Paul Cantwell Mahern
Born (1963-09-11) September 11, 1963
Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Occupation(s)Record producer, musician
Years active1979–present
Known forWork with John Mellencamp and other artists

Paul Mahern (born September 11, 1963) is an American rock and pop record producer, mixing and mastering engineer, singer, songwriter, professor, and yoga teacher.

Mahern has worked with acts such as John Mellencamp, Lily & Madeleine, The Fray, Iggy Pop, Lisa Germano, Willie Nelson, Okkervil River, Over the Rhine, Afghan Whigs, Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band, Magnolia Electric Co., Simrit and Neil Young.[1]

Early life

Paul Cantwell Mahern[2] was the youngest in a family of eight. He was born in Indianapolis and lived in Chicago for much of his childhood before returning to Indianapolis as a teenager.

Career

As musician

In 1979, at age 17, Mahern first gained attention as singer for hardcore punk band The Zero Boys. The band was known nationwide for its intense live performances, and its debut album Vicious Circle remains a punk-rock staple, recently seeing a re-release on Secretly Canadian Records.

He also played in several other Indianapolis bands in the 1980s and 1990s, including Dandelion Abortion, Datura Seeds, and DNA-12.

As record producer

During his days in The Zero Boys, Mahern also started learning about the production aspects of record-making. He began recording local Indianapolis-area bands, and was soon working at Hit City Recording as an in-house engineer. After a few years of paying his dues in and around Indy, Paul made a move to Bloomington, Indiana, where he started working with major label acts like Blake Babies, The Judybats and Mysteries Of Life.[3] He founded Affirmation Records.[2]

Mahern eventually attracted the attention of John Mellencamp, who now works primarily with Mahern as his recording engineer. Most recently they undertook a project for Mellencamp's "No Better Than This" album by touring the country with co-producer T-Bone Burnett, to record in rooms with a single 1950's reel-to-reel tape deck and one microphone.[3]

Always open to learning more about his field, Mahern worked for two years at Indiana University on the NEH-funded Sound Directions project, at the Archives of Traditional Music. It was there that Mahern was lead engineer on an IU and Harvard University co-authored paper on best practices for audio preservation. His work there involved all aspects of transferring analog sources to the digital realm, including everything from restoration and repair of old tapes and discs to digitization and metadata management.

Mahern has produced and/or engineered many national and local Indiana artists' records, including Afghan Whigs, Blake Babies, Lisa Germano, The Fray, Over the Rhine (band), Rev. Peyton's Big Damn Band, Mercy Creek,[4] Sloppy Seconds, Turnerjoy,[5] Toxic Reasons, Antenna, The Judybats, The Sugarfreaks, Thin Lizard Dawn, John Mellencamp, El Nino, John Wilkes Booze, The PIeces, The Mary Janes, Iggy Pop, Farm Aid.

In 2012, Mahern began working with Lily & Madeleine, a sister duo from Indianapolis. He discovered the girls and encouraged them to start writing, later recording and producing both their EP and self-titled full length, released in November 2013 on Asthmatic Kitty Records.

Industry recognition

Bands and musical projects

Zero Boys

In 1979, at age 17, Mahern was enlisted to be the singer and frontman for up-and-coming Indianapolis band, Zero Boys.[2]

Their first release, Livin' in the '80s, was a 7-inch EP released by the band on their home-brew Z-Disc label. Their debut full-length album, Vicious Circle, was released in 1982 with its distinctive bright yellow cover on the local label Nimrod Records.

The Zero Boys have been cited as influential to many current punk and punk-pop bands.[6] Recently, The Hives released a cover of Zero Boys' "Civilization's Dying"

Dandelion Abortion (mid 1980s)

Paul Mahern, Randy Ochsenrider, Rick Ochsenrider, Mike Sheets

Datura Seeds (late 1980s - early 1990s)

Late 1980s-Early 1990s. Paul Mahern, Jonee Quest, Lee Cuthbert, Tom Downs, Vess Ruhtenberg

DNA-12 (late 1990s)

Late 1990s. Paul Mahern, Gretchen Holtz

Pseudonyms

Mahern is credited and referred to interchangeably under several monikers including:

  • Paul Mahern
  • Paul Z
  • Paul Cantwell Mahern
  • Mahan Kalpa Singh
  • Mahan Kalpa

References

  1. ↑ "Paul Mahern - Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 "Paul Mahern". Discogs.com. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  3. 1 2 "20 years: Paul Mahern, then and now". NUVO. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  4. ↑ "Record". Mercycreek.com. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  5. ↑ Get Out of Home. | The Story of Turnerjoy, retrieved 2023-01-11
  6. ↑ "BLURTING WITH… Paul Mahern/Zero Boys on Blurt Online". Archived from the original on 2011-10-06. Retrieved 2011-04-06.
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