ARY RUSSELL: So we’re inside Washington Square Park, currently in the middle of NYU graduation chaos. You didn’t go to college. But if you did, you’d be graduating this year, right?
MALCOLM TODD: Yeah.
RUSSELL: Do you ever wonder where you’d be had you gone?
TODD: A little bit. I mean, everything happens for a reason. If I didn’t eat that apple today, my whole life trajectory would change. I just don’t think there was any world where I was going to be doing that. I would’ve just dropped out.
RUSSELL: You pulled up to the interview on a Citi Bike with headphones in. What were you listening to?
TODD: I was listening to 702. [Sings chorus of “You’ll Just Never Know”]. That’s my anthem right now.
RUSSELL: You gave a great rendition right there. When did you realize that you could sing?
TODD: I was a very confident kid, so I probably found out I could sing before I could actually sing. Everyone in my family sang, but I was always such an athlete. I would say as soon as I was, like, eight, I would hum a tune and be like, “I’m a pop star, but then I’m also going to be a baseball player and probably an astronaut at the same time.” I probably only figured out how to sing in the last year.
RUSSELL: Did you always romanticize this idea of pursuing music?
TODD: I always felt like a rockstar no matter what I did. I would watch the Grammys as a kid and be like, “Hey, I want to be on the stage. I want to be the lead role.” I’ve never been afraid of the moment and here I am.
RUSSELL: Is there an artist or live music experience where you thought, “Wow, I want to be like that?”
TODD: I remember having that feeling really young when I would go to baseball games and I’d be like, “I need to be out there on the field.” In these last few years, I’ve gone and seen people like Daniel Caesar at Madison Square Garden. As if I was a 10 year old looking at the baseball diamond, I was like, “I’m going to be up there.” I could feel my body wanting to be in that position.
RUSSELL: I saw you moshing at the Baby Keem concert. Do you want people to mosh at your concerts?
TODD: Yeah, I want everyone to have a blast and let whatever they need out. I love a mosh pit, but I don’t like rollercoasters. I never want to skydive.
RUSSELL: So you’re not an adrenaline junkie?
TODD: I find my adrenaline in different ways. I like if someone fires a tennis ball in my face. Trying to dodge it, I could do that all day. Dodgeball is my shit.
RUSSELL: So when people start bringing dodgeballs to your concerts and start pelting them at you—
TODD: I’ll dodge it.
RUSSELL: How has your relationship to music changed from being a kid in your room messing with chords to now becoming a signed artist?
TODD: It’s inevitably occupied a lot of my mind. It’s my job and that’s always going to make certain parts that weren’t so difficult, more difficult. But ultimately, every day my main goal is to just be as close to the initial relationship I have with music where I’m creating to put out energy into the world and not for any statistic.
RUSSELL: Do you feel that pressure coming down from the record labels?
TODD: That’s the battle. And it’s a beautiful battle because when things get harder, the ceiling becomes higher. I embrace it. Pressure is a privilege and pressure makes diamonds.
RUSSELL: So you’re a diamond, then?
TODD: Yeah, I’m making them. [Laughs]
RUSSELL: You recorded part of this album at Electric Lady Studios. How does being in a recording studio space influence creativity versus just being in your room?
TODD: It’s a transition going from working in your bedroom to having all this gear and money put towards the studio, but I don’t care. I’ll burn a million dollars to make an album. If I’m in there and I’m not going to have a blast, I’m doing myself a disservice. If I’m supposed to go into a studio and just stare at the wall all day, that’s still progress towards what I’m getting at. Every day can’t be 100% output.
RUSSELL: Do you feel the ghosts of all the artists that were in there before you?
TODD: Yeah, I’ve talked to a ghost in Electric Lady before.
RUSSELL: Do you know who it was?
TODD: Maybe Jimi [Hendrix] had an executive thing where as the boss he was like, “All right, let me talk to this kid.” Literally, a radio turned on out of nowhere at 2:00 AM when I couldn’t finish a song.
RUSSELL: Oh, that’s scary.
TODD: It was awesome. I love ghosts. There’s a ghost in my house too who I’m getting to know.
RUSSELL: Well, Jimi was here first, so you can’t really expel him.
TODD: No, Jimi’s the man. Whoever talked to me and helped me finish that song, shout out to them.
