Mark Mallman (photo: Wilson Webb)

In 2001 I fell for his second record, How I Lost My Life and Lived to Tell About It. I haven't looked back since, and have been picking up his records in one form or the other over the past three years (save the live one, for some reason). I try to spread them around, but it's weird -- the people I know either love him or... well, let's just say they're looking through a different lens than I am.

Mark Mallman: You there?

Nick D. Meiers: Ya, you ready to rock?

MM: Yo, shoot em

NDM: So I'll try and give you a couple questions at a time. Try to answer them in a minute or two to keep the conversational flow. That and I don't want you to be able to look up all kinds of crap on the Internet to plug into your answers as to look overly smart (that's my job). If you're nice I'll correct your spelling errors in Word when I correct mine. (Ha! -- Ed.)

MM: Sounds good. I'm preparing for CMJ, which is tomorrow, so I'm going back and forth between my two computers (one in the office, one in the studio). I will stick to your guidelines of not going on the internet or getting too smart with it all.

NDM: So I'll start the same way with you as I did with Mark Shippy. Have you seen any good movies lately?

MM: I saw Dirty Shame and laughed my arse off. It's a hilarious romp -- funniest John Waters movie since Serial Mom. I can see why some critics hate it -- which is why I hate some critics.

NDM: Do you have a favorite Rodney Dangerfield memory?

MM: Rodney is one of my favorite comics of all time, if not my very favorite comic. The guy was master of the one liner. Though I never had the opportunity to see his show, I've had many concerts on cassette and album through the years. The man is gifted in a form of standup that doesn't exist anymore -- the one liner. I love those comics. I also love the prop comics. Lots of people hate Carrot Top, but most of them haven't seen his act -- the man is hilarious, but another comic for from a bygone era. Too bad. God bless Rodney, he's chillin with Chaplin!

NDM: How about a Christopher Reeve one?

MM: Umm, not really. I have respect for what the man did post-horse accident, though -- he raised awareness for a good cause. The main went from playing Superman to actually becoming Superman. Totally amazing. I'm not a huge fan of him as an actor, but as a human, I could only aspire to touching as many people as he did. No sarcasm there -- I mean it.

NDM: "I could only aspire to touching as many people as he did." I guess that explains why you have a lot of songs about lovers?

MM: I write from my experience. But also, I've discovered the communicative nature of the live performance. On my first record, The Tourist, I hadn't performed any of those songs live until well after the record was recorded, but now it's six years later, and Mr. Serious is all about communication. So I wrote these songs with the "telling" in mind -- telling the songs. I feel like bringing positivity and good times into the world -- I guess that's how I touch people, with songs.

NDM: Yes, your shows are definitely "communicative", to say the least. You mentioned once the balance between having an entertaining comedic element, but also trying not to detract too much from the music. How hard is it for you to walk that line?

MM: Well, when I was a kid in High School, I was the class clown -- and a prankster. I guess that's where the comedy in my live show comes from -- whenever it comes show time, I still get that urge to goof off, it's in my nature. That's where I got the title Mr. Serious for my new album -- the band started getting on my case for not sticking to the material we rehearsed. So I started saying "okay, I'm Mr. Serious this time, I'm going to go out there and stick to the songs" which is honestly where I feel the most confident. I'm very serious about everything I do, especially goofing around and pulling pranks and stuff -- I'm very serious about those things as well!

NDM: What's going on good in the Minneapolis music scene that the rest of the world should know about? I like some of the Modern Radio bands like The Vets and Stnnng, and there are a couple other loud bands like Sicbay and the Seawhores, but who are you digging in Minneapolis these days?

MM: Oh yeah, there's always great punk up here -- probably cause it's so cold. Makes you play fast to stay warm. Minneapolis has a ton going on that the world will never hear about -- it's the nature of the town. It's this iced over city far from anywhere. Bands come together, blow minds, then disappear. A&R don't even know where this city is for the most part, and that's their loss, because we have an incredible history of great songwriters -- Westerberg, Bob Mould, Gary Louris, and of course The Trashmen, whose song "Surfin' Bird" we cover with the band sometimes

NDM: Some friends and I have been speculating that pop is the new rock. Would you go along with that?

MM: Ummm, hmm, I think for the most part this rock revival that is happening now is pretty cool. I like rock and all, but I listen mostly to top 40 lately. It's interesting for me to see how the mainstream is processing the world around them. It's far from the music I write, so in a way I think I can experience it more objectively. It seems like modern top 40 is very base right now -- really vain and superficial. The production is cool and all, but the message seems to be pretty empty.

