Mac DeMarco

About Mac DeMarco

Mac DeMarco makes the kind of slacker rock that sounds like it was recorded in a beach shack with faulty wiring, which is pretty much his whole aesthetic. Born Vernor Winfield McBriare Smith IV in Duncan, British Columbia in 1990, he grew up between there and Edmonton, Alberta. The goofy stage name came later, along with the gap-toothed grin and deliberately lo-fi approach that made him one of indie rock's most recognizable characters in the 2010s.

He started making music as a teenager under various names, but things clicked when he moved to Vancouver and then Montreal, where the project that would become Mac DeMarco really took shape. His 2012 album "2" introduced the sound he'd ride for years: wobbly, chorus-drenched guitar lines, drum machine beats, and vocals that sounded like he'd just woken up. Songs like "Ode to Viceroy" and "My Kind of Woman" had this narcotic, hypnagogic quality that connected with people who were tired of indie rock taking itself too seriously.

"Salad Days" in 2014 was the breakthrough, a collection of songs about getting older and more uncertain that somehow became beloved by college kids everywhere. The title track and "Chamber of Reflection" showed he could write genuinely affecting songs underneath all the goofiness and cigarette smoke. He recorded most of it himself in his apartment, which became part of the mystique. At the end of the album's liner notes, he literally printed his home address and invited fans to stop by for coffee, which they did.

"This Old Dog" in 2017 found him mellowing out slightly, processing his estranged father's illness through songs that were more contemplative and less interested in the jangle. He started using synthesizers more, acoustic guitars, generally sanding down some of the lo-fi edges. "Another One" before that and "Here Comes the Cowboy" after it kept refining the formula without straying too far from what worked.

By now he's released five proper albums plus EPs and has become something of an elder statesman for a certain type of laid-back, self-produced indie rock. He's known as much for his prankish live shows and the cult of personality around him as for the actual music. He moved to Los Angeles, which tracks for someone who's always seemed California-adjacent in spirit even when living in Canada.

His most recent album "Five Easy Hot Dogs" in 2023 was an instrumental affair, mostly synth-based mood pieces that showed he's still interested in stretching out, even if his core audience probably just wants more songs about cigarettes and confusion. He's in his thirties now, still making music on his own terms, still looking like he just rolled out of bed. The act hasn't changed much, but it turns out the act was never really an act.

Shows get rowdy in a specific way. Lots of people singing every word back at him, which he doesn't really seem to mind. He plays it cool but tight, lets songs breathe, occasionally tugs at his shirt or messes with effects. Crowd's here to celebrate, not worship. Surprisingly genuine moment-to-moment.

Known for Chamber of Reflection, Passing Out Pieces, Still Together, My KIND Of Woman, Rock and Roll Night Club

See Mac DeMarco Live