A Conversation with Scotty Malcolm, Elf-Fanatic

Cover photo from The Buzz Magazines

Interviewed by: Mischa White & Camilla Johnson. Transcribed by: Grace Ellsworth

Name: Scotty Malcolm

Pronouns: he/him

Age: 19

Sign: Leo

SCOTTY: Hello!

CAMILLA: Hey!

SCOTTY: How’s it going?

CAMILLA: It’s going good! How are you?

SCOTTY: Uh--pretty good so far today.

CAMILLA: What’s the guitar’s name? Does it have a name?

SCOTTY: Yeah, it actually does! It’s name is Kermit.

MISCHA: Like the frog?

SCOTTY: Yeah. Yeah, it was inspired by the frog. I like the frog a lot.

CAMILLA: “Rainbow Connection”--do you know how to play it? Is that a thing?

SCOTTY: Oh! I don’t know how to play it, but I would love to know. I--should learn.

CAMILLA: Yeah. That should be the next thing you learn how to play. On the guitar.

SCOTTY: Yeah, my friend has a banjo. He just got it and that was the first thing he learned, and I was like, “I think that’s a great thing that you did.”

MISCHA: A great way to spend your time.

[MISCHA is nodding approvingly.]

MISCHA: Okay, so to start: Can you give us your name, age, pronouns, and zodiac sign?

SCOTTY: My name is Scotty Malcolm, uhm, my age is 19 years old, uh, my pronouns are he, him, his, yeah, and my zodiac sign is that I’m a Leo.

CAMILLA: REALLY?! I’M A LEO. Sorry.

SCOTTY: Lion.

CAMILLA: When’s your birthday?

SCOTTY: August 11.

CAMILLA: That is my--one of my best friend’s birthdays. August 11.

SCOTTY: Really? That’s a good birthday.

CAMILLA: Yeah, it is.

SCOTTY: I like August a lot. Like, when I found out that was my birthday, when my mom told me, I was like, “I love August AND the number 11 is awesome. So I’m pretty happy with that.

CAMILLA: I also actually love August.

SCOTTY: Yeah! I just like that word, I don’t know why. But August--also the month--is actually pretty good too.

MISCHA: When school’s starting

SCOTTY: Yeah! I mean, I like--well, I didn’t know I was like school, now I’m starting music in school so that’s really cool, but before I didn’t like school, so that would kinda be a con. Um, on a pro-and-con list. But I guess now it’s a pro.

CAMILLA: You go to…?

SCOTTY: I go to Berkeley online right now.

CAMILLA: How’s that?

SCOTTY: Um, it’s pretty cool! I’m learning so many crazy things that, it’s like, I am the Avatar, and I must learn to master every element to succeed in this world, which is really cool. But also the online part--you know, I wish it wasn’t online, but that’s just how it is right now.

CAMILLA: Well, how’s that for, like, music school? Do you have projects?
SCOTTY: Yeah, I do. Well, I have tests sometimes, too, like music theory tests. But I have, like, um, I have like--I did this, like, avant-garde project where I was just like making experimental music, which was really fun. And I have this little project I’m doing right now where I am writing this part and I have to record it, so--it’s really interesting.

CAMILLA: So, I Googled you before this (obviously, to prepare) and--I’m just wondering--on Google, when you type in somebody’s name, they have like--the thing that pops up first. What is the number one thing you want people to associate with the name ‘Scotty Malcolm’? Kind of like a name association. Like if I said ‘apple’ I would think ‘green’, but if I said ‘Scotty Malcolm’, what would you want people to think?

[MISCHA is squinting perplexedly.]

MISCHA: ...Green?

SCOTTY: That’s a great question. Um, right now, actually, I’ve looked it up before and there is, like, my name comes up on the side and there’s something that says my name. I don’t know how it got there, I didn’t do it, but… I was trying to, like, claim it? Anyway, I guess what I would want to come up first is like, um, I don’t know. Elf-boy. Scotty. That’s silly, I don’t know about that, but maybe like… I picture me climbing a tree or something, or um, me laying in a cloud, or, yeah, when I have some future projects I’m working on, maybe those could come up, and that would be cool.

CAMILLA: Okay, let’s talk about BLANKED, because first, I want to talk about the name. BLANKED. How did we get to here? Just elven creatures in general?

