Mark Mallman is the exact opposite of a child prodigy. In fact, he didn’t realize his dream of playing music professionally could become a reality until he was 25.

“I knew that I wanted to play music a long time ago,” he says. “I didn’t really accept it until I was 25.”

Mallman says he has learned much since he first became a professional musician four years ago after a string of dead-end jobs.

“If you have a fair amount of success, it gets easier to set your goals and stay in it,” he says. “I worked in a porn shop for a while, but that got to be kind of a drag. I loved driving a truck, though. That was a cool job.”

Although Mallman has never performed in Iowa before, he says he is looking forward to Friday’s show at the Maintenance Shop.

Mallman will bring both his energy and his laid-back, fun-loving sense of humor to Ames when he opens for energetic rock band Manplanet.

“We played our first show with Manplanet a couple of months ago,” he says. “Playing with them is always an adventure.”

Mallman says his approach to songwriting is part of what sets him apart from other musicians.

“I try to make my songs emotional and humorous, yet dark at the same time,” he says. “My music has kind of a ‘happy go-thoughtful-with-a-knife-in-your-pocket’ sort of message.”

Despite comparisons to piano players such as Elton John and Billy Joel, Mallman says his influences are more organic.

“I’m not a huge Billy Joel fan. Actually, I think he is kind of a twerp,” he says. “He’s got no balls, man. He’s too afraid to experiment.

“I am more influenced by singer/songwriter type people.”

Mallman says the musical and visual aspects of music are very important, but the message should be emphasized as well.

“I don’t think it should be all about the music or all about the look,” he says. “It represents something more. Music needs to set a good value system for people.”