Jesse Malin

Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond

Pushkin Industries

Music, Society & Culture

4.5 • 4.2K Ratings

🗓️ 1 July 2025

⏱️ 72 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Jesse Malin quite literally came of age onstage in the gritty clubs of New York City. At just 12 years old, he fronted Heart Attack—one of the earliest hardcore punk bands. After the band broke up in ‘84, Jesse went on to play in other groups, including Hope, and later co-founded D Generation, a glam-punk band that toured extensively through the '90s, opening for acts like Kiss, the Ramones, and Social Distortion.

In the early 2000s, Jesse launched a solo career, trading hardcore for a more singer-songwriter-driven approach. As a solo artist, he’s collaborated with a wide range of musicians, including Bruce Springsteen, Lucinda Williams, and Billie Joe Armstrong. A true musician’s musician, Jesse has long been a beloved figure in the rock community.

So when he suffered a rare spinal stroke in 2023 that left him temporarily paralyzed from the waist down, that community rallied around him. The result was Silver Patron Saints: The Songs of Jesse Malin—a 2024 tribute album featuring covers of his songs by friends and admirers. Jesse is also debuting a musical this fall called, Jesse Malin’s Silver Manhattan: A Musical Guide To Survival, at the Gramercy Theatre in New York.

On today’s episode, Bruce Headlam talks with Jesse Malin about his colorful upbringing in Queens, how he found the nerve to try out for a gig at CBGB’s at age 12, and what it was like during the formative years of New York’s hardcore scene. Jesse also shares how his “positive mental attitude” helped him through the toughest chapter of his life—recovering from the stroke that nearly ended his ability to walk.

You can hear a playlist of some of our favorite Jesse Malin songs HERE.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Pushkin.
0:07.0	Jesse Malin quite literally came of age on stage in the gritty clubs of New York City.
0:15.0	At just 12 years old, he fronted heart attack, one of the earliest hardcore groups in the city.
0:20.0	After they broke up in
0:21.5	84, Jesse went on to play in other groups, including Hope and later co-founded D-generation, a glam punk
0:27.1	band that toured extensively through the 90s, opening for acts like Kiss, the Ramones, and social
0:32.5	distortion. In the early 2000s, Jesse launched a solo career, trading hardcore for a more singer-songwriter-driven approach.
0:40.1	As a solo artist, he's collaborated with a wide range of musicians, including Bruce Springsteen, Lucinda Williams, and Billy Joe Armstrong.
0:48.1	A true musician's musician, Jesse has long been a beloved figure in the rock community.
0:53.4	So when he suffered a rare spinal
0:54.7	stroke in 2023 that left him temporarily paralyzed from the waist down, that community rallied
0:59.8	around him. The result was Silver Patron Saints, the songs of Jesse Malin, a 2024 tribute album
1:06.4	featuring covers of his songs by friends and admirers. Jesse's also debut in a musical this fall
1:12.0	called Jesse Malin's Silver Manhattan, a musical guide to survival at the Gramercy Theater in New York.
1:17.9	On today's episode, Bruce Hedlam talks with Jesse Malin about his colorful upbringing in Queens,
1:22.4	how he found the nerve to try out for a gig at CBGB's at age 12, and what it was like during the formative years of New York's
1:29.0	hardcore scene. Jesse also shares how his positive mental attitude held him through the toughest
1:34.3	chapter of his life, recovering from the stroke that nearly ended his ability to walk.
1:42.1	This is Broken Record. Real musicians, real conversations.
1:47.0	This is an I-Heart podcast.
1:52.0	I'm Nate Silver. And I'm Maria Konnikova. We're journalists who moonlight as high-stakes
2:01.9	poker players. And on our podcast, risky business, we bring an analytical lens, thinking about
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 24 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Pushkin Industries, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Pushkin Industries and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.