Stephen Joseph Malkmus ( MALK-miss; born May 30, 1966)[2][3] is an American musician best known as the primary songwriter, lead singer and guitarist of the indie rock band Pavement. Beginning as a duo, Pavement subsequently grew to a quintet. The band released five studio albums before breaking up in 1999.
Both during and after his time in Pavement, Malkmus took part in several side projects, notably contributing guitar on three albums with The Silver Jews. Following Pavement's break-up, Malkmus embarked on a solo career, primarily with backing band the Jicks. He currently performs with Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Pavement, The Hard Quartet, and as a solo artist.
Stephen Malkmus was born in Santa Monica, California, to Mary and Stephen Malkmus Sr.[4][5] His father was a property and casualty insurance agent.[5] When Stephen Jr. was 8, the family moved north to Stockton,[5] where he attended Carpinteria's Cate School and Lodi's Tokay High School. As a teenager, Malkmus worked various jobs, including painting house numbers on street curbs and "flipping burgers or whatever" at a country club.[6] At age 16, he spent the night in jail after consuming alcohol, urinating in the bushes, and walking on the roofs of several residential homes.[4] Later, he was placed on probation for underage drinking,[4] and was also expelled from school "for going to a party in the woods where people were taking mushrooms. I didn't take them, but some guy narc'd on me."[4]
Malkmus formed Pavement with Scott Kannberg (aka Spiral Stairs) right after finishing college at UVA in the late 80s.[9] Their first album, Slanted & Enchanted, was released to critical acclaim, and the band continued to receive attention for subsequent releases. Pavement, and Malkmus in particular, were hailed as spearheading the underground indie movement of the 1990s.
Pavement reunited in 2010 and embarked on a world tour,[10] and reunited again in 2022 and 2023 for another tour.
In 2001, following the 1999 dissolution of Pavement, Malkmus released his first self-titled album with his new band, The Jicks (although they were uncredited).
In August 2011, he released his fifth studio album with The Jicks, Mirror Traffic. He played the album Ege Bamyasi, originally by the band Can, in its entirety on December 1, 2012, at WEEK-END Festival in Cologne, Germany.[12] A recording of this performance was released as a limited-edition live album on Record Store Day 2013.[citation needed]
Malkmus performing with the Jicks in 2018
Malkmus's sixth studio album with the Jicks, Wig Out at Jagbags, was released on January 7, 2014. On February 7, 2018, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks released "Middle America", their first material in four years. It was their first single from their seventh studio album, Sparkle Hard, which was released on May 18, 2018.[13]
Malkmus released an electronic album titled Groove Denied on March 15, 2019, after having worked on the album for 12 to 13 years. After he submitted the album in 2017, Chris Lombardi of Matador Records, which had released all of Malkmus' records thus far, told Malkmus that it was not the right time to release the album.[14] The album features Malkmus on all instruments and production and engineering.[15][16] Malkmus released Traditional Techniques on March 6, 2020. The album was produced by Chris Funk of The Decemberists and features guitarist Matt Sweeney and musician Qais Essar.
Malkmus was a member of rock group Silver Jews along with David Berman.[17] In early 1999, Malkmus participated in a Sonic Youth side project called Kim's Bedroom that included bassist/vocalist Kim Gordon, guitarist and vocalist Thurston Moore, Jim O'Rourke, and drummer Ikue Mori; they never released an album, but did play a few live shows. By 2001, Malkmus was performing as frontman of The Jicks.[18]
In 2007, Malkmus provided 3 songs to the Todd Haynes' film I'm Not There, based on the life of Bob Dylan. He contributed on the songs "Ballad of a Thin Man", "Can't Leave Her Behind", and "Maggie's Farm". Malkmus has admitted that he was never "a really big fan of Dylan,"[19] but noted that his involvement with the film had made him listen "to him again a little closer."[6]
Malkmus' lyrics are said to incorporate a "stream of consciousness style," and have drawn comparisons to those of The Fall vocalist Mark E. Smith. Jim Keoghan of The Quietus assessed, "Like Smith, Malkmus excels at a stream of consciousness lyrical style, one that baffles and entertains in equal measure."[22]
Cover of "Death and the Maiden" by New Zealand band The Verlaines. Available on Flying Num DVD Very Short Films.
^Although the Jicks are not credited within the title, the album Stephen Malkmus is in fact a Jicks recording. Initially, Malkmus simply wanted to call his post-Pavement band the Jicks with no mention of his name, but Matador records resisted the idea and released the album as Stephen Malkmus, although the word "Jicks" is printed both on the CD itself, and on the inner sleeve of the vinyl pressing.
^Similarly, while Face the Truth is technically Stephen Malkmus's only true solo affair, the Jicks do provide instrumentation on nearly every song, and "& The Jicks" is visible on the back of the album artwork.[citation needed]
^"Pavement: Biography". Billboard.com. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Content provided by All Music Guide®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. 2007. Archived from the original on May 4, 2008.
^Greenhaus, Mike (June 26, 2018). "Stephen Malkmus". Interview. Relix. Vol. 45, no. 4 (published June 2018). pp. 32–33, 87. ISSN0146-3489. EBSCOhost129781952. Archived from the original on October 16, 2023. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
^Burland, Chris (November 23, 2001). "LIVE: Stephen Malkmus And The Jicks". ChartAttack.com. Chart Communications Inc. Archived from the original on November 25, 2001.
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