Press Kit

Mack Hooligan – Bio

Mack Hooligan (aka, Michael Magoolaghan) spent his formative years in Arizona and New Mexico, where he grew up listening to a mix of classic singer-songwriters (Dylan, Neil Young), New Wave upstarts (Elvis Costello, The Pretenders), blues greats (Muddy Waters, Bonnie Raitt) and folk/country artists (John Prine and Townes van Zandt). Mixing those influences together, Magoolaghan started writing his own songs and playing at Phoenix, AZ area bars with three of his high school teachers, who played in a folky cover band.

Joining an open mic songwriting competition at his teachers’ urging, Magoolaghan won the contest, only to have his award rescinded when the bar owners figured out how old he really was (16). On another occasion Magoolaghan stepped in to break up a fight his social studies teacher inadvertently picked with a football lineman. It was rough entry into show business.

For links to all things Mack Hooligan, see my Linktr.ee page.

After performing on and off at bars and coffee houses in Flagstaff and Tucson, Magoolaghan spent most of the next two decades bouncing around the country, moving from Bisbee, AZ to Washington, DC, to Seattle, WA and Atlanta, GA. More than 25 years later, after he’d settled in the Philadelphia suburbs, Magoolaghan was enticed into playing publicly again. Two years later he was headlining shows and festivals with a full band, Mack & the Hooligans.

Mack’s brand of musical hooliganism is a mix of rough-and-tumble roots rock, New Mex/Tex alt country (think Ray Wylie Hubbard meets Uncle Tupelo), and more traditional singer-songwriter balladry. Songs like “Moyamensing Avenue” and “The Wrecking Life” mate his native Southwestern sensibilities with his adopted home’s blunt talk and gritty attitude. The comical “Yard Work” takes that unwieldy combo a step further by adding the blurting death-cough of an old lawnmower (courtesy of producer Cliff Hillis), along with a bombastic outro monologue aimed at the protagonist’s lazy-ass son.

Hooligan enlisted John Faye — former frontman for The Caulfields, IKE, and John & Brittany, among others — to produce his next set of originals. Faye teases out a melancholy, emotive side of Hooligan on the 5-song EP “Your Goddamn Walls,” released in June, 2019. Songs like the title track, along with “My Haunted Mind” and “My Mind’s Not Right,” layer atmospheric guitar effects, lap steel guitar licks and pillowy backing vocals atop Mack’s yearning vocals and acoustic guitars. Delco-based songwriter Tom Curtis Jr. (of Curtis Jr.) provides backing vocals on the tender ballad “Choose Love.”

Now back in his native Southwest, Mack is currently gigging solo in the Tucson, AZ while recording a new batch of original tunes.

Praise

Praise for Mack Hooligan:

“Every few weeks, I take a drive with The Hooligan. I’ve traveled the long highways of Pennsylvania and the country roads of rural New Jersey with The Hooligan. I’ve enjoyed every moment spent with The Hooligan, with his melodic melancholy and his just-when-you-least-expect-it whimsy. Thanks for riding with me. I’m off to do some yard work.”
— Greg McGarvey (http://www.gregmcgarvey.net/p/count-colors.html)

“You are nothing but talent oozing out my speakers.”
— Twisted Folk, Kitchener, Ontario (https://www.reverbnation.com/artist/twistedfolk)

For “Detritus” (released in March, 2025):

“”Detritus” sounds new and old. You feel like it’s always been in the collective unconscious (sound-wise): rough, rugged, poetic, solid: good stuff…” — Adam Berenson, Pianist & Composer

On the Your Goddamn Walls / The Wrecking Life double-EP:
“Just getting around to spinning the Your Goddamn Walls CD you gave me, (sorry not sooner), and it’s really f*ckin good dude. Done so well.”
—Jim Cunningham, Forward Productions (https://twitter.com/jim_forwardprod)

“Really enjoyed listening to your EP plus bonus EP!”
—Jessica Grae (https://www.jessicagraae.com)

On “Bonesaw (For Jamal Khashoggi)”:
“WOW. I love it. Where did you record this? also, you’re doing a tiny desk submission of it, right?????”
—Irene Lambrou of Almshouse (almshousemusic.com)

On “Moyamensing Avenue”:
“Very nice song! Please do send a CD.”
—Mark Rogers, Host of “Hometown Heroes” on Delaware Public Media (https://www.facebook.com/pg/HometownHeroesDEValley/posts/)

Recordings

Recordings of Mack’s original tunes can be found on his music site at mackhooligan.com, as well as via all of the major music streaming services.

Your Goddamn Walls EP link page
Moyamensing Avenue (remastered) link page
The Wrecking Life EP link page

Or, you can listen to Mack’s latest releases here:

http://www.reverbnation.com/artist/mackhooligan

2020 Releases

The songs linked below were released in early 2020. Both were produced by John Faye and Ron DiSilvestro and recorded and mixed by Ron at Studio D. They were mastered by Phil Nicolo at Studio 4.

Bonesaw (For Jamal Khashoggi)
Bullet with Your Name on It

The files linked above are in MP3 format. Files in higher-quality formats are available upon request.

Video for “Moyamensing Avenue”

This music video was released in the fall of 2020. It was produced by the multi-talented John Faye, with videography by yours truly. The featured actors are Kerry Kristine and Joe Trainer, of Wilmington, Delaware’s City Theater Company and The Rock Orchestra.

Video link (opens in YouTube):

https://youtu.be/-As0K48m7L8

Gigs

Mack has played numerous gigs in southeastern Pennsylvania and Delaware over the past four years, sometimes solo, sometimes as part of an acoustic duo (also just called Mack Hooligan), and sometimes with his full band, Mack & the Hooligans. Below are some of his more notable gigs.