Mr. Mac enjoys writing songs that span across genre-boundaries. Sometimes traditional, sometimes experimental, Mr Mac likes to push the limits of his musical and lyrical lexicon. His songs are celebrative, rapturous, sometimes silly, and resist easy characterization. His music has a retro-vibe that keeps production effects to a minimum, allowing the true tones of the instruments and vocals to stand out. His second album, Invisible Lines, is a compilation of rock influences songs composed in the pre-pandemic days when Mr. Mac, the band, played the live scene in his home town of Honolulu. Mr. Mac owes a debt of gratitude to his former band members, Lars Wallin and Howe Stidger, and producer Pierre Grill, for bringing his music to life.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Mr. Mac about the latest music, adapting during a pandemic, technology and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and how do You describe your style of music?
I was conceived in Karachi, born in D.C., adopted and then migrated to Japan, Florida, and finally to Hawaii. In Hawaii, though I looked local, “hapa” (half and half), my standard American English made me an outsider. All of my life, I have felt that I was not of the mainstream. It used to make me feel alienated, but know I embrace it.
I would describe myself as an “indie” artist in that I don’t feel encumbered by any particular genre and feel free to write whatever comes to mind. Growing up, I was a fan of wildly differing musical styles. I think my musical taste was forged in deprivation. My father, bless his soul, banned purchase of any rock and roll records for a few years in order to reduce nefarious influences. The music that remained in the house was what my nefarious hippie-brother had left behind before he ran away.
Somehow Abbey Road, Dylan’s Greatest Hits, the sound track to The Graduate (Simon and Garfunkel), a compilation of Scott Joplin rags, and Jesus Christ Superstar were grandfathered-in and allowed to stay in our stereo que. I listened the hell out of those records, but also spent a lot of time at my upstairs neighbor’s apartment, listening to Black Sabbath, Led Zep, Stones, Beatles and Bowie. In college, I got into a vast range of material, but trended more toward the “different” That said, one of the best concerts I ever went to was Joan Jet, REM and The Police at Shea Stadium.
In Portland Oregon, an artist named Stan Wood guided me toward an appreciation of music as pure sound through the abstract trumpet and sax-like utterings of the “vibraband”, a flexible reed instrument Stan originated. I am about to release some “basement tapes” of our experimental music. My brother, known as “Slewfoot”, was a New Orleans street musician who got me into the blues and gave me my first paying gig. This exposure to widely disparate styles and genres has given me a wide appreciation of different music; and bits of all that find their way into my stuff.
I have a grungy-metal side, as expressed in “You Said it was Doomed”, country blues-rock—like in “Donna, Donna”, as well as a novelty-folk feel, like in “Microwave Burrito” and then there are my more post-psychedelic pop, like “Jenny Was”. The Album Invisible Lines is all over the place.
How did you get here? As in, what inspired or motivated you to take on this journey through music and the music biz?
I didn’t grow up thinking I would be a musician—I wanted to be a writer and an actor. I started learning guitar in my 20’s. As an English major, I took several poetry workshops. My dad loved to make rhymes, and was sort of rapping before its time. I grew up trying to fit alternative rhymes into the little poems or songs he would make up, which he would love. Later, as an English major, I was often rebuffed in creative writing class for writing rhyming poetry—rather than free-verse, which was considered more sophisticated.
Later, as a brooding bohemian waiter-wannabe-rock star, I felt free to write rhymes in my lyrics, but would also censor myself if the song wasn’t mysterious and enigmatic enough. I guess writing lyrics that were hard to decipher seemed cool at the time. Now, however, when it seems that a silly “ditty” is emerging from my psyche, I just let it manifest. Songs like “Microwave Burrito”, and “She’s Hot when She gets Drunk” owe their existence to my current policy of “letting all the poisons hatch out of the mud!” Who knows what may give someone joy to hear?
If you’ve written songs, you might as well sing them to an audience. The actor in me wants to play different roles, exhibit different moods; as well act as deeply as I can to play the role of a semi-decent musician and performer.
How does your latest project compare/contrast with your previous release(s)? Were you setting out to accomplish anything specific, follow a specific theme, or explore different styles of creation?
