#ArtistAtHome is a series of portraits and profiles of local artists by Christopher Edmonstone. Read all about it and see the archive HERE.
Please meet today's #ArtistAtHome Kevin 'Kevvy Mental' Maher. Kevin is primarily a vocalist in the band Fake Shark, but he also plays guitar, piano and programs electronics. He is a man of many talents - from performer to producer to songwriter.
He went to school for audio engineering at AI Burnaby and says that he is flattered they have a photo of him on the wall there. He chose to get a formal education in audio engineering because he wanted to produce his own album, but now believes it might not have been the best route and has come to realize that instead of spending 20-30k on tuition, it might have been more economical to buy a Macbook and a Duet (recording interface) and Logic (recording software) and learn how to use those instead.
While working on some jams with fellow Vancouver musician and music journalist Louis Burns, he got into producing after she shared some of them with her manager, 604 Records founder Jonathan Simkin. Simkin later went on to set Kevvy up to write with and produce a few artists on 604 Records, including Carly Rae Jepsen, and he has been doing it ever since.
Kevin ‘Kevvy Mental’ Maher at home.
On the production side of things Kevvy has recently worked with local darling Tonya Aganaba, comedian Dino Archie, and he is currently producing the new Die Mannequin album for which he is also a member.
Over the years, he has scored the soundtrack for every horror movie by the Soska Sisters including Dead Hooker In Trunk, American Mary, Vendetta, See No Evil 2, ABC's of Death 2 and all of their Blood Drive shorts, one in which Kevvy made an appearance (and was shortly killed off on screen).
We had a good visit, chatting about Fake Shark's new material and fending off his cute kitty cat Ted, who insisted that he be petted (and would meow constantly until we did). As you can see from the photo, Kevvy is a fan of Audrey Hepburn, so much so that he has a tattoo of her on his right forearm. He loves tattoos, his left arm is emblazoned with the likeness of Erykah Badu with the artistry done by the famed Kat von D.
Many thanks to Kevvy and Ted for having me over and to Steve Bays for connecting us. Keep an eye out on their website for the new Fake Shark video that Kevvy produced.
