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No. 19 Vol. 7
www.mypaperonline.com
July 2021
Joe Nicastro -
joe@mylifepublications.com
Livingston Musician Enjoying Making Music Again
L
By Steve Sears ivingston’s Robert Malone, current lead singer and rhythm guitarist of FarCry, had felt the miss of writing lyrics and making music. He’s come full circle, and he’s loving the life again. “When I was a young kid, I was chasing that record deal, the dream, the whole thing. Now, I have a different mindset. I do it because I enjoy it. It’s a passion. I do it for no other reason. I don’t do it for the money. I don’t do it for any exposure or hope that I’m going to be famous someday. That’s not why I do it. I extremely enjoy writing music. And, you know, getting it out there, that’s the biggest thing to me.” Malone, the founder and former lead singer of his own band, Malone, saw that venture come to an end in 1995, and in 2015 he joined the heavy metal band, FarCry. “They had two releases out already,” he says. “Obviously, I had done some things on my own prior to that. But yes, this (Balance) is the third release with the FarCry name.” FarCry, who record for the European label, AOR Heaven, released their latest album in late April, and “Broken Dreams” may be the album highlight song, the perfect comeback tune, especially after a year of Covid-19. “I’ve done this for a long time,” says Malone. “At one point when I moved (to Livingston) in about 1997, I did take a little bit of a break from the music. I got married, had a daughter, played the husband and father role.” However, when he was contacted a few years back by a movie producer who had listened to and complimented some of his songs, “At that point,” Malone says, “it kind of sparked the flame again. And I just started writing, I just grabbed my guitar again. Sometimes the lyrics come first, and then you go back to put music behind it, and sometimes the music comes first, you just go the other way.” Malone had 10 new songs, but no band, which is when
he found FarCry and its founder Pete Fry, another original New Jerseyan. “We made the commitment. We started writing together.” Malone, 57, who has been in the professional music business for over 35 years, started out as a teenager in Bloomfield. He takes a few moments to relive it. “Do you remember the ‘Battle of Bands?’” he asks of the high school band contests. “We were the winner.” However, it goes back even further. “Actually, you know what really put me in this mindset? Tragedy brought me to music, and I lost a brother when I was just 13 years old, and he was 16 and in a motorcycle accident. That’s when it all began for me because, at that point, I was close to two cousins, one of them a musician and he played guitar and was opening up for Kiss at some of the local clubs. And at that point, I guess, pretty much to ease the pain, he moved in with me, and he started teaching me guitar and kind of filled the void and lessened the pain.” Malone in 1997 married a Bloomfield girl, Andrea Favata, whom he met in 1983, post-Bloomfield High School, and they have a 20-year-old daughter named Alexa. “You know the musician’s life,” Malone says with a chuckle. “She put up with it for a lot of years and stayed by my side since day one.” And then there were his parents, especially his dad. “I’ve got to attribute everything that I am doing today to my parents growing up. It may sound corny, but my father had passed several years ago, but growing up, he was 100% behind the music, to the point where it was unheard of. Other band members at the time, their parents were like, ‘Get a haircut,” or ‘Get a job.” My father was like, ‘Get in there, write those songs, and we’re going on tour.’ I had a great foundation to chase my dream.” For more information about Robert Malone and FarCry, visit www.farcryband.net.
Photos courtesy of Robert Malone and FarCry