Tell us about yourself and your music
I’ve had a love for music for as long as I can remember. There’s old home-video footage of me exploring all the keys of my parent’s electric organ when I was two years old. I don’t think I’ve ever stopped since then. I took piano lessons as a kid and can remember teaching myself to play guitar on my dad’s old nylon string Spanish guitar that had been passed down from my great grandparents. I was invited to perform in public for the first time when I was about 15 years old. I needed a band though so naturally my two younger brothers were roped into playing the bass and drums with me, and a new love for performing was born. We played gigs and summer camps and little festivals or even just on the street corner any time we had the chance. We wrote and recorded our originals without knowing a thing about it in our basement. Those recordings are pretty funny to listen to now, but we were having so much fun.
As we grew up, got jobs, and moved around the country, I started to perform solo gigs at different pubs, bars, and lounges. I performed at an open mic in Boca Raton, FL where I met Jason Sweet and David Patino from Skyscraper Studio who invited me to come by their studio later that week. We clicked instantly and began work on my debut EP Bloodstained. I also worked with David on the music video for the song Like You. It was so much fun working with those guys and I learned a lot as an artist and performer.
After I got married in 2017, I moved to Christchurch, New Zealand. My music career took a back burner spot for a little while as I adjusted to married life and a big international move. As I started to find my feet again, I began work on my newest single, Home.
I’ve always wanted my music, to be honest, and relatable. I try not to overthink it, and just let it flow from the heart. My favorite songs that I’ve written are the ones that just happened as I sat down and started writing, and 20 mins later had a song that I was proud of.
Talk to us more about your latest release
My latest release Home is a super energetic happy song. I want it to put a smile on someone’s face when they hear it for the first time. To me, it’s the kind of song that you can sing at the top of your lungs while you’re driving and people might look at you like your crazy, but you can’t help it… That kind of happy song.
What inspired you to write this release?
Home is a song that I wrote after I moved from Florida to New Zealand. I’ve spent lots of time traveling around and moving from place to place. It sometimes makes me feel like I don’t know where “home” is to me. After I got married to my wife Faith I wrote this song from the idea that home can be wherever you find yourself surrounded by love. She is an Aussie who grew up in South Africa, married an American and lives in New Zealand so she struggles even more than myself with feeling at home somewhere. So we learned that as long as we have each other, it doesn’t matter where on earth we find ourselves. Out of that realization, this song was born.
Describe the writing and recording process
The home was one of those songs that just came to me. I had the idea in my head for the chorus and sat down with my guitar to play around with it. By that evening I had a 95% finished song! This is my first song that is fully self-recorded and produced. I work full-time as a bicycle mechanic during the day so I’d work on my song any time I could squeeze it in. I’d try and record a new part at home the night before and take my laptop to my favorite local coffee shop after work for an hour and work on editing and production. As the Covid-19 global pandemic started to affect New Zealand, suddenly I found myself with plenty of spare time at home to hammer out all the little tedious bits and get the song finished. After mixing finishing the mixing and production from my end, I was very lucky to work with Andres Mayo in Austin, TX as my mastering engineer for the song. Once I had the finished track I also self-produced a lyric music video for the song as well.
Any plans to hit the road?
With the current travel restrictions in New Zealand due to Covid-19, there are no touring plans at the moment, but keep an eye on my social media for plans once this mess clears up!
As an indie artist, how do you brand yourself and your music to stand out from the rest of the artists out there?
I try to put myself out there in my music. I try to be as honest and real as possible. In the world we live in where there’s so much pressure to put your polished, picture-perfect self on display for the world to see, I want to people to be able to share in the struggles, doubts, and fears just as much as the celebration, love, and joys. Hopefully, that’s something that people can find in my music and me as an artist: relatability, honesty, and humanity.
Who have you been listening to lately?
I listen to a massive range of music! On pop-punk days Relient K, Blink-182, and Neck Deep are on my go-to list. Mumford & Sons, The Lumineers, Mutemath, Bastille. I love NPR’s Tiny Desk sessions on YouTube. I can just set those to play all day while I’m around the house. The problem is I get sucked into watching these amazing artists perform and never get anything done. My older brother Kevin plays bass for Joywave. I’ve always been a fan of theirs. Then some days it’s all about August Burns Red, Underoath, Counterparts, and Norma Jean.
Who are your biggest influences?
I find my songwriting influenced by a range of artists. I grew up listening to my mom’s cassette tapes of Michael Jackson in the car on repeat while we drove around. There was always a lot of church music throughout my childhood as well. Rich Mullins was my hero songwriter as a kid.
As I grew up I listened to a ton of Switchfoot, Mat Kearney, Mumford & Sons, and Kings of Leon just to name a few of the bands who rubbed off on me.
Bands like Mewithoutyou, Listener, and Pianos Become the Teeth have always connected with me and inspired me with their lyrics. They can legit bring me to tears in 30 seconds or less.
Even now, every time I sit down to write music I feel like I’ve adapted and learned from whoever I’ve been listening to lately.
Tell us about your passions
Outside of music, one of my biggest passions is mountain biking. I have been lucky enough to ride some of the best tracks in the world, and have even competed in a few multi-day races on three different continents.
I also love to cook. My whole life I’ve loved exploring new flavors and recipes. I find it super relaxing and fun.
I dabble in a bit of video editing and production too. It’s something I’ve always had heaps of fun doing, and would love to find more time for that.
What else is happening next in your world?
I’m working on writing new songs, hopefully for a full-length album.
Thanks for an awesome interview, Abram Mahoney
Connect with Abram Mahoney
Website: https://abrammahoney.hearnow.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abrammahoneymusicInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/abrammahoneymusicTwitter: https://twitter.com/AMahoneyMusicLastFM: https://www.last.fm/music/Abram+MahoneyYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/user/AbramMahoneyMusicReverbnation: https://www.reverbnation.com/artist/abrammahoney
