A Quick Chat with Malaika Mfalme

Congratulations on your debut album ‘Yasmin’. 

How long has this record been in the works, and can you tell us a bit about the meaning of it?

Thank you. It’s extremely exciting and gratifying to get this work out to the world finally. I’ve been working on ‘Yasmin’ since 2020. In 2019 I lost my partner Yasmin and a few months later, the lockdowns started. Everyone had a different experience of COVID, I spent most of my time with my grief, learning how to move through it. When I started writing the music for this album, it wasn’t apparent to me that I would be creating a large work, I was simply finding a way to heal, and I’ve always done that through composition. I had started messing around with open tunings with the guitar, specifically open (EBEEBE). At first, I was writing about losing Yasmin, then as I started to see life after grief, I wrote about joyful things like mother nature and different experiences of love. Tracks like ‘Mother’ and ‘Younger’ directly result from understanding I had to find joy in all that pain to survive. I am really proud of this album, and not only do I think Yasmin would have loved it, but I revel in knowing her life has been permeated by this work. 

When creating music, how are you hoping people feel and connect to it when listening?

My music creation has always been about storytelling, whether that be of my life or things I’ve seen other people go through. My hope and intent for this album was always to create a certain permission around grief I feel isn’t granted to us in Western society. The intent was to create a healing journey, a reminder to experience joyful moments to the fullest when they come around and to also feel the loss we are often told to put away. 

The record touches on a vast range of personal, introspective and vulnerable topics. What tips can you give other musicians trying to write music that touches on similar topics? 

It’s important to keep connected to yourself as you write. I’ve made a habit of journaling every day by way of compartmentalising what’s been going through my head day by day. I find this a helpful tool when engaging in composition because I can go back to my journals and see how I was truly feeling or experiencing something at the moment and have the privilege of hindsight to contribute to with the writing process. Sometimes my best work comes on the fly with no forethought, though, and in that case, Voice notes are my best friend! I record all the melodies, lyrics and guitar riffs that come to mind and then I’ll come back to it the next day with fresh ears and piece it all together. 

When you aren’t creating music, how do you like to fill your time? 

I’ve been thinking about this a lot because, to be honest, I don’t do much else! Creating, rehearsing and performing music takes up a lot of my time. I have to be careful not to spend all my time working and convince myself to relax. Recently I’ve taken up film photography, I also try to take one Polaroid a day and add it to my collection on my wall. Mostly, to wind down, I watch A LOT of TV. I really like to watch incredibly stressful television and get swept up in fictitious dramas instead of focusing on my own. I love to play board games with my twin sister and go to the park with my partner. My friends and I also try to meet every Thursday, which we have crowned ThursGays. We’ll either go to one of our houses or hit up The Bearded Tit. 

Can you talk to us about the work you have done in the jam space you created, and how can other people in the community get involved? 

Earlier this year, I co-created an inclusive jam night called Inkloosive Groove. A friend of mine, Scout, runs a really beautiful jam space called Splinter Factory and we had been talking for a while about creating something for people who are often ostracised from impromptu music-making. Femmes, people of colour and queer people are most often overlooked when creating music, so Scout and I created Inkloosive Groove to right that wrong. I, like many people, found myself talking a lot about giving to the community, but I realised I wasn’t doing anything to ensure creating space. 

Once we made the decision to host this inclusive jam night, we started doing it about a month later, and it's been going on for more than eight months. It’s usually on the 2nd Friday of each month at Splinter Factory, but in December, it will be on Thursday the 21st. We ask for a $5 donation at the door (though no one will be refused for lack of funds), and those proceeds go to Black Rainbow to support Indigenous Queer people. 

This project has been one of the most meaningful things I’ve done in Sydney, watching people unafraid and taking up space, creating and fostering community, all while creating music, visual art, dance, and poetry have been some of the highlights of my year!  

Where can fans come to see you play the album live? 

I’ve organised an album launch for the 14th of December at The Red Rattler. I will perform with a full band, the 9-track album, for friends, family and fans! The Rattler is hands down one of my favourite venues in Sydney, and it will make for a wonderful space to launch this work, we’ll also be selling exclusive merch created for the launch.