SCOTTY: Yeah, there’s definitely some stuff going on with that. So, um, basically, um, well I just kind of came up with this name, BLANKED OUT LOL. I really like that. I was thinking of maybe just, like, changing Meyer’s (?) name and starting a new project, but then I was like, “I don’t--you know, I already started this. This is Scotty Malcolm. That’s who I am, and I don’t want to change that.” So I kinda wanted to create this, like, character, this person, who was Arthur, and, uh, I just like elves. I just think they’re interesting, and funny, and silly, and so it’s called BLANKED. But it’s actually a whole story right now. I’m working on, um--I’m almost done writing with my friend Mark, that album is going to come after it, uh, it’s gonna be called--well, probably don’t say what it’s called. Basically, uh, I’m working on this like--it’s like a concept album, so we go between narration and song and narration song, and it’s going to tell the story of Arthur and this kid Frankie and basically at the end of that, BLANKED gives Frankie these songs he wrote, uh, and then Frankie comes back to the human world and he gives them to me. He gave them to me. Because he didn’t know how to really record music. And so--basically, Arthur just--it’s not even mine. Arthur gave it to Frankie, and so I recorded it.

CAMILLA: So Frankie gave it to you.

MISCHA: Okay, so where do you get the names Arthur and Frankie? Like, are those, like, friends of yours, or random name generators?
SCOTTY: Made-up names. But it’s real.

MISCHA: Okay.

CAMILLA: I feel like there was a Christmas elf named Arthur. Or there was a movie about an elf named Arthur.

SCOTTY: Possibly. I’m not aware of it, but maybe I’ve seen it before and subconsciously in my mind… OH! You know what, there was this one movie I watched when I was little and it was called Arthur , and it has, like, these really little people. I loved that movie when I was little, so I bet that was in my head. But I just like the name Arthur too.

CAMILLA: I can’t wait to listen to the second album. I’m really excited and interested in seeing what adventures Arthur has?

SCOTTY: Yeah, it is a crazy adventure. I’m so excited to record it and share it with the world.

CAMILLA: So I read that you create and write most of your songs. So what song thus far that you’ve created is your favorite?

SCOTTY: Um… I guess like--like ones that are out? Probably, right?

CAMILLA: Maybe. Or it could be the unreleased.

SCOTTY: Right. Well, I guess--honestly both, like, released, um… Probably… I like this one called “go karts fortune” because it’s like soundscape. Also, I like “bunny” because that one was like personal to me, kind of about a situation I was in. I’ll leave it at that. Yeah, I guess “bunny” because it was like a real story. It was like a real story. I felt sad. And I love that.

CAMILLA: Unreleased?
SCOTTY: No, “bunny” is released. OH, unreleased one… Um--uuuuhm--probably like--not this one that’s going to be on this album coming out, but this one I haven’t recorded yet but I wrote it… And, I guess, it’s like basically a song that’s going to be on a concept album, not necessarily a name for it. I think when I wrote it--what I wrote down, I was putting one foot in front of the other, you know what I’m saying?

CAMILLA: Okay, so on the same topic of songs: What’s a song by an artist that you wish you wrote?
SCOTTY: Oh, um, the song “Shaking Hands” by the band Woman. I think that’s probably one of the best songs ever. At least, that’s how I feel right now. Um, or like, “Rock and Roll” by the Velvet Underground.

CAMILLA: If you asked, like, the former Scotty that, what would you say?

SCOTTY: Oh, um… What grade are you when you’re 12 years old?
MISCHA: Sixth?

SCOTTY: I would say like--uh, like--I would probably say--it would definitely be, like, an ACDC song. I was a diehard ACDC fan. Uh, probably, like, “You Shook Me All Night Long”, or like, “Thunderstruck”, or maybe “Hell’s Bells”. But in 6th grade I was so into them.

CAMILLA: Um, so, if you weren’t pursuing music as a career or like studying music in college, what would you be doing and why?

SCOTTY: Um, if I wasn’t doing that, like if I wasn’t in school, I would probably just be, like, working a random job and just doing that. You probably want a different answer than that. Um, totally unrelated to music?

CAMILLA: Maybe. I mean, you could be a clown, like...

SCOTTY: Yeah, like.

CAMILLA: Elf.

SCOTTY: Maybe, uh, like drawing, or writing children’s stories, and like drawing and writing them.

CAMILLA: Yeah, I feel like-- that’s a good career, I feel like.
SCOTTY: Yeah, I would like that.

