Meet Bob Malone: Musician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Bob Malone and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Bob, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Just about everything great that’s ever happened in my life and career can be traced back to a risk I’ve taken. The most damaging artistic choices I’ve made were fear-based – and those choices can be very hard to see at the time, because they can result in perfectly acceptable work – professional, clever, musically impressive, but meaningful to no-one. The songs of mine that people love the most have always been the ones I was absolutely terrified to let anyone hear.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
My short list of classic L.A. things that everyone should experience include Union Station, the L.A. Phil at Disney Hall. A French dip at Philippe the Original. The Last Bookstore in Downtown LA. The Japanese Gardens up in the Valley. Musso & Frank. But I’d like to give you a quick tour of cool stuff in my own neighborhood here in and around Studio City. First off, I’d walk around the corner from my place and go directly to Red Window Coffee for a delicious flat-white and a pastry. Walk a couple of blocks further down Ventura and you’ll be at Garden Temple – Mari and David are artists with succulents and fountain sculptures. It’s as much a serene zen garden as it is a store. You could have lunch at Art’s Deli – one of the best and longest-running delis in Los Angeles. I’d leave some time to poke around at Iliad Bookshop – it’s been there for decades and it’s one of the best. If you were a fellow keyboard player, I’d make an appointment and take you up to Custom Vintage Keyboards. Luke and his crew repair, rebuild and customize all the great keyboards of the 60s, 70s, and 80s (including mine!). You could walk into the showroom and play a Fender Rhodes or a Clavinet or a Hammond B-3 or a Minimoog that plays just like it did when it was new. All the great players bring their gear there, so you never know who you’ll run into. For dinner, there’s Daichan – Japanese soul food and delightfully quirky decorations make it unlike any other place you’ll see. Or you could get Mexican at Casa Vega which has been there since 1956 – which is a very long time for anything to stay in business in this town! Or Iroha, one of the best sushi joints in a town full of great sushi joints (I can see it from my house!). Or head just over the hill to Pace, where you can have a romantic locally-sourced Italian dinner at this hidden gem underneath the legendary Laurel Canyon Country Store. Cap the night off with the late set at The Baked Potato, where the best session cats in town play. You may not have heard of whoever is on the marquee, but you’ve almost certainly heard them on any number of your favorite songs. The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
None of this would have been possible without music in schools and the school music educators I was lucky enough to be taught by.

Website: bobmalone.com

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Image Credits
Jim Mimna Elisa Moro