Outcast and Musician Nicholas Mallis Inspires the Youth through Music and Social Media

Dania Kalaji

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Nicholas Mallis, songwriter, performer and producer, performs live at the Caledonia Lounge on April 13, 2019 in Athens, Georgia. Mallis approaches each performance with lively and outlandish energy as he hopes to inspire aspiring musicians to embrace their authenticity as he does on his product placement Instagram. (Photo Courtesy/Mike White)

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Why It's Newsworthy: Nicholas Mallis is an Athens songwriter, performer and producer whose career spans through numerous bands such as Yo Soybean and The B-52’s. Mallis utilizes product placement concepts on his Instagram to highlight his “guest room pop” music and outlandish persona to inspire the youth generation.

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Nicholas Mallis sat under a spotlight center stage at his metropolitan Atlanta middle school talent show and played a “weird” medley of guitar parts including “Sweet Home Alabama” and Van Halen melodies. 

 

Although he said the performance was nonsensical, when Mallis heard the strings echo throughout the gymnasium, he discovered his lifetime career.

 

Now 34, Mallis is an Athens songwriter, performer and producer with five albums and 1,694 monthly listeners on Spotify. 

 

Mallis sang and played guitar and bass in numerous bands including Yo Soybean and The B-52’s. He subsequently launched his first album “Golden Age Vanity” in 2014. 

 

Mallis describes himself as a “failed lounge singer” and a “washed up Vegas entertainer” rebounding with a distinct social media approach.

 

 

“I don’t feel like I fit in and there’s a reason I came up with this persona — I want to inspire the youth to be outlandish,” Mallis said. 

 

 

A twist on product placement 

 

Mallis’ Instagram displays brightly colored pictures and videos sharing a common theme — product placement. Mallis advertises his “guest room pop” music through imitation brand advertisements with Crest toothpaste, Pillsbury cookie dough, Pepto-Bismol, Bud Light and Milky Way chocolate.  

 

He ultimately offers a critique on influencer culture while keeping his followers guessing for more.

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View the interactive website: "Welcome to Nicholas Mallis' world of product placement"

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In a fake Pillsbury ad campaign, Mallis dances and bakes cookies in his kitchen. He wears a taupe 1980s high collar blouse and a quilt checkered apron as his recent single “Welcome to Village Heights” plays. Mallis said the chorus mirrors a real estate agent’s television commercial. 

 

The single comes from his upcoming concept album “Product Placement” which weaves commercial jingles into each track. 

 

Although Mallis may appear as a creative trailblazer, he is concurrently pursuing a Ph.D. in epidemiology and biostatistics in the College of Public Health at the University of Georgia. 

 

“I want people to think ‘Is this a joke or not? Is he being serious? To stop people for 30 seconds and make them think — What?’ — I want to connect people to the music and be entertained by the content,” Mallis said. 

 

Inspiring the youth

 

Most of Mallis’ Instagram content is filmed in his Forest Heights home and where his album “Hobby Lobbyist” was born in 2015. 

 

Mallis’ niece Penelope Anderson is an artist and musician who stood beside him throughout that album process in the homemade studio. Mallis shared the six-bedroom single-family residence with his wife, Anderson and her father five years ago. 

 

 

“Growing up in the household with him when I was becoming an actual human was very encouraging and inspiring and I definitely wouldn’t be even a piece of the person I am now if I didn’t have him in my life. I very much look up to him,” Anderson said. 

 

 

Mallis invested his time in Anderson as a young musician and gifted her a bass and guitar at ages 10 and 12. He also taught her to play during weekly lessons. 

 

Anderson, now 15 years old, discovered qualities she inherited from Mallis. Her digital art is “all over the place” with “crazy colors,” inspired by Mallis’ Instagram. 

 

“He’s very quirky and kind of wild. Watching him perform on stage is when he's his truest self — I've seen him jump off of things and kick over amps. I think he's very true to who he is, which you don't see a lot,” Anderson said. 

 

Mallis said it makes him “really happy” when high school-aged crowds attend his shows because he can connect with the youth. 

 

“He doesn't have to do much to inspire other people — everyone loves Nicholas Mallis,” Anderson said. 

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How I Wrote the Story:  I was incentivized to interview Nicholas Mallis after admiring his Instagram content. Through this profile, I improved my researching and interviewing skills as I had to prepare for my conversation with Mallis beforehand by looking up his music, history and public records. I also learned the importance of conversation in interviews and how it builds trust with sources, rather than merely asking questions. 

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Tags: Nicholas Mallis, music, artist, Athens, product placement, authentic, Instagram

 

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