Stephen Malkmus

Stephen Joseph Malkmus (born May 30, 1966)[1] is an

Stephen Malkmus
American musician best known as the primary songwriter, lead
singer and guitarist of the indie rock band Pavement. He currently
performs with Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks and as a solo artist.

Contents
Biography
Early years
Career
Pavement
Solo work and The Jicks
Side projects Stephen Malkmus on July 4, 2005
Personal life at the River To River Festival show
in Battery Park in New York City
Equipment
Background information
Discography
With Pavement Birth name Stephen
With Silver Jews Malkmus
With The Crust Brothers Also known as SM, Hazel
With The Jicks Figurine
Solo albums Born May 30, 1966
Compilations and collaborations Santa Monica,
Miscellaneous California,
Music videos United States

Notes Origin Stockton,

California
References
Genres Indie rock
External links
Instruments guitar, vocals,
drums, bass
Biography Years active 1989-present
Labels Matador
Records,
Early years
Domino
Stephen Malkmus was born in Santa Monica, California, to Mary Recording
and Stephen Malkmus Sr.[2][3] His father was a property and Company, Drag
casualty insurance agent.[3] When Stephen Jr. was 8, the family City
moved north to Stockton,[3] where he attended Carpinteria's Cate Associated acts Pavement,
School and Lodi's Tokay High School. As a teenager, Malkmus Stephen
worked various jobs, including painting house numbers on street Malkmus and
curbs and "flipping burgers or whatever" at a country club.[4] At the Jicks, Silver
age 16, he spent the night in jail after consuming alcohol, urinating Jews, The Crust
in the bushes, and walking on the roofs of several residential Brothers
homes.[2] Later, he was placed on probation for underage
Website stephenmalkmus
drinking,[2] and was also expelled from school "for going to a
.com (http://step
party in the woods where people were taking mushrooms. I didn’t
take them, but some guy narc’d on me."[2] henmalkmus.co
m)
Malkmus learned the guitar by playing along to Jimi Hendrix's
recording of "Purple Haze".[3] During high school, he played in several Stockton-based punk bands: Bag
O Bones, The Straw Dogs, and Crisis Alert. After graduation, Malkmus followed in his father's footsteps
by attending the University of Virginia, where he majored in history and was a disc jockey for the college
radio station WTJU. During this time, Malkmus met fellow WTJU DJs David Berman (who would later
front the Silver Jews) and James McNew (of Yo La Tengo) and formed the lo-fi band Ectoslavia.[5][6] In
the late 1980s, he was employed as a security guard at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York
City, along with Berman and Bob Nastanovich.[2]

Career

Pavement

Malkmus formed Pavement with Scott Kannberg (aka Spiral Stairs) while he was living in Stockton during
the 1980s.[7] 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, was hailed as
spearheading the underground indie movement of the 1990s.

Pavement reunited in March 2010 and have since embarked on a world tour.[8]

Solo work and The Jicks

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).

On May 23, 2003 in Milwaukee, while touring with his new band The Jicks, Malkmus opened the show
by saying, "This is off our first record." The band then proceeded to play an evening's worth of Pavement
songs, marking the second time Malkmus had played any of his previous band's songs since their 1999
breakup, the first was on April 22, 2002 in São Paulo, Brazil, where he played "In The Mouth a Desert".

Malkmus's fourth studio album with The Jicks, Real Emotional Trash, was released in March 2008.[9]

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.[10] A recording of this performance was released as a limited-edition live album on
Record Store Day 2013.

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.[11]
Malkmus released an electronic album titled Groove Denied on March 15, 2019. He has been working on
the album for 12 to 13 years. After he submitted the album in 2017, Matador's president and founder Chris
Lombardi, who has been releasing Malkmus' records since Pavement's 1992 debut Slanted and Enchanted,
flew personally to Portland to inform Malkmus that it wasn't the right time to release the album. The album
features Malkmus on all instruments and production and engineering.[12][13][14] 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.

