by Gil Carroll
With the release of his new, overwhelmingly fresh and catchy LP, Salad Days, Mac DeMarco has been dragged into the indie music spotlight with force. He’s been told to stay there, take countless interviews with every music blog in North America and Europe, sing some songs to sold out crowds all over the world, tell jokes and do funny dances. With so much coverage and a frenzy of hip kids surrounding Mac at this point, what else is left to be said?
After I made multiple attempts to arrange a sit down, face to face Skype interview with Mac, it was officially called off after Mac got stuck at the Brazilian consulate. In the end, an email interview was all he could make time for. Deciding what questions to send to Mac was exciting, but tough. He is, afterall, a guy who just announced a collaboration with Tyler the Creator, covers Limp Bizkit live, and yet also writes some gentle lullaby-like songs with the repetitive phrasing of “it’s easy love, fits like a glove, from up above together.”
DeMarco is a tough guy to pin down. After reading his email responses, it became clear to me that his less than enthusiastic answers actually meant more than I initially realized. Mac, I came to realize, is a guy who just wants to have fun and be weird, enjoy the wild ride he has been thrown on, and make great music along the way.
As a huge fan of Captured Tracks, the Brooklyn-based label that has released Mac’s past three albums, I was excited to find out how“Shitfather” – a super group featuring members from some of the label’s best bands, including DIIV, Wild Nothing, and Beach Fossils – came to be. Mac played drums in Shitfather, whose only performance to date was at the CT5 festival, a celebration of the label’s fifth year. The two day event featured performances in Brooklyn by most of the labels heavy hitters including Blouse, DIIV, Beach Fossils, Craft Spells, Widoswspeak and, of course, DeMarco. Shitfather covered songs from Cleaners from Venus, The Wake and Craft Spells. Stepping out of the spotlight and sitting steady behind the drum afforded Mac a rare moment – to play the music he loves without the expected shtick that comes with his performances. This was a subtle reminder that not only is this dude hilarious and a fan favourite, he is full of unique musical talent and style.
Stylus: How did Shitfather come about? Who wrote those songs? Is there any possibility for a future Shitfather album to be recorded and released?
Mac DeMarco: Shitfather was just a cover band. We practiced a couple times so we could play at the CT5 festival. I don’t think we’ll ever do a record, hahahaha.
A performance by a group like Shitfather allowed these musicians who have been large influences in guitar/bedroom/lo-fi music over the past half-decade and more to display their influences and musical prowess. Mac is, not surprisingly, one hell of a drummer.
Mac is in great company in the Captured Tracks family. The label puts out records from an impressively diverse and ground breaking lineup of new artists, as well reissues albums from lesser known/odd shoegaze bands like Medicine and Deardarkhead. Most of the bands on CT are able to capture the sounds of walking by the beach, on intense pain killers, the sun battling for presence with dark clouds in the sky.
Stylus: You and your band use a lot of vintage gear. Does the sound you are going for influence what gear you use, or does the gear you use influence your sound? What is your favourite piece of musical equipment you own?
MD: I think the gear influences the sound. Most new music gear sounds like a bowl of butt cheeks. I’ve just always played old stuff since I was pretty young. I love these Yamaha E1005 and E1010 delay units I have. They sound crazy.
DeMarco’s use of delay units and old cheaply-made guitars have allowed him to establish a refreshing and distinctive tone which carries his own style of light suburban youth lyrics. The result of this is three albums worth of beach pop gems. Naturally, due to Mac’s hazy poppy style, a recently announced collaboration with Tyler the Creator, (the most notable member of the LA based hip hop collective, Odd Future) was surprising and unsurprising at the same time. Tyler, the Creator is known for his onstage antics and rowdiness, and has throngs of fans that would fall under “skater dude”, not unlike Mac’s.
Stylus: Any other collaborations you are working on at the moment?
MD: ‘I’ve been trying to milk some sperm out of George Clooney’s member. It’s a long and arduous process, but I feel like we’re making progress.
Nowadays, DeMarco is being spotted higher and higher on festival lineup posters. In August, Mac will play Osheaga and Pickathon alongside bands like Modest Mouse, The War on Drugs and Woods.
Stylus: What is your favourite part of music festivals?
MD: How expensive everything is.
Festival lineups for the big summer fests such as Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and Sasquatch are diverse. However, many of the headliners are recycled and reflect the need for festivals to appeal to huge EDM crowds and folk sing-alongers.
Stylus: What are your top five favourite bands playing music at the moment?
MD: YMO, Connan Mockasin, The Doobie Sisters, Juan Wauters, Amen Dunes.
Stylus: What should Winnipeggers expect to see at your show here in June?
MD: My buttcheeks.
There is no doubt the show will be a packed house full of people who will be expecting nothing less. Check it out for yourself when Mac DeMarco takes to the stage at The Park Theatre on June 24 with Edmonton lo-fi pop act Calvin Love and local gloom pop group Naysa.