Mallory Hawk, Double Double Whammy
š Thoughts on living through the AI-without-regulation era, Serj Tankianās Down with the System, and letting the universe work its magic.
Mallory Hawk is a lifelong music obsessive who quit her corporate job to move to NYC and start working in music in 2017. She began working part-time at the indie label Double Double Whammy, eventually growing into the full-time Label Director position which has a heavy focus on marketing, project management, and A&R. She also is a musician and a writer so she tries to put the artistās perspective and artistās rights in everything she does. When not working or playing guitar, sheās usually watching RuPaulās Drag Race, playing video games, or dwelling in cafes reading celebrity memoirs.
šÆ Current focus
I am working on so many things. Iām relocating from NYC to North Carolina this summer and Iām already getting carried away with the new influx of time and money that Iāll have. I just booked studio time to begin recording my solo album at the Headroom in Philly and Iām currently picking apart my demos and finding the proper production influences for each song. I love the research phase (aka smoking a spliff and zoning in on snare sounds with my studio headphones on). Iām also toiling away with a few other projects, a book of essays, a podcast with my music-obsessed parents, guitar pedal tutorials that donāt make women feel like idiots, etc. Iām also doing much more touring this year and I love touring, I think itās an incredible privilege. Itās gonna be a busy few years!
šŖ Dating app culture & just letting the universe work its magic
Iām really excited to see people starting to spit out dating app culture. I think itās really harmed the way we treat one another in the sphere of love and sex. We morphed our most vulnerable selves into our most robotic selves. Iāve always been against them and felt continuous pressure from friends to get on them. Iām a DM slider, or a phone number on a receipt kinda girl. I like asking people out. Iāve honestly failed more than Iāve succeeded but Iāve never regretted it. The character-building of it all is really humbling and human, plus the sensation of a real human crush is so much more fun. I think weāre supposed to let the universe work its magic by putting people in like-minded spaces, not forcing two puzzle pieces to fit together because someone looks good in a bathing suit. You canāt game-ify love, itās something mankind has spent years trying to define. Everyone has their own definition.
š Serj Tankianās Down with the System
I have been punishing people at parties about Serj Tankianās new memoir Down with the System. Iām so blown away by the level of activism that System of a Down were able to achieve with their music through a major label system. That shit would not fly today, and they did it in one of the most politically-charged times in America (Toxicity hit #1 on 9/11/2001). I love that they forced these major label suits to air music videos about the Armenian genocide and war crimes. Every member of the band was Armenian and they were making them millions. These āmusic mogulsā were backed into a corner. Plus, making your music 70% activism and 30% humor is the ultimate fuck you. I found myself laughing on the train at the brilliance of Toxicity while it blasted through my headphones.Ā
š¤ Living through the AI-without-regulation era
Iām a bit spooked about living through the AI-without-regulation era (I literally have nightmares about it) and I think we should all stop overthinking and curating our social feeds so much. My friend and I were doing deep dives on our instagrams to try and find an old photo and we were kinda blown away at how little we seemed to care. Everything will eventually be so ācuratedā and airbrushed that Iām more intrigued by letting people back into the less glamorous parts of life and seeing the humor in that. Instagram has become āagonize over a post for 3 daysā-gram, nothing instant about it. Itās seemingly the social network that will last the longest and I value the information I find and share there. But I also want to have fun with it. Social media will end one day, which is hard to fathom now, but it is true. You never know youāre living in the golden age of something until you look back.
š„ Consistently elevating women with earnestness and realism
Iāve honestly had a lot of trouble finding any role models in the music industry because such a large chunk of it is jaded dudes. It wasnāt until I started writing essays on my substack that people were sending me pieces by Jessica Hopper. Since then Iāve kept up with her work as a writer and a director. Iāve always been a proponent of running with the boys, not at them. Itās important to tell the minorities of music the reality of the world theyāre entering, and that the joy of playing music is what should sustain you, because āsound guysā and the bands you play with will treat you differently. Jessica Hopper has provided some of the most cutting rock criticism and consistently elevated women with earnestness and realism. I hope to achieve half of what sheās done in the music industry!
š Final summer living in NYC
Itās my last summer in NYC and Iāve turned into a total āyes man.ā NYC is really beautiful when itās not your problem anymore haha. Iām excited to go to shows with the fervor of a teenager and sit on rooftops with my friends. Iām planning to play a few intimate house/roof shows too and those are always special. I love when the noise of the city mixes with someoneās live performance.
š§¢ The key to good skin careĀ
I can't live without a baseball hat and a sunscreen stick! I donāt leave the house without them. Even in the wintertime. Iām glued to my Roland camo trucker hat right now, itās become my personality. I tried to buy a backup and theyāre sold out already! City living has made me practice good skin care on a daily basis. As Johnny Knoxville once said before putting on a helmet ā āgotta protect the money maker.āĀ
Follow Mallory on Instagram, Linkedin, Substack, and Bandcamp.
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