Exclusive Interview: Mali.Rest.ING
Updated: Feb 15
DIY torch bearers, Louis Navas and Emmy Marks, are local musicians and promoters in the Long Island, NY area who consistently curate community-oriented events for underground artists through their platform, Mali.Rest.ING. On a similar wavelength to CVC, their international networking group is dedicated to collaborating with local talent and connecting them with visionaries abroad.
After connecting with Louis through the Emo Trap Group Facebook page, we hopped on a call to chat about DIY shows and potential collaborations. From the get go, we appreciated each other's visions and made sure to connect down the line. I was interested in setting up an East Coast run sometime during fall 2022, but it didn't really pan out at the time. While I was finding a balance living in LA and growing the local community with CVC, Louis and Emmy were crafting some of the finest underground lineups for a wide array of genres out on the East Coast. Teaming up with the venue Shaker's Pub out in Oakdale, Long Island, Mali.Rest.ING was able to pop off on weekends with local legends like Dev Gajan, Rats!, and Dan Cooney.
Last December, I took a trip with Murtzel to the East Coast to handle some study abroad paperwork and happened to reach out to Louis spontaneously to see if there were any lineups I could hop on for a SpaceyY set. Coming' in clutch, Louis had a few shows already lined up and added me to a bill at Shaker's on Dec. 14th alongside Sal3m Shawty, ISMOKEBEATZ, and others. A five hour flight, 6 hour bus ride, and chaotic subway journey later, Murtzel and I landed in Long Island with a few hours to spare before my set. Immediately, we were treated with open arms by Emmy and Louis and got a glimpse of their passions paying off. The local NY scene was really inspiring. Seeing how supportive all the artists were for their fans and friends was as wholesome as your homie giving you their last bud to toke or bite to eat. Connecting the coasts was a beautiful experience and we're grateful to keep capturing slices of life out in the underground scenes across the US.
Looping back from the East Coast trip, I caught up with the two visionaries to chat about the origins of their outlet and what they plan to do next.
Q: How did you bring the idea for Mali Resting into reality?
Emmy: Quite literally by Lou and I meeting each other. We’d have discussions about all kinds of things music related (cause we’re both giant nerds about it) and realized we had a lot of the same visions and ideas for how we could create a more stable music community, and overall industry. Louis has been booking for upwards of a decade, and I studied music business in college. It was a super natural fit from the get go.
Luis: In my opinion, this idea came together when we met the new community that was coming together on LI. I was ready to focus on booking/traveling with some artists I’d been meeting all over the country but when I met Emmy (and when I finally spent time with artists like Santino Nox, $a13m Sh4wtyy, King Khona, Calliope, Pig Farm, and that sick-nasty Long Island market rn) there seemed like a need for something like what we do. We didn’t want to be booking longterm but we had some ideas and the next part was just talking about it. Soooo yeah, we just kept talking (and listening for new music).
Q: How has that journey been so far? Were you involved in DIY communities before this project?
Emmy: I’m a lifelong musician, so I’ve always been a regular at DIY shows, sometimes in New York, sometimes in Massachusetts. I always have a dee