Bio

Mad Malcolm is a one-man team of digital music and content creation with an extensive network of friends and collaborators. He's a writer, artist, composer and keyboardist with jazz influences. He has a deep love for the arts, the beats, the funky music, the newest technology and the underground culture that help create enlightenment through shared experiences. And this is how it began...

"I grew up as a middle-class white kid in the suburbs; you know, piano lessons, a younger sister, a dog and two cats, the typical 'nuclear' family… But I was bussed all over inner-city Seattle schools as part of the mid-80's 'integration program' and I got a lot of exposure to all the music 'everyone else listened to'. So when I was younger I was always listening to top 40 radio at home, and in my room I listened to underground gangsta-rap (like Ice-T and Too Short) on tapes that my cousin would bring over. We would pump it up whenever I could sneak them onto my Dad's stereo system. Thing is, it wasn't just the rebellion of listening to something I wasn't supposed to... I was listening to the beats and the influences of these guys. I used to love trying to find the original samples that they used (like the popular George Clinton and James Brown samples that Digital Underground used...) Both my parents were teachers and musicians and my Dad always forced me to sit down with him and listen to lots of rock, swing, jazz and classical music…I thought he was so uncool back then, but it's something I'm very thankful for now. As a result of my early listening experiences, I had the background I needed and I was able to spend what I consider some of the best years of my life playing in small jazz combos and Big Bands in college. I went to Rome with the Whitworth Jazz Band and played with some truly amazing musicians in the Eastern Washington Jazz Ensemble. I make mostly Electronic music now, but with Jazz, you get to discover the joy of improvisation and non-verbal musical communication. It's the kind of experience you can't explain… when you can get the guitar player to change keys with you with just a smile and a slight of hand, or move the drummer into a solo with two chords and a blues lick. In those rare moments of musical Zen I found my calling and that's when I knew… Music was my ecstasy."

-Clark Schroeder (aka Mad Malcolm)

Mad Malcolm now produces original music in his home studio just north of Seattle, WA...

But in the early years he spent time working for Ervin Entertainment in a basement studio creating Hip-Hop, R&B beats, and background tracks. During those college years he decided to continue on with music studies while pursuing his business degree. With a minor in Music from Eastern Washington University, and a BA in Marketing, Mad Malcolm took his love of music into the studio. He began using Sonic Foundry's Acid Pro and Sound Forge for sampling and sequencing and the beats just seemed to flow from his fingers...

As an ex-PC guy turned Mac user, Mad Malcolm now uses Apple's Logic, Soundtrack Pro, and Garageband software for recording and producing.

Samples, loops and soundbeds are the palette through which he works... Mad Malcolm draws from a diverse listening background that includes everything from Duke Ellington to Led Zeppelin, James Brown to Parliament, Tribe Called Quest to Prodigy, Moby to Mozart, and pretty much anything else musical that fits his mood...

Mad Malcolm madly purchased loop CD's years ago and now has an extensive library of of loops and samples that span hundred’s of gigabytes. These also include many original samples with which he works. Mad Malcolm also records live instruments, vocals, and more... In creative fits that sometimes last until 4am, he blends these random samples into creative expressions, soundscapes and funky beats...

And the result of that synergy is Mad Malcolm Productions, Inc.

ENERGY. MUSIC. TECHNOLOGY.

ITV Interview