A descendant of Devil Anse Hatfield (of the legendary American folklore clan the Hatfields) on his father’s mother’s side, McMains was not easily pinned down to a genre early on in his career. He toured Europe as bassist with punk band The Generators, spent two years as vocalist for Earl Slick’s band, spent another two as the lead guitarist with Englishman John Wicks the Records and was involved with the art music ensemble DJ Monkey, co-producing two of their critically acclaimed albums. Furthering his artist credentials he can be heard with his recording of I Walk Alone in The Switch, starring Jennifer Anniston and Jason Bateman; and with Sexy, Sexy in the film Hard Breakers.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with McMains about the newest release (American Soul), motivations, challenges and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
I was born in Washington D.C. My dad was a diplomat with the foreign service, so we moved around a lot. As a high school kid in California, I was in lots of rock bands, but I also played in the school Jazz band. I really do like all kinds of music. As I got older, I drifted towards singer-songwriter / Americana. Love songs…
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
I think the inability to do anything else is a motivator. My older brothers, Moose & Jim who are twins, musicians and in my band have always inspired me to play music. They also push me to be better. We have a blend when we sing together that’s hard to beat.
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
This one is special for me because I used all my friends and favorite musicians on it. I think the musical collaboration was a big plus. Also I got a couple of heavy weights – Jim Scott and Rich Mouser to do the mixing. I really wanted to make a positive record that would resonate on Main street. And to push that “American” sound to the big wide world. I love to travel!
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this oversaturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?
We have our own recording studio that uses pro-tools software along with a digital/analogue mixer so we can plug in old microphones and the vintage gear we are used to using. Best of both worlds. That helps a lot! Besides my own music, I work with other singer/songwriters who don’t have all the stuff. It’s fun and challenging to get what’s in someone’s head onto “tape”. I don’t worry about selling the product. That’s not my job. If it was I’d get fired right away. I’m on Facebook, but that’s it. By the way, like my page? (Mick McMains) Thanks!
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
I have a website! www.mickmcmains.com and you can get my CD there before it’s released to the general world. And cheap! Also Amazon has it. Sound-cloud has a few songs. I can be friended at McMains Brothers on Facebook.
Anything else before we sign off?
Appreciate the interest. Hope people will give it a listen. And thanks again! Mick. AKA: McMains.
