the final leg of his UK tour at the Manchester Academy to see what gives.
W&H: SO, HOW’S THE TOUR GOING?
"Well it’s just a UK tour supporting my covers album ‘On My Sleeve’. But it’s been a lot of fun. The crowds have been amazing. It’s been great to play from four records – three solo originals and the cover record, like playing Karaoke on an acoustic guitar. There’s been no problems so far. So far so good. Rasta."
W&H: RASTA INDEED. WHAT ELSE HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO?
"I did a gig with Tom Morrello [Rage Against the Machine] back in April. He’s a sweet guy, really passionate. He called me up and said they were doing this thing where they go into each town and they find a charity that they feel is important, and in this case is was for medical aid in the New England area. They wanted a better improvement on a deal for medical aid for everyone in that state.
It was a fun night. They had the guy from Extreme, Gary Cherone, Wayne Kraymer from MC5, Tom Morello, and some of the guys from the Lo Stars. It was a cool mix. At the end we all sang with Tom Morello – we sang the Woodie Guthrie song ‘This Land is Your Land’ and ‘The Harder They Come’ by Jimmy Cliff. You know, the gig was at Berkley music school. I didn’t go to college, to music college, but we were in there. We played a concert at the high brow school of America."
W&H: YOU RECENTLY PLAYED WITH THE ORIGINAL D GENERATION LINE UP?
"Yeah, we haven’t played together for about 10 years. The D Generation was around in the 90s, it was with kids who I grew up with, a real gang. We did three records, we toured around the world, and at the time the whole world was into Grunge and we looked more like what bands do now. It was a very weird time. We had a lot of fun but we really felt that we were misunderstood.
But to come back and play a show was great. It was just a few songs at the opening of CBGBs location – which is now a clothing designer store. But the bill was quite good; Tom Morello, Slash, Hold Steady, Joseph Arthur, Ronny Specktor, Ian Hunter, it was like ‘Oh My God!’, really kooky. But the D Generation gig was a lot of fun. Maybe we’ll do it again. It was great to be with those guys and go nuts up there. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. The rehearsals were pretty cool to."
W&H: OOOOOOOH IS THERE ANY CHANCE OF A REUNION?
"A reformation reunion? Maybe. We might get a chance to play a couple of shows in the States, but it will just be a couple of one-offs. I don’t know whether I’ll get back to hitting myself with a microphone in the face and rolling around in messed up newspaper."
W&H: YOUR SOLO WORK IS EONS AWAY FROM YOUR NOSE-BLEED PUNK ENDEAVOURS
"Yeah, it’s all different times in my life. When I was in hardcore bands, at 13, 14, 15, I was full of anger and aggression. I was mad at my parents, I was mad at the world, I wanted to fuck authority up the ass. In my twenties we were this gang [D Generation] we were angry, we were sexual and we were political. After a while I felt that no-one was listening to the words, they just wanted to mosh around in a circle, I could have been singing the phonebook. So I stripped it down further so people could hear it.
You go through changes. I still have a lot of that venom, frustration and anger and sadness, but music is a celebration, it’s a release. It’s all song to me, whether you’re listening to an old Woodie Guthire song or something by the Dead Kennedys or Rancid. It’s really about the three minutes."
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W&H: WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO MAKE A COVERS ALBUM?
"For fun. You know, I always do covers in my live shows, and the fans would always ask why I didn’t do a record of covers, and I kept joking that I would. It went on for about three or four years. And then over the holidays we had some downtime – I’m not a big celebrator or holiday vacationer – and I was writing a lot of new stuff. I decided to take a break from the new stuff and do something really silly.
So in seven days I picked out about 25 songs, and then narrowed then down to 14. It was like making a mixed tape for a friend; there’s a load of weird shit from Hold Steady to Elton John, to The Kills."
W&H: DID YOU FIND IT DIFFICULT INTERPRETING THE SONGS?
"The point is you try to make the songs your own, or else you’re like a drunk on a karaoke, or just a covers band in New Jersey. The point is to reinterpret. Look at artists like Cat Power, she takes songs and completely changes the melody, and you don’t even know what it is, and that’s cool too. It’s important to put your own penis in the womb of the music pie and mixture of madness."
W&H: THANK YOU, I’LL BEAR THAT IN MIND.
"No problem. But Joe Strummer said: “No input, no output”. To be able to write and spit things out you need to be taking stuff in. So I think it’s important to constantly challenging yourself, watch films, read books, travel, meet people, listening. Not always be putting out and performing. Sometimes it’s good to be quiet, be an observer, be a sponge and take in other people’s art."
W&H:YOU COVER AN ECLECTIC RANGE OF ARTISTS ON YOUR ALBUM. WHY THESE SONGS?
"I picked songs that meant something to me, whether it was something I heard in a record store a couple of weeks ago or something I heard when I was six. You play records, and certain songs remind you of certain times and places, and people. It’s like the soundtrack to your life. And the songs need to have a personal connection so you feel you can sing it. There are some songs I love but I wouldn’t touch, like ‘A Change is Gonna Come’ by Otis Reading, or Sam Cook doing it. But some things you can. Touch it I mean."
W&H: ON THE ALBUM COVER YOU MENTION YOU GOT EXPELLED FOR ‘NUDITY IN A SPANISH CLASS’
"One of the inspirations behind choosing ‘Me and Julio Down by the School Yard’. Yeah, I banged my penis on the desk because I didn’t want to hit the girl. So I figured I’d just take out the penis and get them very upset, hurt their feelings. I thought that was the correct move for the moment. I wasn’t going for the punk penis flasher thing - I was 14, I was young and I felt cornered, so I gave them the WANG. But it got me out of school for two weeks. True story."
W&H: THANKS FOR SHARING.
"Oh I shared it, believe me."
W&H: WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO AFTER THE TOUR?
"I’m going on tour with Butch Walker and other artists over the Summer, then I’m going to come home and do some more videos and TV appearances, but mostly one off gigs, festivals or whatever. I want to start working on another record, or two records. Whatever comes, let’s see how many songs I write. I’ve been touring so much, I love it. But it’s good to sit back and see what’s next. And I don’t know what next, which is fun."
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