Music's Next Superhero: Malakai

“Malakai is the spurned kid turned super hero here to address the wrongs he sees in himself and around him,” says vocalist Gee, half of the Bristol duo. “He is not bitter and twisted, just twisted.” The band have been steadily gathering momentum over the last year so Gigwise decided to get a heads up ahead of what looks to be a huge 2008. Both Gee and Scott, who creates the musical platform for bombastic tunes, are long serving members of the musical world. “Me and Scott knew about each other well before we met as we had both been heavily involved in the hip hop thing,” explains Gee. “He was a reputable DJ and collector and I was known for my mc’ing and bboying.”

The Malakai jigsaw soon came together: “One day he approached me about trying a vocal over this piece he was putting together, he needed a melodic type delivery and we gelled instantly. As we talked at the session we realised we had a lot of similar tastes and influences.” And so Malakai was born.

Their sound encompasses a huge array of influences, taking in virtually every musical landmark from the past fifty years, mixing it with samples and beats, and a challenging vocal style. Their debut release ‘Fading World’ on Invada, label of Portishead’s Geoff Barrow, described by Gee as “a track that you could easily shoot down as ‘trip hop’ or ‘Bristol sound’,” lead to them gaining comparisons to their Bristol trip hop counterparts, something they are keen to address: “We’ve never set out to replicate a Portishead style or ‘cash in’ on a formula. As far as we’re concerned imitation isn’t the best form of flattery… It’s embarrassing!” On comparisons? “I’d have to say if there are any then I’d put them down to some similarities of musical influence and local environment.

“Bristol’s a typical city with its fair share of paranoia, panic and problems,” he says, elaborating. “As there’s no music ‘business’ as such here the music has no commercial distractions and therefore has a large fraternity that doesn’t pander to the ‘in’ thing or chase favour.” It goes a long way to explaining the refreshingly eclectic sounds that Malakai produce.

The release of ‘Fading World’ came through Geoff Barrow’s long lasting friendship with Scott: “Scott played him Snowflake and he thought it had some potential.” It ended up being something of a launch pad for the band. “He gave us some good time and advice and put us onto a few people that might be able to help.”

“I’m sure that seems like a ‘leg up’ to some but y’know there’s been some 14 years for Geoff to afford Scott such a gesture.” This story does seem to affirm the old adage that it’s not what you know, it’s who you know, but Malakai far from scrimp on musical expertise. The music is formed of samples that reminisce of everything from classic 60s pop, flamenco, reggae, with tight breaks and beats. There is a massive diversity, which is perhaps the biggest feature of their music. “Generally we get slated for doing a little bit of this, little bit of that but to us it’s just us being honest!

“We have a knowledge and respect for every musical influence we draw upon, we tip our hat to everything that makes us what we are.” It’s a vast knowledge that is used to great effect, with Malakai seemingly able to take any sample and craft it into an entirely new monster, interesting musically and yet effecting as a pop song at the same time: “I wanted to craft good songs, 2 minute stuff that got in there, did the job and got out again like the Beatles and Hollies used to do it.”