Mac DeMarco

Last April, Mac DeMarco released his first record – the 10-track EP Rock And Roll Night Club, whose title track features on our Another Man playlist – complete with an arresting set of cover art images depicting the then 21-year-old in Halloween regalia and red lipstick. The EP, described by Pitchfork as a combination of “yacht rock, AM radio gold, and Bowie-like glam,” was a clear indication of DeMarco’s musical flair, but critics and DeMarco alike felt it lacked sincerity. “Everybody got a very strange idea of me,” he muses. “A lot of guys would come to the shows and go, Mac where are the stilettos tonight? Where’s the lipstick, honey? And I was fine with that but at the same time I thought, 'Wait a minute. If I want to make a career out of this, maybe I should be a little bit more honest to myself.'”

Honesty, he stresses, was the key theme behind his full-length album 2, released last October – this time with a cover that shows its protagonist in a plaid shirt, making a peace sign and smoking. It is a crooning, grooving, guitar-led record; an infectious, idiosyncratic form of pop, which DeMarco terms “jizz-jazz”. Some of the songs are distinctly whimsical – the catchy opening track, Cooking Up Something Good, telling the tale of a son whose father manufactures drugs in the family basement – while others, like love song My Kinda Woman, are more upfront. Yet all remain open to interpretation: "A lot of the songs on 2 are pretty personal," he explains, “but even if I’m writing about something like that I still tend to keep it pretty simple and open-ended. I like the idea of people listening to my album and it meaning something to me but maybe meaning something else to them.”

"I like the idea of people listening to my album and it meaning something to me but maybe meaning something else to them"

Here – prior to a tangibly energetic show at The Garage in Islington last week, which began with DeMarco’s original material and spiraled into off-kilter covers of Eric Clapton and The Beatles, and finally Metallica’s Enter Sandman, topped off by a flying stage dive – AnOther spoke to the free-spirited Canadian about his dream collaborations and writing love songs about Marilyn Monroe...

When did you first know that music was what you wanted to do?
I first started going to shows when I was about 16 – seeing local bands. I mean I loved music before that, and I played a bit of guitar when I was younger and thought maybe I’d become a guitar teacher or something, but when I saw other kids doing it I was like, "Woah, these are great bands! I can do it too." And then when you start doing it, and people like your stuff, that’s what really gets you hooked.

You're known for being a very lively performer. Which band or artist most inspires you in their live shows? 
I love Jonathan Richman – I love a lot of his music and the thing I really like about him is his attitude. He seems very happy and the way he performs is like, "Don’t worry everybody, just get into it. I’m just having fun, I like when you guys are having fun."

Do you have any broader influences like art or film or books that you reference when you’re writing?
I used to reference films a lot in songs but now when I hear songs about movies it’s like, "This kid is recording in his bedroom and doesn’t live a crazy life at all because he’s just watching movies." But I used to write love songs about Marilyn Monroe all the time, and Linda Cardellini from Freaks and Geeks.

"I used to write love songs about Marilyn Monroe all the time, and Linda Cardellini from Freaks and Geeks."

How would you describe yourself in three words?
Very. Chill. Pimp.

Do you prefer writing or performing?
I like them both. They’re pretty different for me because performing is a totally different headspace. It’s party mode: meeting people, getting up on stage and goofing around and there are great things about that. But then writing is more like me time: it’s meditative, alone, reflection stuff and that’s also very nice. So it’s good to have a balance.

Do you have a plan for your third album?
I have some demos but I don’t have anything that feels like an album yet. I usually do it all in a clump, fairly quickly. I figure that, when the time comes, which should be this summer, I’ll just do another one and hope it comes out OK.

What’s your current favourite album?
I’ve been listening to this film soundtrack by Ryuichi Sakamoto for a movie starring him and David Bowie called Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence and it’s a great soundtrack. It’s kind of like Japanese, synthy, orchestral stuff. So that’s my hit right now.

Do you have a dream project or collaboration?
I’m terrible at collaborating with people; nothing ever ends up coming out good. But my dream people [to collaborate with] would be Shuggie Otis or Michael McDonald or Donald Fagen from Steely Dan. I wouldn’t even have to do anything, the album would just come out sounding super funky.

2 by Mac DeMarco, and released on Captured Tracks, is available now.

Text by Daisy Woodward