Piano madman creeps into Fargo
In 1999, rocker Mark Mallman set the world record for longest rock song ever played by performing a 26-hour long tune, appropriately titled “Marathon.”
A year later Mallman, also known as “The Fastest Piano in the Midwest,” doubled the record by playing the 52-hour long “Marathon 2,” which consisted of more than 600 pages of lyrics.
Unfortunately, Mallman will only be playing for a few hours Saturday, when he performs at Dempsy’s Aquarium in Fargo.
The Minneapolis artist recently released his sixth studio album, Between the Devil and Middle C.
Mallman’s music includes a pop-rock sound with influences from ’60s and ’70s musicians such as the Doors, the Doobie Brothers and Pink Floyd.
“ I guess you could say I’m a postmodern character study of what it is to ‘rock the free world’ in the modern dystopia of the 21st century,” Mallman said. “On one level it’s deconstructionism, but on the other hand it’s simply parlor tricks. I guess they used to call it showbiz.”
Mallman began playing piano at age three and started memorizing the music of Bach and Mozart. By age 17, his punk rock band Uncle Smooth had opened for Green Day and Chicago’s 8-Bark.
In 1991, Mark moved from hometown Milwaukee to Minneapolis to pursue a visual arts degree.
Five years later Mark received his bachelor of Fine Arts from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.
With the degree came many nights of open-mic and singer/songwriter sets, where he cataloged more than 1,000 songs on the piano.
Using his performance art experiences, the piano madman creates music comprised of dark philosophical songs and crazy antics.
Mallman will be performing at the Aquarium in downtown Fargo Friday. The 21+ show will begin at 10 p.m. There is a $5 cover for the show.