On June 25, Mallory performed at Bowery Electric as part of World Pride NYC. “It was my first time playing that venue. The lineup included artists singer-songwriter Charlie Brennan, boy band The Bathhouse Boys and a closing DJ set by Chris Varvarro who remixed my song ‘Lost’ which I sang live during his set,” he said.
“I sang my currently released songs: ‘Pitter Patter’ signed to Warner Denmark; ‘Grown Up’ my new LGBT themed song written with NYC-based songwriter duo Derek Gregor and Selda Sahin and ‘Shirtless,’ which released the day of the show,” he added.
Mallory noted that he sang several unreleased songs as well such as “Cologne” and “Atlanta,” the latter of which is about his hometown.
“I sang two acoustic songs – a cover of The Cure’s ‘Friday I’m in Love’ and a song about my father ‘Still My Daddy,’ both of which were accompanied by my childhood friend and artist Kathryn Francisco who lives in New York and is part of the LGBT community,” he said.
Mallory acknowledged that it was “amazing” to be in New York during World Pride. “I saw old friends Laverne Cox, whom I trained in her acting school, and Karamo, who also appeared on MTV’s The Real World, as I attended a panel they spoke on, I next attended the World Pride opening ceremony at the Barclay Center and did a few photo shoots while in town before heading back to Nashville,” he said.
Regarding his new single “Shirtless,” he said, “My new single was written after a conversation I had with a publicist, Lyndie Wenner, and radio promoter Suzanne Berg who asked me what of my social media gets the most engagement. I admitted it was shirtless pics of myself so they suggested I write a song with that title.”
“I was in Sweden summer 2018 to sing at EuroPride in Stockholm opening for Eurovision winner Netta and I stayed in Stockholm to write new music. I wrote five new songs during the trip and one was ‘Shirtless,’ the song is less about myself being shirtless and more about the feeling you get when you see a handsome guy shirtless. The song was just used in a men’s speedo commercial for the brand Pool Boy,” he elaborated.
On his plans for the future, he said, “In 2018 on two separate trips I wrote 10 new songs in Stockholm, Sweden and have plans to release them in the form of an album soon with ‘Shirtless’ being the first song from the batch. I have two more singles coming out in the next few months with videos to match.”
“I am also making plans to tour and perform more internationally and within the U.S., eyeing an LGBT Bar tour and a hometown tour of my home state of Georgia,” he said.
Digital transformation of the music business
On being an artist in this digital age, he said, “It’s a great era to be an artist with people being able to interact with you directly and share how your music has affected them. I love that whenever I write positive uplifting songs, people will message me how the music has made a strong impression on them with songs like ‘Not That Far Away’ about heaven, ‘Lost’ about your purpose in life and ‘Somebody’s Watching’ being songs I regularly get kind messages about. I was raised in an Orthodox Christian family and this was the reason I set out to make music from the beginning.”
Regarding his use of technology in his daily routine as a musician, he said, “I am super active on Instagram. My Instagram story is my video journal of what I’m up to. Follow me at @DavisMallory. I also use technology to write music: recording ideas into my phone’s voice notes and taking these ideas into the studio to record a full song,” he said.
He listed the following artists as his dream collaboration choices: Max Martin, Mark Ronson, Calvin Harris, Kygo, and The Chainsmokers as producers for his music. “I would love the opportunity to duet with such female artists as Robyn, Ellie Goulding, Britney Spears, Maren Morris, Kacee Musgraves or male artists like Troye Sivan, Sam Smith, and Adam Lambert would be fun to do gay male duets,” he said.
For his fans, he concluded, “I really appreciate the love for my music and seeing you all share it. It’s the most helpful thing to get the word out to new listeners. I look forward to meeting you all and I appreciate your support.”
The single “Shirtless” by Davis Mallory is available on iTunes and on Spotify.
