Often seen as a master songwriter of anti-hero anthems, Stephen Malkmus earned his indie rock stripes as the front man of influential, alternative outfit Pavement in the 1990s, continuing to be regarded as one of America's great subversive, lo-fi pop auteurs.
Growing up in Stockton, California he was raised on classic 1960s guitar groups until his teenage years saw the arrival of hardcore punk acts like The Dead Kennedys and DOA who inspired him to start his own raucous DIY bands. After working at student radio stations while studying at Virginia University, he moved to New York with Pavement and turned the band into post-punk, alternative rock favourites who sat outside the grunge and noise scenes with barbed, melodic takes on classic American songwriting and art school experimentation. With old friend David Bergman he also played guitar with alternative country, indie outfit Silver Jews, before striking out as Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks in 2001 and ditching the distorted, scuzzy punk clatter for jangly, twanging riffs and dreamy West Coast harmonies on albums such as 'Pig Lib', 'Real Emotional Trash' and 'Wig Out at Jagbags'.
Always an abstract, post-modern, slightly twisted lyricist, Malkmus regularly darts from the tender to the absurd and is often compared to the likes of Lou Reed, Bill Callahan and Beck thanks to his arch observations, underground oddness and love of wonky, art school, indie rock. Over the years he has lived in Berlin and Oregon and, despite turning 50 and raising two children with artist wife Jessica Jackson Hutchins, he released his seventh studio album with The Jicks, 'Sparkle Hard' in 2018, featuring a guest appearance from Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth.