My first release was in 2015, titled ShadowBox. This was a very personal album—sort of my “coming out” as a singer-songwriter. It was a collection of songs that just seemed to spring forth after my divorce. I wasn’t playing out much and I met musicians to play on the album at work and at jam parties. It was recorded by laying tracks down and layering over them. Dan Cutter was a very creative drummer. Matthew Miller was impeccable on bass, and there were great guests, such as Diane Salonga Rubio and Joe Lohmeier on Cellos. I think ShadowBox has a kind of folk-rock vibe to it.
My current, 2021 release, “Invisible Lines” was recorded with a band that had played in the clubs for about 3 years. I think the ensemble-feel to the album is palpable for that reason. “Invisible Lines” is more of a rock album with its driving rhythms laid down by Lars Wallin, and Bass, held down by the late Howe Stidger. Lohmeier returns for a cello piece called “Island Days”, and Sandy Tsukiyama helped with some backing tracks. The scintillating harmonica solo on “Donna, Donna” was by Louis the Fish DeNolfo, and the kick-ass guitar solo on “You Said it was Doomed” was by Nick Gertsson really stand out. Gertsson also played on the title track of ShadowBox, and has recently released an incredible instrumental solo album, Beyond Fear is Beauty.
Name the biggest challenge you faced as a creative during these unprecedented times? How did you adapt? How have you kept the creative fires burning during all this?
I don’t know if it’s just me, or because I’m older, but I didn’t miss the club scene much when it closed down for the pandemic. Humping equipment up and down stairs, dealing with drunks, the smell of stale beer, and dividing the miniscule cover collected at the door for the three bands on the bill were getting old. Hawaii is an insular environment, there is nowhere to grow geographically because 2,000 miles of ocean separate us from the mainland. The pandemic allowed time re-strategize how to reach an audience. Now, the idea is to create a vibrant online presence and gain followers over the internet. I’m in the process of creating content and videos for this purpose. Tiktok is the wild west for band promotion and gives you a chance to make your case in 7 seconds to 3 minutes. There are also multiple platforms to stream live. I hope to nurture an international audience this way.
What was the last song you listened to?
You may laugh, but it was “For Forever” sung by Ben Platt, and then I later watched it sung as a quartet. It’s from the Broadway Musical Dear Evan Hansen. I think this song is very dynamic, and communicates a complex narrative with soaring energy and imagery. It’s breathtaking. I have a great admiration for Broadway performers who really dig through their emotions and musical chops night after night.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? 8-tracks? Cassettes? CDs? MP3s? Streaming platforms?
Ah-ha: this question is trying to date me, isn’t it!? Full-disclosure: I was alive in a time when there was ONLY vinyl! Vinyl was sort of magical. You could watch the whole process of bringing music to life with that tiny needle traveling over the microscopic peaks and valleys of the LP record. Vinyl records were responsible for the words “groovy” and “getting into a groove”. But, alas, this joy lasts for such a short time as the dust and scratches age the records. 8 tracks are horribly inefficient, cassettes a mess. Streaming and MP3s are fine for me—I play music, but I’m not much of an audiophile. I have an older model car that has a CD player in it, and I enjoy the ritual of feeding the machine like I’m loading ammo or something.
Where is the best place to connect with you and follow your journey?
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mrmac1963
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mrmac808
Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-YZrDa8xGVQwFJQLZe4WmA
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrmac63
MR MAC’S LINKTREE: https://linktr.ee/MRMAC808
As they say, please “like” and “subscribe”!
I really appreciate Your time. Anything else before we sign off?
I’ve produced a couple of interesting and fun videos. One of them, “The Age of Alternative Facts” lampoons former President Trump. I left it off the Invisible Lines album, because I thought it was too much of a political detour. It actually won 2021 “Best/Worst” Music Video from the Austrian Willlachen Comedy Show, and was a finalist in the Paris International Short Festival. Another video is for the song “Invisible Line”, was a semi-finalist in the London Indie Short Festival. They are both up on my youtube channel—please take a look when you get a chance! And thank you again for your interest in my musical journey!
