Malocchio

by Leah Rainis
leahrainis@insiteboston.com
Appearances aren’t always what they seem. I don’t mean that in one of those “I went to the bar and totally met this hot chick, but when I took her home, I found out it was a dude” kind of ways, more like once in awhile something seems pleasant or charming but in all actuality is probably one of the worst things ever.

Take me, for example. I make it a point to make fun of most people to their faces almost every day. The reason I have not yet been beaten up (other than my intimidating physique) is probably because I say things with a big smile, not to mention a whole lot of sarcasm. I’m like a little badger, waiting in his badger hole, and when you look in I pop out, pretending to give you sweet kisses… but when I retreat, you realize I was biting your face the whole time.

I don’t know that badgers live in holes, and I’m pretty sure they don’t pop out to give sweet kisses, but I think I made my point a little clearer. Local funk-pop act Malocchio know where I’m coming from… they have a lot to say, and an interesting way of going about saying it.

Malocchio is Robbie Fitzsimmons (keyboards/vocals), Eric Niessner (percussion… and from what I hear, a sick heel kick that allows him to play the cowbell), Dave Brandwein (guitar/vocals), Zak Croxall (bass), and Hugo Haggie (lead guitar). Brandwein and Haggie met their first day of school at Berklee, as did Fitzsimmons and Croxall. From the start, Haggie wanted Niessner in the band, and the quintet formed as a Radiohead cover band to perform a successful show at Berklee. They knew they worked well together, but wanted to have Radiohead as an influence (more so in the production aspects) than sound like them. Enter: Malocchio.

Aside from being a funny word that rhymes with “Pinocchio”, Malocchio actually does mean something. It is sort of an evil eye, and in Italian it means to wish harm because of jealousy. “I like the name so much… it sounds like this nice word, but it’s got a really dark meaning,” muses Fitzsimmons, “it’s kind of like our music. It’s got this happy sound, but our lyrics are serious”. Citing everything from Steely Dan and Herbie Hancock to Michael Jackson, Dr. Dre, and Danny Elfman as influences, Malocchio defines their style as “pop music with a brain”. Haggie says, “A lot of pop music does what it needs to. We want to do that and use what we’ve learned in music school to make it intelligent”. With their first (surprisingly) successful summer tour under their belts (Malocchio attributes most of the success of their first tour to overzealous planning that initially entailed playing 28 cities in the span of 30 days… they didn’t do quite that, but they managed to turn a profit from selling merchandise which is more than they expected), Malocchio is planning on recording an album, then touring again upon its completion.

On Their First Album:
Malocchio is taking a very DIY approach with the production of their album and believe it is completely possible due to the internet and other forms of “cheap-o” recording. The album will be full length (right now, they are trying to narrow their 25 song collection down to about 14). Their primary focus for Malocchio is to treat their LP and their live act as separate entities. According to the band, even only one song can sound completely different each time it’s played live. They want to keep switching it up to keep it interesting and keep people coming back.



On Malocchio’s Aspirations:
First and foremost, Malocchio wants people to hear their music. They want to play music that they like, and hope other people enjoy it as well. Brandwein laughs, “We want to be the biggest band in the world!” Overall, they hope to make a valid contribution to the record industry by making music that is both easy to listen to across multiple audiences and intelligent.

For show dates, pictures, album information, or anything else about Malocchio, go to www.malocchiomusic.com. - Insite Magazine Boston (www.InsiteBoston.com)