Start Listening To: mall goth

From college basements to springtime heartbreaks, mall goth are turning dreamy guitar pop into something heartfelt and strange.

mall goth might sound like a tongue-in-cheek throwback, but this Albany-based band are anything but nostalgic retreads. What began in cramped dorm rooms at Binghamton University has grown into a jangle-dream project laced with fuzz, emotional depth, and a genuine DIY spirit. Fronted by Ella, whose lyrics teem with springtime metaphor and post-college reflection, the group melds classic indie tones with weirder dream-pop textures, resulting in something heartfelt, skewed, and instantly memorable. With their new single "Your Garden" setting the tone for their upcoming EP Heather’s Exit, we caught up with mall goth to talk songwriting, riffs, risographs, and the deep-seated influence of the Twilight: New Moon soundtrack.

For those unfamiliar with your music, can you tell us who you are, where you’re from and about the music you make?

We are called mall goth and we are currently based in Albany, NY. The band currently consists of Ella (vox and bass), Peter (lead guitar), Justin (guitar), Thomas (drums) and Val (backup vox). We met in Binghamton, NY while attending university and make indie/jangle rock.

What inspired "Your Garden", and how did it become the first single from Heather’s Exit?

A former bandmate, Sam, wrote the opening riff and we all loved it. The demo version was set to breakcore beats, but we managed to formulate a fuzzy and jangly pop song from what Sam had written. We wanted to release it as the first EP single as we felt it was an accessible piece for most audiences unfamiliar with the weirder side of our music.

There's a real emotional weight to the lyrics of "Your Garden". Was there a particular experience or mood that shaped the writing of it?

“Your Garden” is a response to our older song “Two Step.” The material is a developed perspective on moving on from your college years and observing how much has changed, such as how different everyone’s lives are presently from the way you remember. Spring is an inspirational time for me as a songwriter, and I find myself clinging onto motifs such as flowers when looking for ways to veil a deeper meaning behind my lyrics. My bandmate Thomas came up with the idea of borrowing from the nursery rhyme Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary while we were writing the choruses, and that’s where we got the title “Your Garden”.

Your sound blends jangle rock and dream pop with a DIY energy. How did you land on that mix, and was it something you aimed for from the start?

Peter and I met (Ella) in music theory class at school and bonded over our shared love of Scott Pilgrim and the band Plumtree. We’re a jangle band in our roots but Sam and Justin have pushed us to explore more contemporary dream pop directions. Any DIY energy comes from playing dozens of basements and dusty attics throughout our time as a band.

You’ve mentioned influences like The Pixies, Sonic Youth, and Alvvays. What have you taken from those artists, and how do you make it your own?

Alvvays is my biggest influence as a songwriter (Ella). Any time I am experiencing a writer’s block I play through their songs and feel inspired by their nostalgic pop structures and catchy melodies. I’ve always had a love for the no-wave and noise-rock stylings of Sonic Youth, and have encouraged my bandmates to experiment with these types of sounds, even while we are playing “pop music.” I credit Alvvays for the duo sonic guitar and mustang bass that I play.

The name Heather’s Exit has a lot of imagery. Is there a story behind the title?

It’s about breaking from perfectionism and making sense of how certain obsessions and ways of thinking have affected me as a person and artist. I see songwriting as an exit from negative routines that haven’t served me in the past.

You recorded the new material at Tummy Rub Records in Albany. How did that environment shape the sound or process of this EP?

Tummy Rub Records operates out of a converted garage space in Albany with an incredible amount of gear to choose from and play with. We were allowed to play with whatever struck our interest and had the opportunity to create soundscapes that we haven’t in the past.

What was it like working with producer Conor Grocki and mastering engineer Scoops Dardaris? Did they push the songs in unexpected directions?

We had a lot of fun working with Conor. While he gave us the time to play around and experiment with our recordings, he also kept us on track and provided grounded feedback on how the songs were developing. Working with Scoops was great; we were excited to have his hands on our EP as he has worked on many albums we love.

Ella, you’re credited with vocals and bass, and you also co-write with the band. How do you approach songwriting as a group? Is it collaborative from the beginning?

To be honest, our collaborative process has always been a little lopsided. Our first EP was mostly Ella’s songs with others filling in the blanks, and from that point on we wrote more collaboratively. Peter or Sam would bring a riff to practice and we would go back and forth and build off of it. For this EP, it was sort of the same phenomenon but with Sam, where he had a handful of riffs and song ideas that were stewing for some time that he brought to us. Your garden started as a riff that caught Peter’s ear and slowly developed with the group. While writing lyrics for this EP, I (Ella) sat down with Thomas and several other friends who helped me fine-tune the lyrics until we felt satisfied.

The project started back at Binghamton University. Looking back, how did those early days of playing together influence the kind of band mall goth became?

In our first few years as a band, we rarely turned down a show. During our days in Binghamton, we were deeply immersed in the local/college scene and had a DIY ethos from spray painting our own merch to writing songs in cramped dorm rooms. We’ve seen this round of songs as an opportunity to grow towards a more mature sound and find footing, especially with a recent move and shakeup in our lineup.

The artwork for "Your Garden" is striking. How involved are you with the visual side of mall goth, and what role does it play in expressing the music?

For this release, we worked with Boston-based artist and Albany native, Eliza Whalen. She had several paintings in the works towards her final projects at Tufts University and we were thrilled when she agreed to let us use them for this release. She has outsider sensibilities that we love, and the imagery in her paintings aligned perfectly with the vibe of our songs.

What do you love right now?

Disco balls, prog pop, risograph printing, Robert Rauschenberg, Tracing hallmarks by Cola, “Get Away” by Yuck, Mesa Boogie Tremoverb, 90s Bowie remixes, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart <3, chorus pedals.

What do you hate right now?

The Monkees, Tim Burton (50-50 split), rainy weekends, lavender-flavored coffee.

Name an album you’re still listening to from when you were younger and why it’s still important to you?

(Ella) Twilight New Moon soundtrack- my mom used to play this all the time and I’d listen to the CD laying around when I came home from school. This album introduced me to Death Cab for Cutie and Thom Yorke; it was essentially the first “indie rock” music I was exposed to and the soundtrack is full of bangers.

(Peter) T. Rex “The Slider” is one from my youth that I am still rocking to. I really adore the fusion of british invasion, psychedelia, 50s rock, folk revival, blues, along with Bolan's strange poetic mysticism and flamboyancy to create really great 3-minute pop songs. So many potent influences yet such accessible and catchy tunes, that are great straight through.

With "Your Garden" out and Heather’s Exit on the horizon, what’s next for mall goth? Are you planning shows, videos, more releases?

Our next single, Crawl Space, will be out July 11 and our EP will be out on August 8! We will be announcing a run of summer shows to promote the release and are planning a fall tour. We are excited to be settled in Albany and hope to venture out to new cities to play shows.