Interview: Mario Malatesta – The Linder Avenue Band (Written)

The Linder Avenue Band is a pop, rock, and songwriter group from Chicago, IL. Released on May 10th, 2024, ‘Someone Out There’ is the group’s latest single.

1. Hello! Thank you for taking the time to chat to us. First things first, tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started.

I grew up in a musical home on Linder Avenue in Chicago. The sounds of my family playing music nurtured my interest. The basement of my childhood home on Linder Avenue is where I honed my skills as a musician, and it inspired the name of my recording project.

2. Someone comes to you and asks you to sum up what kind of music you play – what do you tell them?

I would describe the music of the Linder Ave Band as Power Pop Melodic Rock. Influenced by iconic bands of the 70s and 80s, my music is where the heart of rock’s golden era beats with a modern rhythm.

3. What’s currently going on in your camp? New releases? Tours? Etc.

My most recent release is a song called “Someone Out There.” I have noticed that while we may live in an era of unprecedented connectivity, many people feel more disconnected than ever before. The song is dedicated to anyone who is looking for love or looking for love again in the modern age. You may have asked yourself, is there “Someone Out There?”

My next release will be out on June 7th. I have lived in Las Vegas long enough and it is about time I wrote a song about the Las Vegas Strip. Although the song could be relatable to any hotspot in any city. My next release is called “Midnight Mischief.”

4. What has been the most positive experience of making music to date for you?

I am a singer, songwriter who plays guitar and I have assembled local Las Vegas musicians, as well as musicians from Chicago, to record with to bring my writing alive. The musicians who played on my sessions are outstanding players and singers and they have made their own creative contributions to the tracks. One of the most positive experiences has been hearing my songs develop for an idea to a completed track.

5. Likewise, what has been some of the more challenging aspects and how have you overcome them?

The way people enjoy their music has changed. Streaming and Bluetooth connections to all our devices allows us to bring our music with us anywhere, which is great. But is seems with one song streaming into the next, an artist can only hope that a listener will stop whatever it is they are doing while they listen and find out who they are listening to. Getting a listener’s attention is an ongoing challenge.

6. How do you handle the modern expectations of being in a band? Always online, having to put out content constantly, your success measured in likes and follows?

Based on what I have observed, the musical landscape seems to be primarily made up of two types of artists. One type seems to devote a disproportionate amount of time focusing on content creation and their social media image, and the music is secondary. The other type of artist may have spent decades developing their craft as a musician and songwriter, but they lack the skills to effectively market their music.

What breaks through is what gets heard. I think the marketers, not the musicians, may have the advantage.

7. What’s something that really ‘grinds your gears’ about the industry/business these days and what would you propose is done to combat it?

I wish there were, or there were more, record companies that were willing to commit and cultivate new artists. Also, I think the industry needs more record companies who are interested in bands or artists that don’t follow some conforming construct when creating music. Finally, royalty rates of something like $0.00318 per stream make it nearly impossible for a new artist, who may not utilize a home studio, to just breakeven or offset the costs for studio time, session musicians, and promotion.

8. Speaking directly to listeners – what would you ask they do to help support your music?

I hope my music stylistically transports listeners back to a time of catchy melodies, interesting harmonies, and loud guitars. I try to incorporate elements that I like to hear in a song. Such as vocal and instrumental melodies, vocal and instrumental harmony, interesting rhythmic ideas, I try to take my listeners somewhere unexpected and back again, and I try and use relatable topical lyrics. I hope to create music that is both refreshingly new and nostalgically familiar.

People can help support my music by simply adding my songs to their own playlists, saving my songs on their device, and/or following the Linder Ave Band on their streaming services.

9. Where can people find you?

My music is available on all the usual streaming services and the iTunes Store.

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