Brendan McMahon has just released his second single from his forthcoming album due out in November. 'Only highs' is Brendan's first duet, featuring Hiney's amber Ferraro.
Tomatrax caught up with Brendan to talk about his music.
Your single 'Only highs' features the vocals of Amber Ferraro, how did this collaboration come out?
Amber has done some backing vocal work on my last 2 albums, when we were in the studio working on Only Highs for my upcoming 4 th album, I thought it would be nice if Amber took the lead vocal on the first line on the third chorus... she did such an amazing job that I asked her to sing the entire chorus... her vocal certainly added a lot to the track...!
You have an album due for release in November, how has that been going?
We've released 2 singles so far, "I Am" in May and now "Only Highs" and they have both been received really well. There'll also be a third single released and promoted with the album. The album is finished so I'm getting more excited as the weeks go by.
How will the rest of the album compare with your first two singles?
I don't really conform to a single music genre... I let the songs develop and grow in any direction that feels right. There's country, pop, Celtic & rock influences on the album... a bit of a mixed bag to keep it interesting...!
Where did the title In the moment come from?In The Moment is the title of a track that will be on my 5 th album... this is how I name my albums. My first album was Falling To Earth, the track Falling To Earth was on my second album... My second album was Marker 7 - 58, the track Marker 7 - 58 appeared on my 3 rd album... My third album was called On This Fine Occasion, the track is on my 4 th album. Not sure why I started this way but I'm happy to keep it going.
What's the music scene in Kapunda like?
Doesn't really exist these days... Kapunda is a small country town about 80km from Adelaide. When I was younger, we used to hire the town hall and put on our own show s, w e'd get up t o 350 people come to the gigs... it was great fun.
You were previously the lead singer of a rock cover band, how does performing cover songs compare with performing your own songs?
To me is kind of like miming compared to singing live... it's so much more exhilarating to have a crowd enjoy original music compared to covers.
You previously released solo albums under the moniker of Satellite Gods, what inspired you to use your own name this time round?
I originally set out with the notion of putting a band together however after the second album I decided the solo thing was the way I wanted to go ... subsequently the name change.
What was it like to collaborate with Wilbur Wilde and Bob Spencer?
Great... Wil ly is exactly as you may have seen him on TV... a genuine nice and funny guy. I've been a fan of Bob for more than 20 years so when I got the chance to work with him it was like a dream come true... great player and lovely man.
Do you ever listen to your own music?
I hear it continuously while I'm creating and recording it, the n I play it at gigs. Once I've finished an album I won't generally listen to it much at all but every now and then if I'm on the road for a long time, I'll listen to the albums one after the other... to get a gauge if my style is changing and to hear if the production and song writing is developing.
What other music do you listen to?
Everything I can... from hard rock to country to indie to pop to Celtic... anything goes. I like to ask other musos what they are listening to and I'll generally have a listen to that.
What do you have planned once the album is out?
More recording, more gigs and more travel to inspire my lyrics...!