Malcolm Mooney

Malcolm Mooney is a United States singer, poet and artist, best known as the original vocalist for the German krautrock group Can. He begins singing in high school and is part of an a cappella vocal group called the Six Fifths. He later works as a sculptor in New York before moving to Germany, where he meets Irmin Schmidt and Holger Czukay. After jamming together, they form a band that he names The Can, later shortened to Can.

Can and related projects

Mooney is a member of The Inner Space, Can and Pavees Dance. His voice helps define Can’s rhythmic sound on albums including Monster Movie, Soundtracks, Delay 1968 and Rite Time. He also designs the set for a Can opera in 1969 at the Schauspielhaus in Zurich, using a large chrome can at the centre of the stage and a second stage extending into the orchestra pit. After returning to the United States in the early 1970s, he continues his musical work with Malcolm Mooney and the 10th Planet, a bicoastal project with two releases.

Art and education

Alongside music, Mooney builds a long career in visual art and design. He studies under Walter Murch, Murray Reich, Lloyd Lillie and Reed Kay at Boston University School of Fine and Applied Arts between 1962 and 1967. He works as a sculptor, painter, art teacher, graphic designer, stage designer and art assistant. He also works as a sculptor’s assistant with Ulrich Ruckream in Cologne while he is in Can.

Mooney paints for more than three decades and presents 14 solo exhibitions and 26 group exhibitions. His first museum show takes place in Yonkers in 1981, curated by Coy Ludwig, and is described by The New York Times as “Little Gems”. That exhibition leads to his later work, including “Pages” and paper pieces shown in Oakland. He develops stage work in New York in 1970 for a Harry Belafonte Enterprises production, Let the Big Drum Roll, which tours public schools in Washington, DC.

Later study and teaching

Mooney earns a BFA in Painting from Boston University School of Fine Arts and Applied Arts and an MFA from California State University in 1987. He later moves his studio from Yonkers to Roxbury, Massachusetts, and works as an adjunct professor of art at Wentworth Institute of Technology. His artistic practice remains divided between music and visual art, with painting and sculpture continuing alongside his performance work.