Malkmus, the frontman behind the iconic 90s band Pavement, has a peculiar place in the music pantheon — and he knows it
Stephen Malkmus has a peculiar place in the music pantheon — and he knows it. He’s the force behind two of Rolling Stone magazine’s top 500 albums of all time, but said he still feels like he’s on the outside looking in. GQ Magazine recently called the 51-year-old frontman of Stephen Malkmus “the Dad of Indie Rock.”
“I’d rather be the dad than the granddad or the great granddad,” Malkmus told CBS News’ Anthony Mason.
He’s best known for his work with the band Pavement, whose debut record, “Slanted and Enchanted,” is considered one of the most influential albums of the 90s. It’s an era that’s been making a bit of a comeback recently.
“Well, I think that’s a good thing because that benefits me. So I hope it goes on forever,” Malkmus joked.
Despite having already cemented his legacy in the history of music, Malkmus recently released his seventh album with his current band, The Jicks, called “Sparkle Hard.”
“To me, I think of the future of writing tunes, you know, like something goods gonna happen. I’m gonna make something special,” Malkmus said. “It’s gonna have magical fairy dust on it and it will join into the pantheon of other great magical fairy dust songs that I like.”
But it’s not always magical. As Mason and Malkmus spoke, he was still recovering from an illness he picked up on tour. He said he lost his voice for two days.
“It’s humiliating, too…. People know that I’m not the best singer anyway. And they like me and they know the songs. But still, when you don’t have a voice you’re put in a point of emotional vulnerability where you kind of, it’s tiring, emotionally wearing to be there and have people worrying about you and then you feel a little like you have to give even more when you just like to play your songs, have them sound great, say a couple of witty words, and be on your way.”
Watch Malkmus perform songs from his latest album, “Sparkle Hard” in our Saturday Sessions:
