Conversations with Chris Malcolm

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Malcolm.

Hi Chris, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Right out of high school, I started breeding reptiles and giving educational reptile shows at schools, parties, private events, special needs groups, etc.

I slowed down with the reptile projects during COVID, and began shifting into other creative endeavors during my spare time.

Many of my friends are musicians, and I have collaborated with them many times.

More recently, I have been playing around town in some bands of my own. My genres of choice are metal, punk, rock n roll, etc. Fronting my own musical projects is newer to me, but the future is bright.

One of our good friends is a filmmaker, and I have also had the pleasure of working closely with him on several projects as an actor, as well as behind the scenes as a production designer, special effects artist, or sound operator, and often times many roles at once. He has done video work for most of the bands in our friend group.

Art is one of life’s greatest gifts, and I am learning and experiencing as much as I can when I’m able to.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The reptiles were very expensive and time consuming at their peak, but the experience was great.

In more recent times the biggest hurdle creatively has been finding my own musical style while sharpening my skills, and learning how to keep a band afloat. There is always work to be done.

I’ve been fortunate enough to work with some very talented friends along the way, and the knowledge I have gained from them has kept me from making more than a few mistakes.

It’s a lot of fun, and I’ve been very lucky to have done all the things I’ve gotten to do.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Doing the reptile shows was a great experience. Keeping 70+ exotic animals happy is very difficult but very rewarding, and sharing the joy of nature with kids at schools and parties was a gift that I will never forget. I am more focused on my personal life and music at the moment, but I will absolutely do reptile shows again in the future.

In recent times, my day job has been managing a multi-service facility for dogs. It’s the best place I’ve ever worked. Managing the reptiles gave me the experience to do this job efficiently, and ascend to higher ranks quickly. I love animals and take pride in any opportunity to make their world a better place.

If there is one thing I love more than music and art, it’s the natural world and the creatures that live in it. I’m hoping that the experience of managing my current facility will lead me to working with more exotic creatures, much like I did in the past, but on a larger and more impactful scale. If it ever makes sense to do so, future collaborations with anyone in the fields of environmental science or zoology would be a lot of fun for a good cause.

The bands I’m in have played a couple of charity shows, and my group of friends has been involved in several multimedia events. My workplace also takes part in many events of different types, so I’m familiar with merging different worlds for fun, charity, networking, etc. Bringing people of different backgrounds together is something I love doing.

To tie all my work from different worlds together would be the dream. For now I’ll continue playing shows and doing what I’m doing, and see what happens.

So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
What matters most to me is family, friends, and the well-being of the planet and all its inhabitants.

We live in a world ruled by many individuals and organizations who are at best incompetent, and at worst truly evil.

The manipulation and exploitation of people by these individuals and organizations runs deep, as does the destruction of the planet.

There is a lot of evil in the world, but there are also many good people, I do my best to be one of them.

I hope that my journey in life allows me to do some good in this world on as large a scale as possible.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: thereptilemaster

Image Credits
Morgan Elizabeth
John McSweeney
Machkne
Noah Khorey
Adriane Leigh