Name: J Mahon
Nationality: Australian
Occupation: Singer, songwriter
Current Release: J Mahon's new album BEGIN AGAIN, AGAIN is out June 27th 2025 via Unique.

If you enjoyed this J Mahon interview and would like to find out more about his music, visit him on Instagram, and bandcamp.
 


When it comes to experiencing strong emotions as as a listener, which albums, performances, and artists come to mind?

For an uplifting feeling I always go back to Sufjan Stevens’ ‘Illinois’ album - I used to lay in bed as a kid listening to that album on repeat.



For some kind of deep sadness I tend to go to my Spotify playlist ‘5:03am’ which I've been updating since 2013.

There can be many different kinds of emotions in art – soft, harsh, healing, aggressive, uplifting and many more. Which do you tend to feel drawn to most?

This year I've been more drawn to aggression.

I've been listening to a fair amount of hardcore and darker, fast paced and more intense music like the recent album by SLOWHOLE: SLOWHOLE. 



I have had a hard time explaining that listening to death metal calms me down. When you listen to a song or composition, does it tend to fill you with the same emotions – or are there “paradoxical” effects?

I am right there with you. I will listen to heavy music on a tram and I feel at peace, it’s quite strange and I'm not sure I can totally understand why that happens.

But then at the same time - if I listen to sad music I definitely feel sad. So I'm not sure …

In as far as it plays a role for the music you like listening to or making, what role do words and the voice of a vocalist play for the transmission of emotions?

I used to listen to a lot of French pop and one thing I always found interesting was that I couldn’t understand the lyrics yet I still felt a great deal of emotion towards it. Or for example, Sigur Ros. Their music is unreal and you get filled with euphoria and sadness but I don’t even know what it’s about.

But then you have something like Ben Folds’ ‘BRICK’ and that song destroys you because the lyrics are so perfect and literal.



When it comes to composing / songwriting, are you finding that spontaneity and just a few takes tend to capture emotions best? Or does honing a piece bring you closer to that goal?

Exactly that. I have no interest in sitting on a song longer than a day and trying to work on it and hone in.

I feel my emotions as they come and I record them in that moment.

How much of the emotions of your own music, would you say, are already part of the composition, how much is the result of the recording process?

The recording and composition stages are almost the same emotionally. When I write - I record at the same time.

Maybe the tough thing is when I then take those home recordings to the studio to ‘properly’ record them with Syd Kemp that sometimes you can’t even repeat the same feeling that I had on that original recordings.

A lot of this album was left in from the home demos.

For BEGIN AGAIN, AGAIN, what kind of emotions were you looking to get across?

I wasn’t trying to get anything across, but when I listen to the album now, I feel immense sadness. Some of those songs just destroy me.

How do you capture the emotions you want to get across in the studio?

I just do what I do. I wish I had more of a better answer for you - but I'm not really thinking about what I'm doing other than just doing it. Maybe other performers sit down and are like “hm okay, what do I wanna get across emotionally with this song” - I don’t have that issue.

A lot of the times I only realise how I was feeling months or years later when I am performing the song or when it is released. It’s diary entries for me.

What role do factors like volume, effects like distortion, amplification, and production in general for in terms of creating the emotions, energies or impressions you want?

A recording onto a cassette tape is going to feel a lot more intimate then something that was recorded in a massive studio with 50 people involved and financial backing. That intimacy can’t be repeated.

The song ‘Ladies and Gentleman we are floating in space’ by Spiritualized is incredibly emotional, but I'm sure that J Spaceman’s home demo of it is even more so.



In terms of emotions, what changes when you're performing live on stage, with an audience present, compared to the recording stage?

Not much to be honest. The recording stage for me is also the writing stage, as I write and record songs all in one sitting. So I guess in that way the writing and recording is when I'm truly going through the emotions.

When I perform them it’s like being transported back to that feeling.

How does the presence of the audience and your interaction with it change the emotional impact of the music and how would you describe the creative interaction with listeners during a gig?

I'm not entirely sure how to answer it, other than that I just do what I do live and try my best not to think too heavily on it.

If you watch a performer you can tell if it’s genuine feeling or not.

What kind of feedback have you received from listeners or concert audiences in terms of the experience that your music and/or performances have had on them?

That it’s quite intense. When I perform I do give it everything I have.

The songs are so raw to me, especially new songs like ‘Marina’ or ‘Begin Again’ from the new album. The lyrics in some of my songs are really intense for me and I can’t really just go on autopilot mode when I perform them.



Which I'm grateful for, but because of that I do tend to have emotional comedowns the following days after a show.

Would you say that you prefer to stay in control to be able to shape the emotions or do you surrender to them and allow the music to take over? Who, ultimately has control during a live performance?

I don’t have control over the live performance.

Sometimes I am incredibly angry and I walk around on stage like I'm about to fight someone. Other time’s I'm so introverted and feel like I want to leave and cry and be on my own.

But it just is what it is.

The emotions that music is able to generate can be extremely powerful. How, do you think, can artists make use of this power to bring about change in the world?

Just be genuine and write what you want. People will then feel that.