Picasso at the Mall

Picasso at the Mall's self-titled first album.

Picasso at the Mall were a synthpop band formed in Reno, NV in May of 1986. They were one of the most successful bands in the region, citing diverse influences like Kajagoogoo, UB40, Grace Jones and Winger. Picasso at the Mall's lineup consisted of MothB0t on lead melodica and lead vocals, and Dekx on lead keyboards and lead vocals.

MothB0t's tenacious, syncopated, freestyle scale- and music theory-ignoring blitzkrieg melodica playing instantly drew attention to the group's debut performance at the Organ Trail keyboard and organ store in the upper level of the Olde Town Mall, where the duo worked as salesmen. However it was Dekx's unique 13 keyboard setup and blistering Bossa Nova Demo Mode rotation which kept passersby enthralled for minutes at a time.

In August of 1986 Picasso at the Mall outgrew the narrow confines of organ sales-based roots synth. They
began what would have been a three-coffee shop tour of the Reno/Sparks area. Their first and last gig on that tour was cut drastically short when PatM found out that ten minutes was allotted to each act, not each person. The ensuing altercation with the guy who ran the open mic at Coffee 'n' Things resulted in substantial damage to 12 of Dekx's 13 keyboards and MothB0t's real nice rayon shirt.

Realizing that the band was at its zenith, Picasso at the Mall chose to part ways in September of 1986. MothB0t would go on to become a session musician playing the melodica with some of the biggest acts of the 90s including Semisonic, Matchbox 20, Snow, and whoever the fuck did Roll to Me.

Dekx got a Vegetable Science degree at Dar'yll and Moon's Vegetable Science Academy somewhere in the Balkan Peninsula, where he still works doing vegetable science. Mostly on vegetables.

In April of 2014 Picasso at the Mall started making headlines again due to a legal altercation with fart-rock band, Nickleback. So-called vocalist Chad Kroeger, in a March 22nd interview cited Picasso at the Mall as his number one musical influence. PatM's lawyers sprang into action, immediately suing Kroeger for slander, libel and defamation of character. The court case rapidly devolved into a shouting match when Picasso at the Mall realized that they only got ten minutes for the entire defense team and not ten minutes per defendant.