While he still recovers and receives treatment for a rare spinal stroke suffered in 2023, Jesse Malin is releasing Chasing the Light on June 21, a concert film and accompanying live album, filmed at the Sheen Center in New York City, on January 29-30, 2022.
Shot and edited by Malin’s longtime collaborator Dave Stekert, the film and album chronicle Malin’s performances during the pandemic, from 2020 through 2022, when “music led me to my tribe,” shared Malin in a statement.
“This is a story of how we survived during those years,” added Malin, and how we were able to put back into the community that we came out of.”
Videos by American Songwriter
Along with Malin’s band, the concert film features guest performances by Tommy Stinson, Gogol Bordello‘s Eugene Hütz, Catherine Popper, and H.R. of Bad Brains. H.R. is also featured in the first Chasing the Light release, a live performance of Bad Brains’ “I & I Survive” from the band’s 1983 album, Rock for Light, produced by Ric Ocasek.
[RELATED: Jesse Malin’s Sad and Beautiful World]
A day after the release of Chasing the Light, a benefit concert will be held in New York City for H.R., who revealed in 2023 that he was diagnosed with SUNCT (Short-lasting Unilateral Neuralgiform with Conjunctival injection and Tearing) headaches. The condition is marked by a rare headache “marked by bursts of moderate to severe burning, piercing, or throbbing pain, usually on one side of the head and around the eye or temple,” according to the National Institutes of Health.
“I don’t want anyone to give up on me,” said H.R. shortly after revealing his diagnosis. “I want people to remember I was a good man, who was a fighter and remained humble.”
The NYC Benefit for H.R. and a Tribute to the Music of Bad Brains will take place on Saturday, June 22 at The Bowery Electric and feature performances by Hütz, along with Murphy’s Law’s Jimmy G, members of Scream, The Mob, and more, with all proceeds benefiting H.R.’s medical care.
Outside of H.R. and Bad Brains’ influence on bands including Faith No More, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jane’s Addiction, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Green Day, and more, he has also become a friend and mentor to Malin throughout the decades.
“H.R. was a childhood mentor of mine,” said Malin. “H.R. was spreading the words of Positive Mental Attitude, and teaching us about the musicality and generosity and power that his group Bad Brains had.”
Malin added that the hardcore scene also taught him about the power of music and benefit concerts, particularly during the pandemic.
“We were very aware that music had a power to help out other people that were in need,” said Malin. “So not only did we do benefits for NIVA (National Independent Venue Association), we did memorials for people who passed away during [the pandemic] that didn’t have a proper celebration of their life, like Adam Schlesinger and Sylvain Sylvain.”
Malin continued, “Music has a power to say that you’re not alone. The beauty of the Sheen theater and the tightness that the band had achieved from playing all the time was the final chapter of those couple [of] years. We were getting back into normal touring, and everyone was getting back to ‘regular life.’ Looking back at it all, when you have time and people taken away from you, it makes you appreciate the simplest things.”
‘Chasing the Light’ Track List (Vinyl):
“State of the Art” (Featuring Tommy Stinson)
“The Way We Used to Roll”
“Room 13”
“Ameri’ka”
“Shining Down”
“I & I Survive” (Featuring H.R)
“She Don’t Love Me Now’
“If I Should Fall from Grace with God” (Featuring Eugene Hütz)
“St. Christopher” (Featuring Catherine Popper)
“Gray Skies”
“Meet Me at the End of the World”
“Greener Pastures”
Photo: Vivian Wang / Courtesy of Kid Logic Media