RUSSELL: When we were walking to the deli, you got stopped by a fan. Do you like that feeling? Are you embracing it before it becomes annoying?
TODD: Yeah, it’s definitely happened more and more in the last few months. Honestly, today it was very nice for Washington Square.
RUSSELL: I was very nervous when they told me you wanted the park. [Laughs]
TODD: Right now, it’s not overwhelming so I’m just enjoying the love. They’re coming up and expressing how they feel to me, which most people can’t do in their lives. I’m trying not to write it off and be like, “Okay, yeah, let’s do a picture.” I look them in the eye and appreciate them. I’m so lucky to have such nice people rooting for me.
RUSSELL: What percent of your For You Page is edits of you and your own songs? I was going through your reposts and they were just edits.
TODD: That’s my relationship with the internet, being able to promote my music. I try to not get caught up in too much of the stuff I really want to watch, which is not exactly myself.
RUSSELL: Well, what’s on your For You Page?
TODD: It’s like cooking videos, sports videos, and edits of TV shows. I just love watching attractive people look even more attractive and then like a good song next to it, they really cracked a code with that.
RUSSELL: So I’m assuming that you actually really love edits of yourself then.
TODD: I try not to get too sucked into it because that’s super unhealthy, but if I see an edit that someone really nailed, I’m like, “Damn.” [Laughs] It’s like seeing yourself in the same light as you see these other people that you think are so cool.
RUSSELL: What’s something that you’ll always find on a Malcolm Todd song and that you’ll never find on a Malcolm Todd song?
TODD: Man, you’ll always find my heart on my sleeve and I can’t say you’ll never find anything because you can’t put a limit on yourself, especially creatively.
RUSSELL: I want to jump into your album. You’ve released some sort of project once a year since 2022. What’s the rush?
TODD: Dude, that’s a great question. I’m just really hungry and I’m obsessed with making music and that’s been a product of it. I’m also not afraid to learn in real time, you know? I’ve put these projects out because I haven’t overthought it and been like, “Oh, it has to be perfect.” I don’t sing on the first project as good as I do now, but I wouldn’t change a thing about it.
RUSSELL: Is there a fear that because your career is still in its infancy you have to keep putting stuff out or you might get left behind?
TODD: Yeah, people jump the gun on wanting to take a big break and go away and you really have to earn that right. I have things I want to achieve in this and that fuels my hunger. People can get too cocky too early and think that everyone will care if they go away and twiddle their thumbs.
RUSSELL: In “Gun To My Head” you write, “I gave up loving you to pretend that I’m famous now.” In what ways has your rise to success conflicted with love?
TODD: Love has been hard in that aspect. You come into contact with so many people and there’s so many sparks that you don’t know which one to follow. Also, you can’t be caught up with someone who has too much too high of a praise for you.
RUSSELL: No groupies in Malcolm Todd’s orbit?
TODD: It’s cute for like a second and then it gets old fast. I’m fully off that.
RUSSELL: Have you come across people that you’re like, “Oh, I can tell you’re giving groupie vibes”?
TODD: Immediately, all the time. It’s more often than not where people are more excited about the idea of me than even getting to really understand what’s going on.
RUSSELL: In “I Saw Your Face,” you wrote, “I love you more than you will know. For that reason I let you go.” Do you really believe that?
TODD: Yeah, if you love someone and it’s not right, you have to let them go, selfishly.
RUSSELL: I would consider that selfless.
TODD: Selfishly I don’t want to, but it’s the selfless thing to do.
RUSSELL: Were you always like that or did you have to work your mentality up to that level? It’s a very mature thing.
TODD: My whole life has been a maturity lesson, and having sisters is a gift. I’ve had girlfriends my whole life and—
RUSSELL: Subtle flex.
TODD: [Laughs] Just breaking up and getting back together, you learn so much so fast when you really invest yourself in someone and I take it seriously.
RUSSELL: You mentioned your sister. We love Audrey [Hobert] at Interview. What lessons did she teach you growing up that you took with you?
TODD: Definitely a masterclass on confidence, individuality, and not taking yourself too seriously. She’s just such a fun time and so easy to crack jokes with. She is unapologetically herself and that is one of the strongest fucking qualities of all time.