Side projects

Malkmus also was a member of rock group Silver Jews along with poet/lyricist David Berman.[15] In early
1999 Stephen Malkmus participated in a Sonic Youth side project called Kim's Bedroom that included
bassist/vocalist Kim Gordon, guitarist/vocalist Thurston Moore, Chicago avant-garde veteran Jim
O'Rourke, and renowned Japanese drummer Ikue Mori; they never released an album, but did play a few
live shows. By 2001 he was performing as frontman of The Jicks.[16]

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 "really a really big fan of Dylan,"[17] but noted that his
involvement with the film had made him listen "to him again a little closer."[4]

In 2016, Malkmus scored the soundtrack to the Netflix series Flaked, which stars Arrested Development's
Will Arnett.[18]

Personal life
Malkmus moved to Portland, Oregon, where he met his wife,
artist Jessica Jackson Hutchins.[19][20][21] The couple have
two children: daughters Lottie (born 2004)[22][23] and Sunday
(born 2007).[24] In 2011, before the release of Mirror Traffic,
Malkmus and his family moved to Berlin.[23] By the release of
Wig Out at Jagbags in 2014, however, the family had moved
back to Portland.[25]

Malkmus is a sports fan, supports Hull City Football Club and

is known to play golf and tennis;[2][26] he also played second
base for the Portland-based Disjecta softball team.[27] Malkmus at Bonnaroo 2006

Equipment
Malkmus currently plays a Fender Stratocaster and a Guild S-100.[28] Other guitars used are a 1960s
Fender Jazzmaster that can be traced back to the Brighten The Corners era, a Gibson Les Paul Deluxe, and
a Fender Stratocaster that was his guitar of choice during the majority of his time with Pavement. He used a
Gibson SG with Pavement during the Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain era. For the 2010 Pavement reunion
tour he used his Stratocaster extensively. During his 2011 tour in support of Mirror Traffic he played a
Guild S-100. He has also played a Danelectro Silvertone (Sears model dating to 1962 or 1963) for one-off
solo shows.
Typically, he uses an Orange Retro 50 head through a 1970s Marshall 4x12 cabinet when playing live,
though he has used various other Orange, Marshall and Fender amps, including a vintage Silverface Twin
Reverb during the early Pavement years, an Orange OR120 during later Pavement years, and a single
channel Orange AD30 with the Jicks. Malkmus's other confirmed (though not constant) gear includes:
Z.Vex Fuzz Factory, Diamond J-Drive, Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler, T-Rex Replica, Lovetone Big Cheese,
Lovetone Meatball, BOSS TU-2, DigiTech Whammy, Crowther HotCake, Kaisser Instruments Reamer
and Pro Co RAT.

Discography

With Pavement
Slanted and Enchanted (1992)
Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (1994)
Wowee Zowee (1995)
Brighten the Corners (1997)
Terror Twilight (1999)

With Silver Jews

Singles and EPs

Dime Map of the Reef (1992 – 7"ep)

The Sabellion Rebellion & Old New York (1993 – 7")
The Arizona Record (1993 – 12")
Hot as Hell – Live 1993 (1999 – 7" Single)

Albums

Starlite Walker (1994)

American Water (1998)
Tanglewood Numbers (2005)
Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea (2008)

With The Crust Brothers

Marquee Mark (1998)

With The Jicks

Albums

Stephen Malkmus (2001)[nb 1]

Pig Lib (2003)
Face the Truth (2005)[nb 2]
Real Emotional Trash (2008)
 Mirror Traffic (2011)
Wig Out at Jagbags (2014)
Sparkle Hard (2018)

Solo albums
Groove Denied (2019)
Traditional Techniques (2020)

Singles

"Discretion Grove" (2001) – w/ "Sin Taxi" and "Leisurely Poison" (2001)

"Jenny & the Ess-Dog" (2001) – w/ "Keep the Faith", "That's What Mama Said" and "Alien
Boy"
Phantasies EP (2001) – w/ "Malay Massaker"
"Jo Jo's Jacket" – w/ "Polish Mule", "The Hook (live)" and "Open and Shut Cases" (2001)
"Sex Life of Robinson Crusoe, Pt. 2" (2001) – b-side available only on official site
"Us" (2003)
"Dark Wave" (2003) – w/ Pig Lib bonus disc b-sides
"Post-Paint Boy" (2005)
"Baby C'Mon" (2005) – w/ "Wow Ass Jeans"
Kindling for the Master EP (2006) – w/ 4 remixes
"Cold Son" 10" EP (2008) – w/ "Walk Into the Mirror", "Pennywhistle Thunder" and "Carl the
Clod"
"Gardenia" (2008) – w/ "Walk Into the Mirror"

