Jim Testa's Birthday w/ Mal Blum

"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"