Kevin "Kevvy Mental" Maher (born April 20, 1988) is a Canadian musician, producer, film composer and remix artist most notable for his work in

Fake Shark Fake Shark (formerly known as Fake Shark – Real Zombie!) is a Canadian electronic indie-pop band from Vancouver, British Columbia. Formed in 2005, their early musical style mainly combined elements of dance punk and IDM but have since shifted ...

as lead vocalist and programmer.

Early life

Maher was born an only child in

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anchor ...

, and raised in Langley, British Columbia, by a single mother. Maher attended

Langley Fine Arts School Langley Fine Arts School is a public elementary school and secondary school in Fort Langley, British Columbia, Canada, and is part of School District 35 Langley. It serves the Fort Langley area and its arts program attracts many students from acro ...

majoring in visual art. Maher was kicked out of Langley Fine Arts in his grade 12 year. Maher attended Walnut Grove Secondary to finish his high school education. During his time at Walnut Grove, Maher also attended AI Burnaby for audio engineering.

Musical career

Maher is primarily a vocalist in the band

, but also plays guitar, piano and programs electronics. He has done a variety of

remixes A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

, listed below. He has also programmed electronics and contributed vocals to

Jakalope Jakalope is a Canadian Indie pop/rock group, formed in 2003 and named for the mythical creature of the jackalope, and started by noted Canadian industrial musician and producer Dave "Rave" Ogilvie, most famous for his studio work with such acts a ...

, as well as working alongside

Dave Ogilvie Dave "Rave" Ogilvie is a Canadian record producer, mixer, songwriter and musician. The former member of bands Skinny Puppy and Jakalope started his recording career in Vancouver working as an engineer at Mushroom Studios. He has been described by ...

coproducing the debut album by former

Lillix Lillix () was a pop rock band from Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada, formed in 1997 when the early members were in high school. The band was originally an all-girl group under the name Tigerlily composed of guitarist Tasha-Ray Evin, keyboard ...

bass player

Louise Burns Louise Burns is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Formerly a member of the band Lillix, she released her debut album as a solo artist, ''Mellow Drama'', on April 5, 2011, on Light Organ Records. The album was longlisted for the 2011 Polaris Music Pr ...

. The record was nominated for the

Polaris Music Prize The Polaris Music Prize is a music award annually given to the best full-length Canadian album based on artistic merit, regardless of genre, sales, or record label. The award was established in 2006 with a $20,000 cash prize; the prize was incr ...

. In 2008, Maher teamed up with writer/director CJ Wallis to score the

Sarah Slean Sarah Hope Slean (born June 21, 1977) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, composer and musician. She has released eleven albums to date (including EPs and live albums). She is also a poet, visual artist, and occasional actress. Career Major recordi ...

short film ''Last Flowers''. The film received a pair of

Leo Awards The Leo Awards are the awards program for the British Columbia film and television industry. Held each May or June in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the Leo Awards were founded by the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Foundation of British C ...

nominations in 2009. In 2012, co-wrote and produced part of

Carly Rae Jepsen Carly Rae Jepsen (born November 21, 1985) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. After studying musical theatre for most of her school life and while in university, Jepsen garnered mainstream attention after placing third on the fifth season of ...

's new record,Woolsey, Barbara (13 March 2014).
Freak-pop band prides itself on keeping it real
, ''

Leader-Post The ''Regina Leader-Post'' is the daily newspaper of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, and a member of the Postmedia Network. Founding The newspaper was first published as ''The Leader'' in 1883 by Nicholas Flood Davin, soon after Edgar Dewdney, Lie ...

''. Retrieved 22 March 2014. Kiss, and wrote the

Fake Shark - Real Zombie! Fake Shark (formerly known as Fake Shark – Real Zombie!) is a Canadian electronic indie-pop band from Vancouver, British Columbia. Formed in 2005, their early musical style mainly combined elements of dance punk and IDM but have since shifted ...

record ''Liar''. He has also composed some of the music for the film

American Mary ''American Mary'' is a 2012 Canadian body horror film written and directed by Jen and Sylvia Soska and starring Katharine Isabelle, Antonio Cupo, and Tristan Risk. Isabelle plays a destitute medical student who begins taking clients from the ext ...

Influence

Maher cites a wide array of artists as influences. As a child, he listened to the

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop group formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its original members include RZA, GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa. Close affili ...

