Insight Interview: Mahoney Outcast

An artist who carries so much potential, UK artist Mahoney Outcast was welcomed to the scene last year and has since worked with some of the most iconic and inspirational producers from within the future-garage community. Read what Mahoney Outcast had to say in this weeks Insight Interview.

Please tell us a little about yourself (who you are, where you’re from, what you do etc.)

Hi Insight! I am Mahoney Outcast, I am from Hertfordshire in the UK and I am a MC/songwriter mainly focused on vocals.

What’s the story behind the origin of your artist profile Mahoney Outcast? What can fans expect to hear when they are first introduced to your music?

I wanted to have my surname as my artist name because I feel it would really be a part of who I am more, the Outcast part I added because I made a track a long time ago called Outcast and my friend said I should keep doing part 2’s and 3’s ect of the track, so instead I just added that to my name.

Is there a specific process you take to writing music? Where do you draw inspiration for the lyrics you write?

Not really, sometimes I do it all in my head, sometimes I write on paper or type on PC, sometimes I freestyle until something sticks and I can start putting verses or songs together from there. Inspiration comes mainly from images I see in my head that I try to describe in word form, other than that, it’s just real life experiences that I have lived through/still living through or other peoples life that I feel hit my heart enough.

Do you have an educational background in music, or are you self-taught? 

No. I am self-taught.

Who are your major musical influences?

I am not sure anymore, it’s a tough question, these days I hear all types of sounds and wonder what that sound would sound like with this sound, or mixing that with this. At the moment I would say I listen to Lisa Gerrard the most, I’m not sure if other peoples music influence me that much, inspire yes, just not influence.

Are there any other musical projects that came before your current artist identity? If so, what triggered the change in direction? 

Yeah. I was making a lot of hip-hop and grime before, I just felt that it had reached a brick wall back then and I became bored of music so I stopped for around 3 years, I then found future-garage, although when I found it I was not aware that it was called that.

I didn’t even think I should MC over it but it kept calling me until I did, and that’s where the change came from. The track ”Suffocating” was the changing direction for me. That track was a mix between freestyle and doing it in my head.

Out of your entire body of work, is there one track that means the most to you and why?

Probably ”Suffocating” just because of the big shift it offered me in musical direction. Outside of that I would say ”Trip To Georgia” is my most all well rounded piece of writing that I have released so far and ‘Emanate” for the rawness from where I wrote it from. Both of those 2 tracks are very intertwined.

”Trip To Georgia” was me putting myself in my friends shoes and speaking about a relationship he was going through and ”Emanate” was wrote about a relationship I was going though. I wrote them in the same frames as that’s when things were happening for both of us.

As an artist, what would you say is your ultimate goal?  

That seems to change weekly, but ultimately I would say to reach as many people as I can doing what I want without compromise, to a point where not only me, but friends in the future-garage scene can start to make financial gain from the work we do so we can just create all-day long.

Anything on the horizon for fans to look out for?

Yeah! I have an E.P. Some more orchestral vibes with Stefan Grossmann, I’m cooking up with Last Chariot that were taking on a different vibe with, also a track on his next E.P. Release too, an E.P. In the pipes with Eonika, stuff with Bass Ronin, Olduvai, La Soul, me and Bucky are in talks about possibly given people a body of work from us next.

I have a collab with my boy Lazarus Moment which I’m excited for people to hear! Sure I am forgetting people so sorry if you read this and I did! I have also been learning how to produce from Last Chariot formerly (Eikona) so you can be on the look out for some self produced tracks by myself and I will get round to releasing some as instrumental versions too .

Any advice you can share with those just starting out? 

Just commit to the style that you really want to do and don’t listen to other peoples views on your own personal music choices, be inspired by others music but don’t try to replicate it. Even if you think your style or how you go about music is really abnormal if you don’ stick to what you really want to do you will fall out of love with music completely and its very difficult to recover that love.

Here the sounds of Mahoney Outcast on Soundcloud below.