Mac DeMarco

Mac DeMarco ties his music directly to an offbeat personal presence, where his singular approach to songwriting and distorted production choices reflect an eccentric appeal and an outwardly relaxed outlook. Though the Canadian musician cultivates a relaxed slacker persona that includes sporadic pranks and a refusal to treat matters gravely, his lighthearted tracks frequently conceal developed reflections on growing older, dedication, and ethics beneath strata of hooks and echo. Initial recordings issued through Captured Tracks alongside relentless road work expanded his audience, while the 2014 album Salad Days elevated his singular blend of slacker pop, jazz, '70s soft rock, and glam into a leading position, achieving solid sales and reshaping directions within indie rock. Later relocations to New York and Los Angeles each produced strong records on which the multi-instrumentalist handled every performance and studio layer alone. His 2017 album This Old Dog examined aging concerns through refined sonics, a direction that persisted on 2019's Here Comes the Cowboy, issued via his own label. In 2023 DeMarco put out both the fully instrumental Five Easy Hot Dogs and One Wayne G, the latter assembling 199 tracks that ran nearly nine hours.

Born Vernor Winfield MacBriare Smith IV in 1990, he spent his formative years in Edmonton, Alberta. He first surfaced from total anonymity as Makeout Videotape. Right after high-school graduation in summer 2008, DeMarco left Edmonton for Vancouver's milder weather and issued the self-released Heat Wave, songs composed and captured amid boredom in unfamiliar surroundings. That small CD edition sold through quickly, prompting Makeout Videotape to add players Alex Calder and Jen Clement for live shows. The group soon built local notice, joined Unfamiliar Records, and toured with labelmates Japandroids during fall 2009.

Makeout Videotape kept playing nearby and farther afield while continuing to issue fresh material in both digital and physical formats over the following years. DeMarco also produced a series of disorienting psychedelic videos, some tied to the band. In a sudden shift he relocated to Montreal in 2011, disbanded the project, and began a solo path. Early 2012 brought a deal with Brooklyn's Captured Tracks, followed soon by the debut mini-album Rock and Roll Night Club under his own name. Though still connected to Makeout Videotape's ringing, hazy pop, the new songs adopted a murkier mood in which hints of androgyny and nocturnal isolation sat beside absurd Ween-inspired passages. Only months after the four-track Rock and Roll Night Club came the tighter, more mature 2. Reviewers and listeners embraced DeMarco's sound, leading to extensive touring before Salad Days arrived in spring 2014.

Constant worldwide road work swelled his following, which prompted commercial issues of the 2 and Salad Days demos. After prolonged promotion of that breakthrough album, DeMarco returned to his Queens waterfront residence to cut the mini-LP Another One, released August 2015. As with earlier projects, Another One was soon joined by an online-only companion, the instrumental "BBQ soundtrack" Some Other Ones. A move across the country to Los Angeles introduced a subtler, inward turn on the third full-length This Old Dog in 2017. Old Dog Demos, fifteen tracks split between demos on one side and instrumentals on the other, surfaced in 2018. Ending his run with Captured Tracks, DeMarco stated the next album would appear on Mac's Record Label. His first release there, the fourth studio album Here Comes the Cowboy, arrived May 2019 and was supported by extensive North American and European tours.

Five Easy Hot Dogs in 2023 marked a departure, consisting solely of instrumentals tracked while traveling. Conceived during a road journey and captured daily on portable gear, its pieces took their titles from the cities of origin. The set appeared January 2023; months later, in April, DeMarco released the expansive One Wayne G, 199 mostly instrumental pieces recorded 2018–2023. Despite its duration and relaxed treatment of many brief sketches, One Wayne G still entered the upper reaches of the Billboard 200, peaking at number 56. November of that year saw DeMarco reissue the 2015 instrumental Some Other Ones, moving the relaxed summer collection from digital-only status onto streaming platforms and a limited vinyl pressing.