CAMILLA: Um, so I’m not sure what song on BLANKED it is, but it’s like the fourth song on the album I think--it’s the one with the saxophone in it? I would say that that was my favorite from the album. Can you tell us a little about the process of creating that one? (And also maybe the name.)

SCOTTY; Right, yeah, that one’s called “celeste”, and it’s called that ‘cuz it was my friend Celeste’s birthday so I was like, “I’ll make a song for you.” So, I was, like--I did a lot during the quarantine time--most of the songs, probably like most of them--I went to my friend Mark’s, like, backyard, he had his keyboard out there, and we were just writing, um, and so, like, I started kinda just like messing around on my guitar, and I was like, “Oh, let’s make a song for Celeste,” so, yeah, that’s what I did.

CAMILLA: What song from BLANKED did you have the best time creating? Or, also, like--the best song from the album. The song you’re most excited for people to hear.

SCOTTY: Yeah. Good question. I guess, uh--probably--well, I really enjoyed making the first song cuz’ like, that was the first song I made, and I made it during quarantine and I hadn’t left the house for a month or two, and I was just like--just like--so like, bummed out and just not feeling good. And then I kind of just got in that mode where I start writing a song and I get so into it. And I really like the ending of that song. The rest of it is okay, but I like the end of that one a lot. And it was--it was fun to make. Like, when I was making the end, I was totally zoned out of everything and that kind of thing was happening.

CAMILLA: So would you say that that’s the one you’re excited for people to hear?
SCOTTY: Oh, excited for people to hear? Um, I guess I’m excited for them to hear, like--I think “timothy green” is kind of interesting. The third one. Uh, I guess not, it’s called “i’m a tree”. I, like, talk about Timothy Green, but I figured I probably shouldn’t name it that because, maybe like, the movie people would get mad at me.

CAMILLA: Copyright.

SCOTTY: Yeah. I don’t know which one I’m most excited about, but I’m--it’s just what it is. I have no idea, honestly. I’m sorry.
CAMILLA: I like Timothy Green. Well, cuz’, actually--mostly because that movie used to scare me when I was little.

SCOTTY: Really?
CAMILLA: Yeah, when I was little. I didn’t like that he had leaves growing out of his ankles. Something about that did not sit right. But…

SCOTTY: That’s pretty wild.

CAMILLA: That movie was sad. (Sorry.)

SCOTTY: I haven’t seen that movie in a long time, but it was just in the back of my head. Um, I liked it overall.

MISCHA: Didn’t he literally die in the end?

SCOTTY: Well, he just has to go away.

MISCHA: Yeah, that was sad.

CAMILLA: Yeah.

CAMILLA: Who would you say your biggest inspirations are musically or in general?

SCOTTY: Um... The Velvet Underground, for one, for sure. Uh… I guess--well right now, I’ve been listening to this band Woman so much. Like, they are so amazing. I wish I could create something with them. I think nobody can do anything--I think nobody can do their thing but them, I think. So I guess I’m inspired by them, but I’m--I don’t know if I could create something like them. So I guess the Velvet Underground and Woman.

CAMILLA: Now moving onto other questions. What is your favorite breakfast food item?

SCOTTY: Ooo. Um, I like fried eggs.

CAMILLA: YES! Exactly!

MISCHA: Wait, how do you like them? Do you like them over-easy, over-hard, over-medium?

SCOTTY: I’m not sure. All those terms, they just confuse me. What I just do is I just make them. Like, I put it on and I let it sit, then I put butter on the bottom, and I put salt on it and pepper, and I let it cook. But I don’t cook the yolk.

CAMILLA: Exactly!

MISCHA: Eggsactly! Yup.

CAMILLA: Yeah. I’m sorry, I’m sorry.

SCOTTY: Don’t cook the yolk.

CAMILLA: DON’T cook the yolk.

SCOTTY: Sometimes I do a little by accident a little bit, and I’m--I--I feel sad when I do that. Yeah.

CAMILLA: Have you seen--I hate it when the egg sticks to the bottom of the spatula, and then, like, everything burns. Or--not everything burns, but like, the yolk burns, and then…

SCOTTY: Yeah. I’m okay with a little burning, but I don’t like to cook the yolk, but I’m okay with a little crunch, you know? I like--I like that crunch. That extra texture in my mouth.

[MISCHA is smiling but her eyes are dead, and she looks like she’s about to cry.]

CAMILLA: What’s your favorite fast food joint, and what do you get there? Are you a Whataburger person? I know that they’re big in Texas.

