Meet four young musicians living in Mansfield who make original music: 23-year-old Earnest Mahoney (lead vocalist), 25-year-old Danny Mastin (drums), 25-year-old Mark “Mux” Canole (guitarist), and 22-year-old Cody Nicolas (guitarist). The band lives together in a house that they have turned into a music venue.
They write and produce their own brand of music dubbed “punx.”
“We believe punk died, and was resurrected by a bunch of kids who were just acting like punks- pretty much doing what they wanted to do, making music they way they wanted to make it, really not caring about what was popular… or technical,” said Mahoney, the band’s front man and lead singer.
They don’t believe in making music that fits the mainstream; in fact, the way they record and produce their music is intentional. On their new 5-song album, Yung Lungs, the average length for a single song is 1:41. The Pliers keep their music packed with tempo and high-energy.
“If the song is actually over [two minutes] we’ll find extra fat that we can cut off- like, we don’t need that part, we don’t want that part- we get in there and get it done,” commented Mahoney.
Band member Danny Mastin added, “The energy is so high that people get high off that.”
If you plan on seeing Mahoney & the Pliers perform live, make sure you get there on time because their shows only last 15 to 20 minutes. Why? They believe their music speaks for itself, and to go over this time means they have said too much.
“Songs are so short because we don’t want the listener to become bored,” said the band.
With influences from bands like The Sex Pistols, Mean Jeans, Vacation, Audacity, Big Eyes, New Creases, Minor Threat, and Joyce Manor- to name a few- the band aims to deviate from the norm by writing fast paced music with high energy- and “rude” lyrics.
To describe their music and lyrics, The Pliers responded with words like fast, energetic, rude, exciting and catchy. Their lyrics “describe experiences with drugs, living in a nasty environment, and youngsters doing what they wanna do and having fun.”
“Each song is kind of a underlying statement. They seem pretty straight forward, but pretty much all of our lyrics are just how we’re living and what we’re going through,” said Mahoney.
“And inside jokes,” Nicolas added.
“Yeah, yeah,” Mahoney replied. “That’s a big one- stuff that maybe only we’ll get. We like to think our stuff is catchy enough where people can yell back at us [during a show.]”
Since the four live together, the band’s writing process comes naturally. The two guitarists, Nicolas and Canole, share new riffs with the other members and lyrics come from Mahoney. They break each song into three simple stages: beginning, middle and end.
Their upcoming show is on December 20 at Chris’s Cafe on Fourth Street. They also plan on going on a two week basement tour with the band “Little Richard” to the East Coast and Midwest following their release of their next album, which will be in conjunction with Little Richard. The album will be released in January.
Prospective attendees to a Mahoney & the Pliers show should be advised that they will hear lyrics containing mature themes and strong language.
For more information and upcoming show details, visit their Facebook page.
