Sandra Malak (Elegant Everyone)
photo by Max The Joth
What are your top five albums that were released in 2025? (In order 1-5)
- Cheap Perfume - Don’t Care. Didn’t Ask
- Boyfriend - In the Garden
- Osees - Abomination Revealed At Last
- Lowdown Brass Band - The Reel Sessions: Instrumentals
- Sudan Archives - The BPM
What band did you discover in 2025 (can be a brand new band or an older band) that had an impact on your life? How so?
Delia Derbyshire, who is one of those creators I feel like I should have already known about because of the amount of crossover into several favorite things of mine like Doctor Who and obscure horror movies. As a former student of analog electronic music I wish I had been hip to her work when it would have greatly encouraged me on my path, but I'm grateful to be able to put her name to her work.
Shake Stew. I want to hear them live at some point so I can be wowed even more than I am by this Austrian jazz(?) ensemble and I don’t care if I’m setting the bar too high.
Gora Gora Orkestar. I heard them playing live during an event I was working and left my post to find out more.
How will you remember 2025 (in terms of music)?
I will remember 2025 as a really challenging year to move forward with creating work. I am so proud of any of us who were able to push past the perpetual stream of negativity and distractions that threaten to take us far away from our vision and purpose to get some art out into the world. It’s exhausting. But luckily there are also constant reminders (like this retrospective for example) that art matters, community is important, and that we are way more attractive than the bullies out there who think it’s ok to destroy humanity.
What can we look forward to from you in 2026?
Elegant Everyone is going to focus on getting at least a couple more songs out into the world. We have a whole bunch, it’s just a matter of scraping together some funds to record the rest and finding the right players to fill out some of my more elaborate ideas (aka horn players based in Colorado who like to play brass band style parts over arty punk music -- know anyone?)
What records are you looking forward to most in 2026?
Shake Stew “Ten One Two”
Hoping for more singles by Lowdown Brass Band
I always look forward to any release by The Damned, even if I don’t fall in love with it. It inspires me when bands I have loved forever are still creating and active. I believe as we age we still need just as many role models as we did when we were young. We’ll see what “Not Like Everybody Else” will be like.
Singles rule the music scene right now. How has that affected you as a band or label? Has it influenced your approach to new releases or touring?
I am all for the release of singles. Love it. Recording is expensive. And how tiring is it to force your relevance onto the public in between albums? And consider the perpetual decline of society’s collective attention span. Releasing works here and there, when they’re ready, not only relieves one of the pressure of only feeling complete once 10 or more songs are compiled, but can potentially be more financially viable, as well as socially sustainable since it (hopefully) keeps your audience entertained.
I do also understand why a band might prefer to release everything all at once, as a completed work, a representation of labor and vision. Maybe that model works better for their band logistics, like if band members live far apart and only have a week to get together or they book recording around tours because everyone already took off from work. But I think that each song is (or should be) special and deserves its own moment.
I do not think relying on the release of singles directly affects touring, but I do think it affects the traditional band business model, which is due for a revamp anyway. Bands traditionally “tour the new album” and it’s promoted and sold and new cotton short-sleeve tops are printed and also sold. But after the overhead and venue splits, these sales almost never cover the cost of a group of individuals’ airfare, gas, hotels, food, rent and other expenses. As someone who loves touring and wants to do it all the time, I don’t think waiting until your album out is much fun at all. Live shows are their own art form and using them as only a vehicle to sell something does the live performance a disservice.
Sandra Malak – social media links
- Instagram: @eleganteveryone
