malbec began in 2003 and officially formed in early 2004 in los angeles, california. malbec was made of friends pablo signori, nick ruth, and sam barbera, who met at indiana university, in addition to sid miller and mark pontius. their name is nod to frontman pablo signori's family origin in argentina. malbec self-released their debut ep "malbec" in february 2005, produced by tony fagenson. they released their sophomore ep in april 2006. this record, "keep it a secret", was produced by richard gibbs and rick parker.