Today we’d like to introduce you to Thomas Mahar.
Hi Thomas, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in Greenville, NC. I’ve played music most of my life. My parents started me and my sister on violin when I was four, which I continued until the summer of fourth grade. Then in seventh grade, I started playing guitar because I had friends who played and I thought it was cool! I lived in Athens, GA for a couple of years for school. Then in August 2016, I moved to Redondo Beach and got a place with my sister. Now I live in Long Beach and have played in a couple of bands in LA. Last year I recorded my debut album, A Place For Your Ghosts To Dance. It contains 12 songs I have written over the past 2-3 years. After recording the album, I put together a band called Francis Retrognome with bassist Cayla Dean. The album was released on July 27th, 2022 and we played our album release show on July 28th at the Whiskey A Go Go.
We have since been gigging around LA, Hollywood, and the South Bay playing the songs from the album. We are currently working on new songs.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
I learned a lot during the recording process. I kind of dove right into recording my album and learned the necessary things along the way. I had never recorded vocals in a studio and my producer and vocal coach both helped me a lot with the singing techniques I needed to learn. I had recorded the guitar in a studio setting before, but there are always things to learn. I think you can only get better in the studio by going in and recording yourself and then looking back and seeing where you could have prepared more or relaxed more and what worked well. Overall the recording process sped up the learning process for me because I had to learn some technical things in a short amount of time.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I play guitar and sing. I love combining emotional lyrics with guitar parts that are sometimes raw and melodic in the same song. If I can achieve playing a heavier song, and then have prettier melodic lines mixed in I feel pretty excited about it. But not every song is like that. There are a couple of acoustic songs on the album and even a bossa nova song. I just try to explore different sounds in my music. One of the most exciting things about music to me is that there are endless possibilities. I like to practice a lot and study music. When I am practicing, a song idea will sometimes hit me and I try to explore it as far as I can. That’s how all of the songs on this album were written. I would be practicing and then start playing something else and I would be like “okay there’s a song here.” Sometimes I’m not able to write a whole song when an idea hits me, but for the songs on this album with the exception of a couple like 666 The End and Someplace New, the songs were written in one sitting, guitar and lyrics.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I think of this as the people who have provided opportunities for me along the way. I couldn’t do anything alone. There have been people who have given me a chance in a band, such as Elm Pizarro, Knicole Haggins, and Olie Lopez. It was through these experiences that I grew as an artist and met more musicians. My producer Brian Blake was so kind in recording a single with me and then helping me record an entire album. I couldn’t have done it without him. So it’s been the people along the way who have helped me so much.
Contact Info:
- Website: francisretrognome.com
- Instagram: @francis_retrognome
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/SYBRq6Unmtc
- SoundCloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/pu9om
- Other: https://linktr.ee/francisretrognome
Image Credits
Taylor Hoskins
