Born in Queens, New York, Jesse Malin’s passion for music began at an early age. Upon receiving his first nylon stringed acoustic guitar, Jesse taped an old 1950’s reel-to-reel recorder with a beat-up attached microphone to its body and the soon-to-be songwriter began his musical career…
Malin began playing live the age of twelve years old in the seminal hardcore band Heart Attack, releasing the first NYC hardcore seven inch, God Is Dead, on Damaged Goods Records. Before he turned fourteen, Jesse continued to tour North America with Heart Attack and released two more records with the band. Upon the group’s disbandment in 1984, Malin spent time as a gas station attendant, a health food store clerk and eventually found a home as a “man with a van,” working with everyone from Barbara Streisand to The Swans. In the early 1990’s, Jesse and his childhood pals formed the rock and roll band D Generation and released three albums, touring the globe several times over before parting ways in 1999.
After several in-between bridge bands, including PCP Highway and Bellvue, Jesse Malin found himself without a record deal and playing small clubs again. Having been offered a lump sum of money by a slumlord to leave his rent-controlled apartment across the street from Hells Angels headquarters, known as the safest block in New York City, he saw this as an opportunity. The offer was taken which provided the capital to pay off his debts (so he could walk down the other not-so-safe streets) with just enough left over for six days at Loho Studios where Malin recorded his critically acclaimed solo debut, The Fine Art of Self Destruction. Produced by long time friend Ryan Adams, The Fine Art was released in 2002 on One Little Indian / Artemis Records. Back on the road again, this time as a solo artist, Malin was touring more than ever before, finding himself in theatres, festivals and parts of the world he had never imagined. Upon returning to New York Malin recorded his self-produced second album, The Heat (2004), which received 5 stars in Uncut, followed by Glitter in the Gutter, which was released in 2007 on Green Day’s Adeline Records and included “Broken Radio,” a duet with Bruce Springsteen.
Malin’s other projects have included On Your Sleeve, a covers record featuring a schizophrenic mix of his favorite songs including everything from Elton John to the The Kills and Jim Croce to The Hold Steady, The Finger (We Are Fuck You) with Ryan Adams, Johnny T, and Colin Burns and the Rodeo Queens, a side project with Green Day formed very, very late at night. Jesse was also the music supervisor on Burning Down The House: The Story of CBGB, directed by Many Stein, and recently reconnected with Stein as an associate producer on 2012’s Bad Brains: Band in DC, co-directed by Stein and Ben Logan.
In 2010 Jesse and The St. Marks Social and released Love it To Life, produced by Ted Hutt (Gaslight Anthem, Lucero, Flogging Molly) for SideOneDummy Records, which was referred to as “the best album of his career,” by Paste Magazine. After three years of relentless touring, Malin is back home in NYC working on an exciting new solo album, due out in early 2014. He also and hosts a monthly radio show on Sirius’s Spectrum with John Varvatos entitled “New York Nights.”
Light of Day Norway 