Maloney’s maturing sound backed by foot-stomping beat
‘Nice comfy spot’
After three albums and more than a thousand gigs across North America and the U.K. since 2013, singer-songwriter Pat Maloney took his foot ever so slightly off the pedal this year.
Though still touring regularly, the Hamilton-based musician decided to take a break from full-length albums and concentrate on releasing a couple of digital-only singles in 2018.
The latest of these, “Only Human,” was released in June and features the lived-in baritone and rich storytelling that has become Maloney’s calling card.
Reached by phone earlier this week, Maloney, whose 2013 debut, “Root Rot,” was followed in quick succession by “Repotting” (2014) and “Righthere” (2016), said the song was a chance to showcase the more serious side of his songwriting.
“I’d never really focused on the darker stuff. There’s always been one or two songs like that on each album, but I always released with videos and pushed the more easily digestible stuff. I really like those darker ones and kind of figured I would give that a shot and put a little elbow grease behind (them). I really like the lyrics in those sometimes, the more introspective ones I’m usually pretty proud of.”
That said, he’s recently been writing “wholesome sort of stuff” about his experience as a first-time dad and family man. His next batch of songs will be
called “Rideshare Songs,” about his adventures on the road giving rides to strangers while on tour and listening to their stories.
“That was a pretty wild time, I guess, lots of time on the road. At least that’s what I was focusing on for my songwriting. And then, yeah, since the baby’s been born, it’s definitely got a little sweeter, for sure,” he said.
“And I mean, I always had nicer stuff, there was always a good variety on each album, I’m proud to say. There would be a couple of dark songs, and then a couple of quirky, fun ones, and a couple of rocker songs, and then a couple of nice sweet ones as well. But it seems that I definitely have settled in this nice, comfy spot, and then the songs are reflecting that, for sure.”
Along with his songwriting skills, Maloney has made his name via his foot-stomping live shows, and said his road to becoming a solo performer started at an early age.
“I’ve been playing music my whole life and always knew that that’s what I wanted to do. I was always a performer, whether it was just making the family gatherings all laugh or hamming it up. I would always do skits at school, I would always get on stage any chance I got,” he said.
After playing classical music as a kid, Maloney became a drummer, and played in various bands for more than a decade in genres as diverse as hardcore punk, country, soul, and hip-hop, before quitting the kit for good around eight years ago
“I think I was at the end of my rope with the last band I was in,” he said.
With his love of a wide variety of musical genres still intact, however, Maloney decided to switch to something completely different.
“I’ve always liked to sing and I always wanted to learn how to play guitar, and so I figured I’d just kind of fake it on guitar until I got good,” he said with a laugh, “and that was five years ago.”
Balancing a heavy touring schedule and quality time with his family has worked out so far, though Maloney said it’s not something he takes for granted.
“I’ve been lucky to be able to do what I do as long as I have. I quit my job five years ago, and it’s been kind of non-stop ever since. And a large part of the reason why I could do that is because my family rocks.”
Though he’s eased up on the gas a little this year, it’s full speed ahead for the near future, with dates in northern Ontario this weekend, followed by a stop in Kitchener at Descendants Beer and Beverage Co. on Sept. 28 (he’ll also return to the area in October for shows at Abe Erb in Waterloo and the TWB brewery in Kitchener) and shows across Ontario filling up the rest of the calendar this fall.
“You gotta love it,” he said. “If it was easy, then everybody’d be doing it.”