Paul Mac

When rave culture reached Australia during the 1990s, Paul Mac, born Paul McDermott, shaped the nation’s distinctive take on techno. Blending synthetic textures with acoustic elements, he spent years promoting the notion that bold sonic risks could succeed provided a sufficiently infectious rhythm anchored them. Rather than performing behind decks flanked by a few dancers, he brought complete ensembles and multiple vocalists onstage. That choice opened the door to rock & roll’s wider range and sparked ongoing work with Silverchair.

After completing studies at the Sydney Conservatorium in the 1980s, Mac joined Smash Mac Mac Mac and began adding drum machines plus other electronics to acts that had previously emulated Talking Heads; he pursued the same direction in his subsequent group, the Lab. The approach continued when he was commissioned to rework several Pelican Daughters tracks, an effort that impressed only member Andy Rantzen from the ambient industrial outfit. Rantzen left the band, and the pair formed the techno duo Itch-E & Scratch-E.

Their earliest material consisted of lighthearted home recordings, yet the sudden surge of Sydney’s rave community propelled the producers into the spotlight as local media favorites. One track, “Sweetness and Light,” taken from the 1994 album Itch-E Kitch-E Koo, became a hit. When presented with an ARIA Award in the newly created best dance single category, Mac responded to the intense press attention by provocatively crediting Sydney’s drug dealers. To evade further scrutiny the pair later adopted the name Boo Boo & Mace for their following release.

A monitor explosion set Mac’s Sydney home studio ablaze, prompting him to relocate to a house in the Blue Mountains. Away from urban club life, he turned toward conventional rock instrumentation and contributed keyboards to several tracks on Silverchair’s 1999 album Neon Ballroom. Those sessions produced further partnerships with the band’s frontman Daniel Johns, among them the 2000 EP I Can't Believe It's Not Rock, and Mac served as Silverchair’s keyboardist on multiple tours. In the mountain studio he also cut his debut solo record, 3000 Feet High, which featured vocal performances from Tex Perkins, Liz Martin, Peta Morris, and Abby Dobson. Although Mac wrote every lyric, the songs acquired a confessional, autobiographical character through the various singers. The second single, “Just the Thing,” charted successfully; the album earned gold certification and an ARIA for Best Dance Release.

Whenever time permitted, Mac interspersed his own projects with remixes for INXS, Placebo, the Mark of Cain, and Powderfinger. He later concentrated on joint work with Johns, releasing a full-length album in 2004 as the Dissociatives, with Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes of the Presets completing the lineup. The duo also supplied the theme for the quiz show Spicks and Specks, a reinterpretation of the Bee Gees song of the same title. Preparing a successor to his well-received solo debut, Mac first attempted to craft glossy pop in London that might match public expectations, yet he abandoned the sessions and returned to Australia to complete Panic Room in his own studio. Issued in 2005, several of its singles appeared on the national dance chart.

Throughout the late 2000s and into the next decade, Mac wrote and produced scores for theater productions including Blak and Possessed, as well as films such as Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger and Kath & Kimderella. Performing as Stereogamous alongside John Taranto, he earned recognition for remixes of LCD Soundsystem, Kylie Minogue, Sia, George Michael, and Sam Sparro. In 2015 he issued his third full-length album, Holiday from Me, again drawing on multiple guest vocalists.