That the Maltese music scene is thriving is no secret; less known is that among the countless local bands getting it together, there’s a healthy number of artists working on solo projects, albeit operating under the name of a band.
I think once I had been bitten by the music bug, I was always looking to learn more
For example, take Chris Mallia, who for many years has been operating under the moniker of Different Strings. On Saturday he will be launching a new album during an event that coincidentally also happens to be Different Strings’ first live public appearance, and with a full band in tow, too.
Mallia has been into rock music as far back as he can remember, thanks largely to his brother’s LP and cassette collection.
“It was the early 1980s, and I was equally mesmerised by the beautiful LP covers and by the sound of the guitar,” he recalls.
It was this fascination with the six-stringed instrument that led him to start taking guitar lessons.
“It was a natural step for me. I loved listening to other people’s records, but I was itching to start creating my own music.”
However, studying classical and modern guitar techniques with a tutor and experimenting with rock sounds at home weren’t enough to quench Mallia’s musical passion.
“I also started to teach myself piano,” he says. “Once I had been bitten by the music bug, I was always looking to learn more.”
In fact, he eventually also learnt to play the bass and even started looking beyond rock and into jazz, fusion and blues, although he admits that “epic progressive rock remains my preferred genre and I am first and foremost a guitar player”; an instrument he now also teaches.
Before establishing Different Strings as his main musical outlet, Mallia also played with various bands.
“The first one was more of an attempt than a band. There were too many different influences at play. It was destined to fail.”
His stint with a band called Velvet, however, proved more fruitful.
“Velvet was more focused. We even played a couple of gigs in public and during the time with the band I wrote a lot of songs, some of which became part of my repertoire when I eventually launched my solo project.”
One of these songs was, in fact, 2004’s Dead Man Walking, Mallia’s debut outing as Different Strings, which featured former Limestone Kick frontman Alan Mayo on vocals.
“Alan was my first vocalist. I didn’t want to sing, as I knew there were other, far better singers I could work with.”
Mallia also had enough songs written and recorded at his home studio to put out an album.
“When you’re a one-man band, you have to carry all of the burdens, including the financial costs, and that slowed down the process towards releasing the album.”
The home-produced debut album, It’s Only The Beginning, was eventually launched in 2007, and, despite its limited homespun production, received outstandingly positive reviews by various international critics and prog-rock webzines.
Mallia says he sent out quite a few copies to prog-rock sites and reviewers.
“When you’re starting out it’s important to try get your name and music out there as much as possible.”
Of course, what Mallia perceived by ‘out there’ was nowhere near the audience he unknowingly reached when somebody decided to share the album – illegally of course – over the internet.
“It’s an odd sensation when something like that happens; it’s totally beyond your control.”
On a positive note, Mallia says the album was downloaded a lot, which must mean people liked it.
“One website in particular clocked the number of downloads, and the album had been downloaded some 30,000 times – now if only I could have got just €1 for each download…” he says with a wishful, resigned smile.
Making money has never really figured in the forces that drive Mallia to make music, except maybe when he released the Victims Of Love EP last year.
All funds collected from the sale of the EP went to the family of Noel Cauchi, a colleague of Mallia’s who died tragically and for whom he had written the song Time And Again.
“Noel’s death was tragic and I felt I needed to do something to help his family the best way I could, so I put out the EP to raise funds for them.”
The unauthorised internet distribution of Mallia’s music has ultimately had unexpected rewards, among them sparking new interest in his latest work from foreign parties.
“The new album was released as a digital download last month, and I’ve been getting requests from various foreign internet music magazines who want to review it.”
Mallia believes it is the groundwork laid out via his debut album that has helped get him noticed.
“The first album openly reflec-ted where I was coming from musically but was produced with limited resources. The new album has a more refined sound, thanks in part to the use of more advanced technology and the fact that the album was mixed at Robert Longo’s Padded Cell Studios”.
The difference is immediately evident in this regard, but more than that, The Sounds Of Silence (Part 1) – yes, there will be a sequel, hopefully sometime next year – is a concept album inspired by the events that occur in everyday life.
“I tried to capture various aspects of the occurrences – some positive, some negative – that shape our daily lives.”
The album features the full versions of Time And Again and Victims Of Love off last year’s EP, along with three other songs, namely Selfishness (Part 1), Let Me Out Of Here and Trance Of Sorrow, the latter a 30-minute epic crafted in the true spirit of prog.
“The music is influenced by my prog-rock roots, but the idea was to come up with as original a sound as possible. There are more keyboards on it, the Hammond especially, and overall, the album is more elaborate. All the elements that defined the first album are far more pronounced on this one.”
Like Mallia’s first album, The Sounds Of Silence (Part 1) will be released on his own Progdome Records imprint.
“I set the label up because it was a way to get around the increasing problem of finding the backing of a record label. Like this I only need to find a distributor to get my music out there.”
This way, Mallia says he gets to retain creative and artistic control and full ownership of his music. “And, of course, there’s always the internet.”
Different Strings will be performing live at Rock Elements in Paceville on Saturday for the launch of the album The Sounds of Silence (Part 1). Doors open at 8.30 p.m. Tickets cost €5 including a signed copy of the album.
bugeja.michael@gmail.com