RUSSELL: Especially in the music industry. Who’s on the voicemail at the end of “X’s and O’s”?
TODD: I actually had to cut that.
RUSSELL: Why?
TODD: The voicemail was this girl that my cousin knew, but I was realizing people were going to think it’s my ex-girlfriend and I didn’t want to put that on her.
RUSSELL: Having a fandom surrounding you, obviously it’s great, but there is that natural curiosity of wanting to know the inner workings of a pop star’s life.
TODD: For sure. I found that out so late. I would imagine, even if I knew it wasn’t me and I couldn’t tell people, the amount of control I wouldn’t have over people having these thoughts about me when I didn’t ask for that is not fair. So now I’m going to do the voicemails and I have to go figure out what I’m going to say.
RUSSELL: You are regarded as the “white Steve Lacy.” Do you embrace that term or is it tired now?
TODD: I definitely embrace it. He got me into really wanting to make music, and I’m not going to pretend like he’s not my hero because I know my music is inspired by him. Sometimes the “white Steve Lacy” thing is like, “All right, let us be individual people,” but I understand it. That guy’s the fucking GOAT. I take it as a badge of honor and I’m confident enough in my music to not feel threatened by it.
RUSSELL: I’m sure it feels very full circle to work with him on the album.
TODD: When it came together and I was listening to it, I felt like I was seeing my high school self’s whole life flash before his eyes. He [Lacy] produced and plays guitar and bass.
RUSSELL: Which song is this?
TODD: “Do That Again,” the last song. And he does a little backing vocal. I say, “Crazy for now,” and he does a harmony and it’s a really powerful moment.
RUSSELL: Do you get emotional when you listen to your own music?
TODD: For sure. I get emotional while I’m making it and while I listen to it. It’s literally a reflection of my emotions.
RUSSELL: The two songs that you’ve put out, “Breathe” and “I Saw Your Face,” are a really good reflection of the range of emotions in the record.
TODD: That’s what I wanted.
RUSSELL: I figured. “Breathe” is a really sexy, horny, full of yearning type of track and then “I Saw Your Face” is like, “I’m heartbroken.” What’s an easier emotion to pull from when you’re writing?
TODD: It’s probably more natural for me to pull on the heartbreak thing because I’ve done it more and it’s so relatable. As a 22-year old who’s a rock star, there’s something a little less relatable about the sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll. It’s definitely still a fantasizable thing. But if a 15-year old is listening to me, he doesn’t quite get it as much as someone might get a crush breaking their heart.
RUSSELL: Do you remember your first heartbreak?
TODD: I was in middle school, a summer love thing.
RUSSELL: Those hit hard.
TODD: I was torn up, listened to Vance Joy and shit. It was dark. I dove head first and the only way is through, not around.
RUSSELL: Why choose “Do That Again” as the title track?
TODD: It’s such a pure thing to feel so happy in a moment and to have the survival instinct to be like, “Do that again.” I remember the first time someone kissed my neck. The only thing in my mind was, “Do that again.” Then there’s also the scary part of “do that again,” like if you’re working a job and you’re like, “This is awesome.” And then someone goes, “Hey, do that again,” and you’re like, “Okay, I’m just enjoying this moment, but yeah, I can try to figure out how to please you more.”
RUSSELL: “Repeat that.”
TODD: And that happens when you’re making music. You want to do good for people and it can be hard and people can expect it a lot. I love that three-letter term. I was looking at the album I Want You by Marvin Gay and I was just like, “That’s hot.”
RUSSELL: Do you have a favorite Marvin Gay song?
TODD: [Sings “Distant Lover”]
RUSSELL: Respectfully, you’ve been quite naked this era. You were naked on the cover for “Breathe,” in the bathtub on the album cover, and then in the promo video you’re in stages of undress with your pants falling down. Why?
TODD: Because we’re born naked. I’ve been shirtless my whole life. There’s something fun about having your clothes off, and it’s a wall to be broken down. I’m just trying to be myself and it’s just funny to me that I can’t seem to have clothes on. It’s really not that planned.
RUSSELL: Do it while you’re young. What’s something that you’ve done for the first time that you want to do again?
TODD: Ooh, you’re pro.
RUSSELL: That’s the biggest form of validation that I can get as a journalist.
TODD: I want to have another birthday. I just want to keep turning older.
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