. He has been quoted as listening to almost nothing but rap music and jazz. He is a huge fan of

Tyler the Creator Tyler Gregory Okonma (born March 6, 1991), known professionally as Tyler, the Creator, is an American rapper and record producer. He is one of the founding members of the music collective Odd Future. Okonma self-released his debut mixtape ''B ...

Christian Scott Christian Scott (born March 31, 1983), known professionally as Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah (formerly Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah), is an American jazz trumpeter, multi instrumentalist, composer, and producer. He has been nominated for six Gramm ...

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

, and

Mike Patton Michael Allan Patton (born January 27, 1968) is an American singer, producer, film composer and voice actor, best known as the lead vocalist of the alternative metal band Faith No More. Noted for his vocal proficiency, diverse singing techni ...

. He is known to have a friendship with Matt Webb, guitarist of Canadian pop-rock band Marianas Trench. Another influence and friend is Henry Rollins of Black Flag.

Credits

– Zebra! Zebra! Band Member (2007) *Fake Shark - Real Zombie! –

Meeting People Is Terrible ''Meeting People Is Terrible'' is the second album by Vancouver dance-punk band Fake Shark - Real Zombie!. Originally, it was set to be released April 25, 2009 in Canada but had been pushed back by the label to August 26, 2009 in Japan and inter ...

Band Member (2009) *

Fan Death Fan Death was a synthpop band formed in Brooklyn, New York City, in 2007 as a collaboration between producer Szam Findlay with vocalists Dandilion Wind Opaine ( Dandi Wind) and Marta Jaciubek-McKeever. Findlay then moved to Vancouver, British ...

– A Coin for the Well (

Audio Engineering Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to: Sound * Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound *Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum * Digital audio, representation of sou ...

) (2009) *Fan Death – Womb of Dreams (

) (2010) *

– Things That Go Jump in the Night – Vocals, Programming, Production (2010) *

– Mellow Drama – Producer (2010) *

The Birthday Massacre The Birthday Massacre (abbreviated TBM) is a Canadian rock band , formed in 1999 in London, Ontario, and currently based in Toronto, Ontario. The current lineup consists of lead vocalist Sara 'Chibi' Taylor, rhythm guitarist Michael Rainbow, l ...

–

Pins and Needles ''Pins and Needles'' (1937) is a musical revue with a book by Arthur Arent, Marc Blitzstein, Emmanuel Eisenberg, Charles Friedman, David Gregory, Joseph Schrank, Arnold B. Horwitt, John Latouche, and Harold Rome, and music and lyrics by Rome. ...

– Programming, Editing (2010) *

Raggedy Angry Based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Raggedy Angry is a band that plays a mixture of synth and industrial rock music. On October 1, 2010 via Synthetic Sounds and Danse Macabre the band released their third full-length album entitled ''How I Learn ...

– How I Learned To Love Our Robot Overlords – Vocals (2010) *Matt Webb of

Marianas Trench (band) Marianas Trench are a Canadian pop rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia, formed in 1999 by Josh Ramsay (lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, pianist) and lead guitarist Steve Marshall with Ramsay's sister Sara on keyboards and vocals, Erik Scott ...

– EP Producer (2011) *

– Kiss – Writer / Producer (2012) *Jessica Lee – Carried Away – Producer (2012) *Fighting For Ithaca – To the Rescue Song Writer (2012) *Anami Vice – Are You Serious – Producer (2012) *Cat Thomson – TBA – Producer (2012) *We Need Surgery – Self Titled – Producer (2012) *The Birthday Massacre – Hide and Seek – Synthesizer / Drums (2012) * Kat Von D – TBA – Writer *Fighting For Ithaca – Do What We Wanna – Writer *Fake Shark - Real Zombie! – Liar – Writer/Producer *Paige Morgan – TBA – Producer *

Down With Webster Down With Webster is a Canadian rap rock band from The Beaches area of Toronto who signed with Universal Motown in April 2009. Down with Webster was originally formed for a middle school talent show. The band released their first official EP, '' ...

– TBA – Writer *Kate Morgan – TBA – Producer/Writer *Carly Rae Jepsen – Emotion Side B - Writer (2016)

References

External links

Kevin James Maher
on Myspace {{DEFAULTSORT:Maher, Kevin James Canadian film score composers Male film score composers Canadian record producers Living people Musicians from Edmonton Musicians from British Columbia People from Langley, British Columbia (city) Jakalope members Die Mannequin members 1988 births