1. Malarkey grew up in Yellow Springs, where he was singer for mid-2000s hardcore band Shadyside.
2. He spent a year portraying Elvis Presley in “Million Dollar Quartet” on London’s West End.
3. He recently released his first solo CD.
4. He performed close to home at Canal Public House just last month!
We had the chance to recently ask Malarkey four questions. Here’s what he had to say:
Q: You were a recurring character on “The Vampire Diaries” last season. When did you find out you were becoming a full cast member?
A: “The night before Christmas Eve last year. When you’re a recurring cast member, you get put on hold for a certain number of episodes. I was initially booked for one episode but I was on hold for five. I could technically audition for other work but if I did book something I had to run it by ‘The Vampire Diaries’ and then they could decide whether or not they wanted to actually book me for those episodes or release me.”
Q: What was the turning point?
A: “I actually got another job around that time for an HBO show. I brought that to the guys and they were like, ‘We don’t want to lose you, man.’ I really adore ‘The Vampire Diaries,’ and I didn’t feel like I was finished with that character yet. I warmly embraced the fact they wanted to keep me on as a regular and so here I am.”
Q: When did you decide to release your original music?
A: “It’s been a building thing. I’d open up GarageBand on my Macbook and literally record straight into my laptop mike. I’d record some stuff, add some little solos and backing vocals and then send it off to my friends back home or my folks to just show them. After awhile, I was writing and recording so much stuff that a lot of people started telling me the music was really good and I should do something with it.”
Q: How has it been supporting the new release live?
A: “It’s going great. At the moment, it’s just me and my guitar. I don’t have time to get a band together and get on the road because of our filming schedule so I’m just doing a few dates here and there. I really enjoy sitting there telling stories and playing songs. I don’t use loop pedals or any of that modern crap. I just write songs and play them on my guitar, and good songs are what’s going to stand the test time. Hopefully that’s what people will see in my record, the fact that I’m just writing songs.”
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