Pianist Mark Mallman will be playing DG’s Tap House on Sept. 20 to sing his woeful lyrics to his upbeat music.

Mallman began playing music at age 11 and attended Wisconsin Conservatory of Music.

“I could have gone to music school or art school, but I wanted to go to art school because it seemed like it would be more useful,” Mallman said. “That ended up being the right choice. I learned how to deconstruct ideas. And like everybody else, I went to school for something I don’t do for my job.”

Going to art school, Mallman said, gave him his “edge”.

“A lot of music is about tradition and playing pieces that exist already. Making art is about bringing something new to the table and visual art is … bringing to life maybe an idea that somebody had but they didn’t know how to express it,” Mallman said.

Before Mallman went solo, he was recognized for his music with The Odd, a band know for their obscene behavior and wild stage antics. 

“Off stage and on stage, they were very reckless,” Mallman said. “They brought a ’70s sound to me and … I really cherished that reckless abandon.”

As a child, Mallman described feeling isolated and lonely. He knew music made him feel good, but could not understand why his peers rejected him. This led him down a path of destruction.

“As a performer I’ve always loved destruction and wildness, when I was in high school we would just break shit,” Mallman said. “But when we got into The Odd those guys were rockers already.” 

When listening to Mallman’s solo records one can get depressed by the musical duality of the upbeat tempos mixed with woeful lyrics. Mallman explains that is his intention and reveals what he believes to be the underlying message in his music.

“Ultimately, I believe the message in all my music is stay strong and keep fighting and keep living through music,” Mallman says. 

Mark Mallman will pound out his piano-heavy melodies this Friday at 9 p.m.