Eight-piece jazz/funk/fusion outfit Malah Palinka have been building a steady following around Sheffield and more regionally thanks to their groove-based sets, brassy solos, and charismatic front woman, Evie.
Their funky pop anthem Baby Who Hurt You made its way onto BBC Radio 6 Music’s Introducing Mixtape, which has now been streamed 20,000+ times, and was accompanied by a vintage music video shot in Sheffield’s Crookes Social Club. This momentum has seen them support Renegade Brass Band, play the Library Stage at Tramlines, and headline at nearly every respected venue in the city.
With two EPs offering an eclectic mix of jazz, neo soul and funk, already under their belt, they decided to focus their attention next on capturing their live energy in the studio with a series of six beautifully rendered videos.
Three of the videos will be the band’s original tunes, including some new unreleased material, with the remaining three being completely bonkers covers of pop bangers from Beyonce, Childish Gambino, and Britney Spears.
We chatted to guitarist George Brazil to find out more about the project…
Hi George. What was the thinking behind these videos?
GB: It’s something we have been building up to for a while, but we didn’t want to make something that felt rushed or inauthentic. We really felt the pressure when we set out to film these videos – particularly as this is the first live session we’ve put out as a band.
It might sound silly to say in hindsight, but we knew that the stakes were high, as there’s not really much punching back in on something like this, so we really put the work in to get ourselves sounding as tight as possible. So many of the bands we absolutely love, like Vulfpeck and Snarky Puppy, actually track their entire albums live. There’s something extra special about a bunch of people and microphones in a room – you just get the real thing.
Three of the videos we’re releasing are actually covers of pop classics, but flipped into our weird jazz fusion style. It’s something we really enjoy doing – there’s a lot of magic in making the familiar unfamiliar, and whenever we perform those covers live they’re always really special moments that people go a bit nuts for! It’s definitely become a fun, unique element of the band that we don’t think we’ll ever stop throwing in.
Where did you shoot and record and how did it go?
GB: The videos were shot in a beautifully converted church studio in Leeds called The Nave. We were there for two days and had maybe three or four takes per song. A big part of our live set is allowing the players to solo and improvise, so we all needed to be playing our best on the same take, but I guess that’s part of the fun! We were also joined by a great percussionist, Wren, specifically for this session, just to really make things groove extra hard. He’s actually our trumpet player’s little brother, so it was great to have him.
What’s next for the band after these videos are out in the wild?
GB: We’re currently recording our debut album, entirely self-funded through gigging, which is such a cool thing to be able to say! We are planning to celebrate the launch with our first ever UK tour, so please go give us a follow if you want to see what happens next!
