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wilmettebeacon.com LIFE & ARTS
the wilmette beacon | August 22, 2019 | 25
Posted to WilmetteBeaconDaily.com 2 days ago
New Trier graduate breaks into music industry
Sam Rakestraw
Freelance Reporter
At the time of the 2016
Election, Charlie Malkin
was abroad in Sydney.
Some of his buddies from
the University of Texas
in Austin were with him.
That night out on the harbor,
they were talking
about music. Despite not
being in America, they
could almost hear the
sounds of unrest and hesitation.
From an international
view, America was
full of noise.
Malkin, a 2014 New
Trier graduate, and his
friends were on a musical
bender, curating a playlist
to their friends and family
time zones away in the
states. It wasn’t genre or
artists specific, just music
with that relaxing beachy,
umbrella vibe. Music
that allows one to forget
what’s been so stressful
during their day.
“We wanted to remedy
the noise with music,”
says Malkin, “So we
called the playlist ‘Remedy’”.
After graduating in December,
Malkin knew that
he didn’t want a desk job.
He had always been a creative
thinker and learner
whom classroom structure
has always been suppression.
He returned to
Glencoe from Austin and
began applying his creative
skills to his business
degree to bring establishments
playlists. The first
customer of his new music
brand, Remedy Music,
LLC was Hometown
Cafe.
Still in its start-up phase
after six months since
opening, Remedy has
also provided playlists
for Minos, Greenwood,
Charlie Malkin, a New
Trier grad, is the owner
and operator of Remedy
Music. Photo Submitted
Guild Hall, Lyfe Kitchen
and other location over
the North Shore. He also
has some clients in Palm
Springs, California. Each
playlist is uniquely curated
by Malkin based on
how he perceives the identity
of the business’ brand.
He is usually spot on with
these perceptions. But for
him, it’s a whole lot more
than creative thinking.
“I have synesthesia,”
Makin said, “It’s a neurological
cross wiring
between two different
senses, and for me, it’s
sound and vision. When I
hear music, I see and associate
it with color. Until
my junior year in college,
I thought that everyone
had it.”
1 in 2000 people experience
the neurological sensation
known as synesthesia.
A couple well known
musicians like Questlove
and Pharrell Williams
have it. Though their cases
are far more intense.
It depends on the person,
but an example of
what might be seen is the
old multicolor screensavers
on Macs. iTunes also
has a synesthesia setting
available whenever a song
is playing. Malkin has met
someone with synesthesia
with numbers where, for
example, the number five
still appears as a five to
her, but it is the color blue.
For Malkin, music
can be matched to brand
identities the same way
clothes are matched.
“If you match music
based on color, it creates
a fluent sounding playlist
that transitions from song
to song really well. I harness
this rarity in curating
music and in harnessing
it, I’ve studied and observed
how music dictates
behavior and color
dictates emotion and feeling,”
says Malkin.
Today, Remedy Music
LLC’s website (remedymusic.co)
is still in
the works. Malkin gets his
business done by acting as
a music consultant. When
a business hires him, he
evaluates their service and
brand identity. Every song
he “sees” has hundreds of
colors within, but there’s
usually a dominate one
in each song. Think back
to the Mac screensavers,
the numerous colors are
following one dominate
sphere of color that varies.
“My favorite type of
music is on the lower half
of the spectrum, like blue,
violet or purple sounding
music,” says Malkin, “A
specific color would stand
out when a certain note is
played. Keep in mind, every
song doesn’t just have
one color.”
The road ahead for Malkin
and Remedy Music is
to grow organically. The
quality of the content he
puts out will drive the
business. That is the authentic
factor.
“I’m always trying to
make sales,” Malkin said,
“And my end goal, five
years from now, is to own
a lifestyle brand that is
predominately music and
is called, ‘Remedy’.”
There would be a focus
on other parts of the business-like
merchandizing.
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The short-term goal is to
continue vending playlists.
Malkin recently moved
to London with his brother.
With any luck, he just
might pick up some international
clients.
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