NDM: How much of the year do spend on the road performing? What are some of your favorite stops along the way?

MM: The road can get you down or it can turn you around. It's a very daunting temptress -- that's why I pay special attention to making sure morale is always good on the road. If the band and I are happy, we can walk into the worst situation and turn it to our advantage. I've been on the road about four months this year total -- I hope to be out six or seven months next year. My favorite things are checking out what makes the city special -- there is so much homogenizing happening out there right now, it's scary. WalMarts and Starbucks and stuff... I want to see the uniqueness of our America, before it all washes away in the corporate malaise.

NDM: Do you really live in a studio apartment with a bed on the floor in Minneapolis proper? (ref. "Humankind" from The Red Bedroom)

MM: At the time I wrote "Humankind" I was, but I had to move out because it was too expensive for me to live alone once I had to make van payments. Now I live in a room in my manager's house. In March of this year I did some work for Atari which made me enough money to buy a box spring -- It's my first proper "bed" in nine years. Ahh, the luxuries of the music business! Up until then, yes, I was sleeping on the floor. To quote Coldplay, "Nobody said it was easy." Ha! He must be talking about getting to bang Gwyneth Paltrow!

NDM: Ha, that reminds me of that Modest Mouse line, "It's a long way to the bank." ("Paper Thin Walls" on The Moon and Antarctica) You just quoted Coldplay. Is it safe to assume you're not into the indie-hipster mentality?

MM: I'm into lots of things. I'm always looking for diversity in my tastes and experiences to bring something new to the table in my creativity. I think it's essential for the artist to experience diversity. That said, I genuinely like Coldplay, I think it's good stuff. I like Mixel Pixel and The Killers, as well as Captain Beefheart and The Residents -- and at the same time I like Eminem. But I also like Carole King. I also like Destiny's Child. I also like The Misfits. I mean, there's no need to be ironic just because you enjoy reading Douglas Adams books -- even if it's not the hippest thing in the world right now, I believe that if something makes me smile, it's valid, hip or not hip.

NDM: You said that your voice has never been quite the same since your first marathon (not the running kind, but Mallman's epic performance of the longest song ever written. The first was 26.2 hours, and the most recent, on September 6th of 2004, was 52.4 hours long). How did it hold up this most recent time?

MM: It held up well, mostly because it was in a bigger club with better monitors. But it's still scratchy now. I got my voice back totally in about six months after the first one; this time I was singing fully in a week. I think it's all the touring that I've done has made my chords stronger.

NDM: And I'm sorry I have to ask it, but how do you take a leak when you do the marathons?

MM: I had a sign on my piano that said "Gone Pissin'".

NDM: I heard once that you are actually big in Japan. Is that true?

MM: I wish. People buy my CDs there and stuff, but there hasn't been enough of a demand to fly out. I hope to someday!

NDM: I'm going to go back to the Minneapolis music scene thing one more time because I'm totally curious -- of the bands playing out these days from Minneapolis, specifically whose music do you like?

MM: There is a band called Ol Yeller -- a Kinks/Neil Young type of outfit -- who I'm really into. Also a guy by the name of Rob Skoro, kind of a Nick Drake meets Radiohead thing. Also a band called Askeleton fronted by this guy Knol Tate -- he's a talented guy and a producer, as well as a ladykiller, sexy man.

NDM: Is there anything you were wishing I'd ask?

MM: Why, yes, there is. How did you feel when you saw that The Fever released an album called The Red Bedroom two years after your release?

NDM: How did you feel when you saw that The Fever released an album called The Red Bedroom two years after your release?

MM: Well, I had given their manager a copy of my Red Bedroom a year earlier, when I was playing Piano's in NYC. When the band approached me about it, there singer, Jeremy, said "Mallman, we are huge fans of yours -- I want to put a different spin on your idea by calling our first full length The Red Bedroom...what do you think? If you don't want me to use it, I'll totally use this other title I thought of..." which was something like We Are the Ugly Sheep or whatever. I thought it was weird, but he was really exited about the tribute or whatever. So I said, "Sure, why the hell not, dude. Go for it" and it looks like the title is working for them, with all the success they've been getting. It's a big compliment to me. Too bad their album isn't getting the best reviews.

NDM: Thanks for doing this.

MM: You rule.

-- Nick D. Meiers