Compilations and collaborations

subUrbia Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1997) – "Unheard Music" (with Elastica)
At Home With the Groovebox (2000) – "Robyn Turns 26"
All Tomorrow's Parties 1.1 (2002) – "Good Kids Eggs"
Colonel Jeffrey Pumpernicklel (2002) – "Blue Rash Intact (Quarantined-Hallucinations Due
To Severe Allergies)"
Under the Influence – 21 years of Flying Nun Records (2002) – "Death and the Maiden"
Matador At Fifteen (2004) – "It Kills (live)"
This One's for the Fellows: A Sonic Salute to the Young Fresh Fellows (2004) – guitar on
"No One Really Knows" (with The Maroons)
Chokes! EP by Silkworm (2007) – guitar on "Spanish Harlem Incident (live)"
I'm Not There (Music from the Motion Picture) (2007) – With [The Million Dollar Bashers]:
"Ballad of a Thin Man" and "Maggie's Farm"; with Lee Ranaldo: "Can't Leave Her Behind"
and "What Kind of Friend is This?" (iTunes only)
Early Risers by Soldiers of Fortune (2015) – "Campus Swagger"
Day of the Dead (2016) – "China Cat Sunflower -> I Know You Rider"
Battle Hymns (2017) – "Midnight Cruisers" Digital Download http://www.quasiband.com/

Miscellaneous
 The New Yorker College Tour: University of Washington, Seattle: A Conversation with
Stephen Malkmus (2006)

Music videos
Year Title Director
"Discretion Grove" Grant Gee
2001
"Jo Jo's Jacket" Shynola
"Death and the Maiden" Mitchell Hawkes
2003 "Dark Wave" Scott Lyons
"Baby C'Mon" Lana Kim & Andy Bruntel
2005 "Mama" E.J. McLeavey-Fisher
2008 "Gardenia" Daniel Woods
"No One Is (As I Are Be)" Steve Doughton
2011
"Senator" Scott Jacobson
"Lariat" Michael Leblanc
2013
"Cinnamon and Lesbians" Jay Winebrenner

Cover of "Death And The Maiden" by New Zealand band 'The Verlaines'. Available on
Flying Num DVD 'Very Short Films'.

Notes
1. 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.
2. 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.