SCOTTY: I do like Whataburger for sure, and they used to be my favorite, definitely--I really liked when they had the Buffalo Chicken Ranch Chicken Strip Sandwich. It was so amazing. But I guess right now my favorite is, like, the spicy Popeyes chicken sandwich

[MISCHA is nodding in approval.]

MISCHA: Mmmmm-hm.

SCOTTY: And Chick-Fil-A… Like, I don’t get the whole Chick-Fil-A thing. It’s overrated. And I don’t want to go there because of all the stuff heard about them, like, sucking, and being mean to gay people.

[CAMILLA is laughing.]

CAMILLA: Yes--

MISCHA: Okay, listen--there is no ethi--

CAMILLA: --we talked about this yesterday. Under capitalism there is no ethical consumption, so, if--

MISCHA: I think it’s just a thing in Memphis, also. A bunch of--

SCOTTY: I mean, I live right across the street from Chick-Fil-A, and I see people lined up there. Like, there will be the big line. And it’s good, but I don’t think it’s like, the best. People are, like, really into it.

CAMILLA: So what would you say the best is?

SCOTTY: Oh, I like Popeyes better.

CAMILLA: Well, yes, okay. I can agree. The sandwich at Popeyes is way better.

MISCHA: Yeah.

SCOTTY: I like that it’s bigger. It’s just better.

CAMILLA: What’s your favorite TV show right now? Or, are you watching a TV show?
SCOTTY: Um, I really like Adventure Time. I really like Stranger Things. I like that. Um. Yeah, I guess those are my favorite shows now.

CAMILLA: Okay, do you have an all-time favorite TV show?

SCOTTY: That’s a tough question. Well, you know, it changes all the time, but I guess the longest I’ve had, like, for a consistent amount of time--I was really into The Simpsons for a while, but I guess I like, I’ve moved on with my life, but I guess that’s the show I liked for the longest period of time.

CAMILLA: So what character from The Simpsons would you say you relate to the most?
SCOTTY: Oh, probably like--uh--well, I don’t know, maybe I feel like different ones at different times. Well, maybe sometimes I’m feeling a little crazy, like Bart. Or sometimes, I’m like--who was, like--the cop’s kid who was like really short. You know what I mean?
CAMILLA: Yeah.

SCOTTY: Yeah. Sometimes I feel like him, for sure.

CAMILLA: Okay, on the topic of feeling like things: I saw that you said that a lot of the time you feel like green. What does that mean?

SCOTTY: Just, like, if I--I mean, at least, lately, like the past couple of years, like, I kind of associate a color with how I’m feeling. I was just thinking about this before you called. Like today I’m feeling light blue or orange maybe. Sometimes I just like to associate how I’m feeling with a color.

CAMILLA: Light blue and orange are way different spectrums.

SCOTTY: I don’t know. I’m feeling a combination of that right now. That’s just how it is for me right now.

CAMILLA: Um, also, can we talk about--how--the tree? Your tree? The favorite tree? Hazalulah? Haz-a…
SCOTTY: Yeah, it’s my favorite tree for sure. It’s like this tree by Rice--like, the College--and it’s like this big deal, that there’s just this one tree in the middle of this big field, and there’s like no-one ever there, and I go and lay under it sometimes and it’s really shady and it’s really nice. And I really like the sound of the breeze going through the leaves of the trees, and I--I just--that tree in particular is, like, just, the best. It’s so great. I don’t know, I really like it.

CAMILLA: Um, and then, I also have a question about the song “Jerry the Caterpillar”. I’m really wondering, like, is he a real caterpillar that you met once-upon-a-song? Or is he just kind of like Arthur?

SCOTTY: He is definitely in the Arthur universe. He would be what is like a folktale, in the elf world. Like, people are wary of--they know the story of Jerry. They know to be wary of Jerry, the caterpillar who was hairy. So, yeah.

CAMILLA: Yeah. Um, also, I guess--what--in like five years--I mean, I hate this question, but also I feel like it’s a good question--what do you want--where do you want to be?
SCOTTY: I just want to be, like, making music. And, hopefully playing shows and touring, if that can happen. Yeah. That’s really all that I care about. Hopefully I’ll have some friends that I’m super tight with. I mean, I have friends now, but I hope in five years I do too, cuz’ that’s important to me. Hopefully… Yeah, hopefully I’m able to keep making new music. Yeah. I’d like to--maybe where I’ll be? Maybe I’ll, like, live in Austin or something.

