CHEESE ON BREAD'S BEST INTENTIONS NEW YEARS DAY SOIRÉE with JEFFREY LEWIS, MAL BLUM and MORE!

Born and raised New Yorker Jeffrey Lewis leads a double-life, as both a comic book writer/artist and a musician (or is that a triple-life?). His band also has a multi-faceted existence, restlessly exploring a stylistic swath from contemplative folk narratives to distortion-fueled garage rock to soundscape abstractions and more. Most often a trio (though occasionally just Jeffrey solo, or as a duo, and on some tours as a four-piece), the Jeffrey Lewis group has shuffled its name a number of times over the years, from Jeffrey Lewis & The Creeping Brains to Jeffrey Lewis & The Jitters, Jeffrey Lewis & The Jackals, Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard, Jeffrey Lightning Lewis & The Rain, and others, in 2014 becoming Jeffrey Lewis & The Jrams. These various formations (often in the past featuring Jeffrey's brother Jack on bass and Bronx-native David Beauchamp on drums) have toured the world from Los Angeles to London, Berlin to Beijing, Melbourne to Moscow, blowing minds all along the way and sometimes sharing stages or full tours with the likes of Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, Devendra Banhart, Devo, The Mountain Goats, Thurston Moore, The Fall, The Vaselines, Roky Erickson, Pulp, Beth Orton, Frank Black, The Fiery Furnaces, Daniel Johnston, Scout Niblett, The Moldy Peaches, Cornershop, The Cribs, Dr. Dog, Kimya Dawson, Adam Green, Akron/Family, Black Dice, Au Revoir Simone, The Television Personalities, Jarvis Cocker and many other luminaries. Live shows often incorporate "low budget videos," Jeffrey's large illustrations displayed to accompany certain songs, such as Jeffrey's educational multi-part "History of Communism" or flights of fancy like "The Creeping Brain." In 2001 Jeffrey Lewis signed to the venerable Rough Trade Records label (home to The Smiths, The Strokes, and many more alternative legends) and has since released six albums worldwide on Rough Trade/Beggars, the most recent of which is 2011's "A Turn in the Dream-Songs" which was recorded at an all-analogue studio in Manchester, UK and features musical cameos from Dr. Dog, Au Revoir Simone and The Vaselines among others. Jeffrey has been self-publishing a comic book series called "Fuff" since 2004, has lectured around the world on topics such as the Watchmen comic book and independently produced music, and in recent years his work has been featured by the History Channel, the New York Times, the Guardian, NPR, and elsewhere. As of 2014 his most recent projects have been creating the soundtrack for the film Radio Unnameable (distributed by Kino Lorber), illustrating Jaimee Garbacik's academic book Gender and Sexuality For Beginners, writing/drawing a 9-page comic book biography of Woody Guthrie for the Paul Buhle-edited book Bohemians, writing/illustrating/publishing three installments of Sonnet Youth (an attempt to rewrite the discography of Sonic Youth in sonnet form), and finally publishing Fuff #9.


"Spending Friday night alone/I'm reading Campus frat boy porn/strewn on the
table/for my roommate/when he finally gets home"

And so opens the first track on Mal Blum's new LP *You Look a Lot Like Me *out
on Don Giovanni Records October 2nd. In many ways, the scene is
immediately set for the record that follows: one that that vastly explores
themes of struggle and loneliness through a lens of self-effacing humor.
Though perhaps an odd choice for the opening line off most bands' label
debut, this immediate leap into first person narrative is unsurprising in
this case.

"I was never much of a musician," Mal laughs. "I was more of a writer. I
had a lot of things that I needed to work out. I picked up music as a
vehicle to express words and narrative"

You'd never guess this, though, by Mal's extensive musical discography, and
past touring efforts, in addition to the new LP Don Giovanni Records is
releasing this fall.

Looking to depart from previous efforts, there was a conscious decision to
move from the more anti-folk vibe of past material, switching over to a
solid-body guitar for the first time, and adapting the songs into rock
arrangements.

*Marissa Paternoster* (guitarist/singer of Screaming Females) produced the
album, going through sixteen songs Mal had written and paring them down to
ten that made the final cut. Marissa also lent a hand playing second guitar
and performing backup vocals, while making suggestions as to the structure,
and even length, of songs.

"I knew that I wanted it to be an electric album but I think the way it
sounds is totally Marissa's influence. Marissa really made it a trio, a
band arrangement—whereas before I would have all sorts of guest musicians,
auxiliary instrumentation, 10, 12, 14 different musicians—Marissa said,
'you have a bassist (Audrey Zee Whitesides, of Worriers and Little Waist),
you have a drummer (Steph Barker), you're the guitarist, and I'm going to
play second guitar and sing backup and that is all you need.'"

This collaborative effort resulted in a stripped-down, punk-influenced,
indie rock record—a tighter, plugged-in, and less scrappy version of Mal's
work, emphasized by big guitar hooks, crunchy distortion, and that
signature vocal flare and lyrical ingenuity Mal Blum has always showcased.
- malblum.com"