References
1. Eric Weisbard (2008). "Pavement" (https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pavement-band).
Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
2. "Blender is coming soon" (https://web.archive.org/web/20100710022348/http://www.blender.
com/guide/61233/dearsuperstarstephenmalkmus.html). Archived from the original (http://ww
w.blender.com/guide/61233/dearsuperstarstephenmalkmus.html) on July 10, 2010.
3. "Stephen Malkmus: Being Stephen Malkmus" (http://www.magnetmagazine.com/2001/04/0
1/stephen-malkmus-being-stephen-malkmus/). Magnetmagazine.com. April 1, 2001.
Retrieved February 4, 2014.
4. [1] (http://dukechronicle.com/node/145529) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20110131
170257/http://dukechronicle.com/node/145529) January 31, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
 5. Hogan, Matthew (January 10, 2015). "Secret knowledge of Silver Jews, Pavement,
Ectoslavia and Horse Racing with Bob Nastanovich" (https://indianspecific.wordpress.com/2
015/01/10/secret-knowledge-of-silver-jews-pavement-ectoslavia-and-horse-racing-with-bob-
nastanovich/). The Indian Specific. self. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
6. [2] (https://www.billboard.com/artist/pavement)
7. "Pavement biography" (http://www.matadorrecords.com/pavement). Matador Records.
Retrieved July 26, 2009.
8. "Pavement Launch Tour, Add Dates | News" (https://pitchfork.com/news/38051-pavement-la
unch-tour-add-dates/). Pitchfork.com. March 1, 2010. Retrieved April 15, 2012.
9. "Stephen Malkmus news at Matador Records" (https://web.archive.org/web/2009070203301
7/http://www.matadorrecords.com/stephen_malkmus/). Matadorrecords.com. Archived from
the original (http://www.matadorrecords.com/stephen_malkmus/) on July 2, 2009. Retrieved
July 26, 2009.
10. "Watch Stephen Malkmus Perform Can's Ege Bamyasi | News" (https://pitchfork.com/news/4
8844-watch-stephen-malkmus-perform-cans-ege-bamyasi/). Pitchfork.com. December 6,
2012. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
11. "Interview: Stephen Malkmus" (https://relix.com/articles/detail/interview_stephen_malkmus/).
Relix.com. June 26, 2018. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
12. Knopper, Steve (January 17, 2019). "Stephen Malkmus is still enigmatic, but with a big
heart" (https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/ct-ott-ott-stephen-malkmus-011
8-story.html). Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
13. "Stephen Malkmus - Groove Denied" (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MWXQ4CP/).
Amazon. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
14. Vozick-Levinson, Simon (January 22, 2019). "Stephen Malkmus' Excellent Electronic
Adventure" (https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/stephen-malkmus-groove-de
nied-interview-780840/). Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
15. "Interview with The Corduroy Suit" (http://www.weeblackskelf.co.uk/cordsuit/index.php?page
=David+Berman+and+Stephen+Malkmus+Interview). Weeblackskelf.co.uk. Retrieved
July 26, 2009.
16. "LIVE: Stephen Malkmus And The Jicks" (https://web.archive.org/web/20011125013340/htt
p://www.chartattack.com/damn/2001/11/2312.cfm). Chart Attack, November 23, 2001,
Review by Chris Burland
17. "Music News: Latest and Breaking Music News" (https://web.archive.org/web/20080210074
224/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/18349762/stephen_malkmus_on_bob_dylan_re
hearsing_and_his_favorite_venues_around_the_world). Rolling Stone. Archived from the
original (https://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/18349762/stephen_malkmus_on_bob_dyl
an_rehearsing_and_his_favorite_venues_around_the_world) on February 10, 2008.
Retrieved February 4, 2014.
18. "Stephen Malkmus Is Scoring Will Arnett's New Netflix Series 'Flaked' " (https://www.billboar
d.com/articles/columns/rock/6874916/stephen-malkmus-will-arnett-score-netflix-flaked-soun
dtrack). Billboard. February 12, 2016. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
19. "Stephen Malkmus And The Jicks: Rule Portlandia" (http://magnetmagazine.com/2011/09/1
2/stephen-malkmus-and-the-jicks-rule-portlandia/). Magnetmagazine.com. September 12,
2011.
20. Tannenbaum, Rob (May 14, 2018). "Stephen Malkmus Doesn't Think He Was a Jerk" (http
s://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/14/arts/music/stephen-malkmus-jicks-pavement-sparkle-hard.
html). The New York Times.
21. Sherburne, Philip (March 20, 2019). "Stephen Malkmus: 'There's this reggae song where I
sing in patois – it should not be heard' " (https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/mar/20/st
ephen-malkmus-pavement-band-berlin-nightlife-youtube). Theguardian.com.
22. Klosterman, Chuck (March 2010). "Greatest. Indie-est. Band. Ever" (https://www.gq.com/ente
rtainment/music/201003/pavement-indie). GQ. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
23. William, Goodman (July 6, 2011). "Q&A: Stephen Malkmus on New LP, Beck + More" (http
s://www.spin.com/2011/07/qa-stephen-malkmus-new-lp-beck-more/). Spin. Retrieved
January 28, 2012.
24. [3] (http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/47563-stephen-malkmus-talks-itrashi)
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20071215042327/http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/artic
le/news/47563-stephen-malkmus-talks-itrashi) December 15, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
25. "Stephen Malkmus on Why Everyone Wants to Be a Nineties Kid, the Jicks' 'Wig Out at
Jagbags' and More | Music News" (https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/stephen-malk
mus-on-why-everyone-wants-to-be-a-nineties-kid-20140103). Rolling Stone. January 3,
2014. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
26. [4] (http://www3.timeoutny.com/newyork/thevolume/tag/stephen-malkmus-time-out-new-york-
interview/)
27. Caraeff, Ezra. "The Portland Mercury | Blogtown, PDX | Disjecta - Softball Champions!" (http
s://web.archive.org/web/20120223233143/http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/2007/08/disj
ecta_softball_champions.php). Blogtown.portlandmercury.com. Archived from the original (ht
tp://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/2007/08/disjecta_softball_champions.php) on February
23, 2012. Retrieved April 15, 2012.
28. "The Current's Guitar Collection: Stephen Malkmus" (https://www.thecurrent.org/feature/201
4/02/26/the-currents-guitar-collection-stephen-malkmus). Thecurrent.org=. Retrieved
November 3, 2017.

External links
Official site (http://www.stephenmalkmus.com)
Matador Records (https://web.archive.org/web/20090702033017/http://www.matadorrecords.
com/stephen_malkmus/) US record label
Domino Records (http://www.dominorecordco.com/site/index.php?page=artists&artistID=48)
UK record label
It's a Brand New Era (http://stephenmalkmus.tripod.com) fan site

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