CAMILLA: Do you like Texas?
SCOTTY: Yeah, I do like Texas, but I’d maybe like to live in other places too. But I do like Texas.

CAMILLA: I want to move to Texas, but that’s unrelated.

SCOTTY: Oh, you guys don’t live in Texas?

CAMILLA: No.

SCOTTY: Oh. You guys live in Tennessee?
CAMILLA: Yeah. Memphis.

SCOTTY: Oh, Tennessee! You guys have to interview my friend who’s based out of Tennessee.

CAMILLA: Name?
SCOTTY: Rick West.

CAMILLA: Rick West.

SCOTTY: He rocks. He rocks so hard. Rocks. I’m going up to Nashville, like, um, next week. We’re making a little project.

CAMILLA: Arthur related or Rick West related?

SCOTTY: Um. Just songs. I mean, honestly, I don’t know, maybe it will find its way into that universe, but as of now it’s just going to be, just, you know, making some songs.

CAMILLA: Oh. Also, um. Hm. Did you come up with any, like, quarantine activities, hobbies, or whatever, other than, like, making the whole BLANKED album?
SCOTTY: Um, there were a lot of-- (I felt a burp coming, you know? But then it went away. Kind of disappointing.) I got pretty into, like, embroidery. I embroidered my pants.

MISCHA: SAME!
SCOTTY: Did that for a bit. I liked doing that, but I also got tired of it. Well, I didn’t get tired of it, I was just too lazy. Like, I would draw on some of my pants, and I was just drawing there and didn’t finish it. I did that, I did a lot of drawing, I started reading Lord of the Rings. I didn’t finish the book but I did watch the movie. I should’ve finished the book. Right now I’m reading The Hobbit. It’s pretty good so far. I like it. Yeah. Oh, I was doing this thing--well, I lied, I’m listening to the audiobook on YouTube, ‘cuz I’m a really bad reader, but I would do this thing where my friend gave me, like, a funny hat this one time--it’s like this Skyrim hat--and I would put it on and put in my earphones and kind of like pretend to be, like, in that world… Yeah.
CAMILLA: I feel like I do that. Well, not that exactly. But, yeah. I feel like I do that.

CAMILLA: Um, last question, I guess. Do the drums in the background have a name as well?

SCOTTY: Oh, yeah, that is my friend Nino. Yeah, Nino did the dru--well, he did drums except for the first track. I’m like an okay drummer, but I’m still learning. He is the drum master.
CAMILLA: How many instruments can you play?
SCOTTY: I can play guitar, drums, bass, piano… I used to play trumpet in, like, middle school, and a little bit in high school.

CAMILLA: Did you ever have to play the recorder?

SCOTTY: No, I didn’t. But that would be kinda cool.
MISCHA: It wasn’t. No. It was a group of kids all playing a squeaky, loud thing that the parents would feel obligated to applaud for but it--it wasn’t good.

SCOTTY: Yeah, for a while in school it was an optional thing you could do and I remember, like, at recess all the kids who’d like, who had recorders would run around with them and make sounds with them and I was a little jealous.

MISCHA: I think in the moment it was cool, but looking back on it--like, when I had to go to my younger brother’s recitals… it was not good.

SCOTTY: I like recitals. Those were so fun.
MISCHA: Yeah, they were fun.

CAMILLA: I played piano for like ten years, I think. Recitals were always fun except for when you mess up, but you were the only person who knew messed up, really. I just felt really bad about that. But other than that it was fun.

SCOTTY: Mind games. It’s all in your head. The piano rocks, like--I, um--took piano lessons for like a couple of years when I was little, and I kind of didn’t like it then, cuz’ I didn’t like lessons really--my teacher was strict. I didn’t, like, practice. There was a piano in my house and I’d play it when I’d walk by, but now--this past year I started playing a lot. And now I've figured out some chords. The piano is just so pretty.

CAMILLA: Yeah. Um, anything else--oh, also--I keep saying also, sorry--but the--you know how you said you feel like green or light blue or orange? What’s your favorite color?
SCOTTY: My favorite color? Um. I guess green. Yeah, like--maybe like dark green. I mean, that’s just like, this time, though. I mean, there’s all sorts of different colors I feel, that’s just--today I happen to feel kinda orange or light blue or generally I feel--a lot of the time I feel green, but… Yeah, probably green is my favorite color.

Make sure to check out his now-released album!