And that wasn’t Mahaffey’s only full-circle turn.
So, when DreamWorks, the label to which he’d been signed, offered him work in its burgeoning film and animation divisions, Mahaffey found himself working on an adult-friendly kids’ movie about a green monster, which led to work with Disney ( Henry Hugglemonster), Nickelodeon ( Sanjay and Craig), and more.Īs it turned out, being a kid musician and playing with kids’ instruments had been prescient training. Later, after he’d strayed from the bluegrass and country he was raised on growing up in East Tennessee, he formed the spunky, funky alternative pop rock band sElf, and in 2000, released its fifth album, Gizmodgery, recorded almost entirely with children’s toys. Mahaffey was just four years old when he started writing songs and playing drums, and soon honed his craft performing at Dollywood. When songwriter, composer and producer Matt Mahaffey started scoring for animated projects with the game-changing Shrek, the transition was not only serendipitous, but also a kind of full-circle turn.
