U R so out of my top 8.
All of you.
I estimate that in my years of touring, I've played guitar in front of roughly a million people altogether. I'm obsessed. Always have been. It all began when I was 5 years old and my parents gave me my first guitar. Everyone in the Mahoney family plays the guitar. It was in my blood and I started playing at a very young age. I did my first gig at age 12. "Paradise City" from Guns n Roses was my first public performance.
Fast forward a few years and my band was sharing the stage with Busta Rhymes, 50 Cent, Joan Osbourne, Soulfly, and Nine Days.
I guess those bands you start as a teenager don't last forever. I spent a few years playing jazz in coffee shops and small clubs in NYC. In 2004, I moved on to playing the national tour of Rent , which is a Broadway show.
That was an insane tour.
In 2005, I went back to rock band touring and did 10 months on the
road with Dry
Kill Logic . Our first tour was with Drowning
Pool and Opiate
for the Masses .
Then we did 6 weeks with Megadeth, Fear Factory, Dillenger Escape
Plan, and Dream Theater on Gigantour .
Here's me on the Gigantour DVD.
Next we did a few months of a headlining tour. I made friends who I will never forget on that tour. I love metal and hardcore and I always will. The surprising thing about being a metal head who also plays jazz and writes RnB songs is that all my metal friends are supportive and appreciative of the other genres I play. People perceive metal guys to be narrow minded and fundamentalist, and some are, but the majority are soulful artists who appreciate many genres. Especially at the highest levels of metal touring. We sat around and listened to Tom Waits all the time on the DKL bus.
The last tour I did with DKL was the Disturbed tour.
In 2006 and early '07 I did another 8 months on the road with Rent. Another crazy tour. Nobody parties like the Rent cast. That's for sure.
My current obsession is to write a timeless, classic, 1 hit song. I'm going to write a song that everyone knows, a song that people will play and listen to for decades to come. I recently moved to Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles to channel my creativity into my writing. I'm right down the street from the studio where "Blood Sugar Sex Magic" was recorded along with many other groundbreaking records. I'm currently in "hermit mode" sitting in the top room of a mansion, hiding from the world, and writing songs every day.
I'm writing songs for Joe
Donohoe , you can check out his page. I wrote "Scumbag"
and "our Story" along with 8 more that haven't been
recorded yet. We haven't officially released anything yet, but someone got one of the acoustic demos off myspace and made this little video. I'm warning you, it's very dramatic.
I'm also playing slide guitar and cello for Sam Markus . He is writing timeless music and it gives me a chance to show my full range of musical expression, from subtle color tones to aggressive slide guitar. Here's a video we recorded in my living room.
I have many other interests outside of music such as Philosophy,
Psychology, Fashion, Fitness, and Classic Cars. In a previous life
I've also been:
- A Social Worker who changed the lives of
thousands of kids at The Forest Hills Community House.
- A camp
counselor for kids with cancer and their siblings at Camp Adventure,
run by the American Cancer Society.
- A writer, selling $10,000
in fashion books in a single week.
- A janitor, sweeping floors
at Good Samaritan Hospital.
- A criminal, arrested for putting up
my band's poster in the New York City subway.
- A college
basketball champion with the Adelphi Panthers, winners of the NYCAC
Conference Title.
Check out the video section for some live performance footage.