Mandated Monthly Mixtape: May 2024
Some updates...
Happy Summer Eve all,
My therapist and I have come to an agreement that I am to publish at least one (1) thing per month, whether that be prose, poem, song, video, photograph, painting… any medium is fair game, although I haven’t touched a paintbrush in months nor have I ever shot a video before in my life. This little “project”, for lack of a better term, is to serve two purposes:
As a form of exposure therapy to the act of creating and sharing work with the public via some medium (more specifically, my friends and family who are sweet enough to click on whatever links I share) to gain confidence in myself as an artist/creator/whatever word you see fit, and
I am providing myself with a smart, reasonable, measurable goal (thank you to my therapist Kenny for helping me learn and formulate SMART goals) that is achievable.
Now, I know this goes without saying, but not everything I make will be even remotely “good”- especially with this substack, as it was created to be a compilation of demos, stuff that I did to mainly sprinkle some meaning into my days and exercise my creative muscles. That will still hold, even for my monthly mandated release window.
If you read or consume anything I make, know that I am endlessly grateful, and I hope that you gleaned something from it, even if it amounted to “this fucking sucks.” Chances are, I’ll agree with whatever you have to say.
Let’s get on with what I was up to in May…
Mac Demarco Jumpscare: Some Thoughts on One Wayne G (rough mix)
Photograph by Aaron Sinclair of GQ Magazine
The first time I heard about One Wayne G, I wasn’t tickled by it- I hadn’t listened to Mac Demarco in quite a while. His last few records failed to capture the bliss of youth that he so successfully encapsulated with works such as Salad Days and 2 (although having grown older myself, I have come to appreciate the aging weariness splattered across This Old Dog). But there was one weird thing that greeted me on the album’s Spotify page: the fuckin’ thing was 199 tracks. To make it even more amusing, almost all of the tracks were some sort of number sandwich that, to my ignorance, reeked of AI-generated slop. So naturally, I concluded that perhaps this was just another instance of some random managing to (easily) bypass Spotify’s moderation and release music under a popular artist’s name. I laughed, shook my head, and went on with my day.
Now, I wasn’t a diehard Mac fan- I never picked up cigarettes in a messy attempt to imitate his mystique, and I somehow managed to never put “My Kind of Woman” on a mixtape or playlist for whoever I was crushing on. But his music did color my early college years, whether I was listening to it through my tangled earbuds or the tinny speakers of my friend's old Acura Legend. I did think he was a pretty good songwriter, and I liked most of his laidback persona (the dick jokes and the finger thru your zipper antics always fell flat for me). I first-handily experienced the wave of Mac clones on my college campus, the sudden popularity of seventh chords thickened by a cheap chorus pedal (although Mac himself says he doesn’t like chorus, but the wigglyness of vibrato), and the skyrocketing prices of whatever old music gear that graced his records. I even went to a Mac concert, with a wonderful opening set from Jonathon Richmann, at the beautiful Greek Theatre in the hills of Los Angeles.
But alas, One Wayne G did not capture me in that moment, for whatever cocktail of reasons. Maybe the intoxicating nectar of nostalgia couldn’t drive me to hit that giant green play button on the 9-hour collection of 199 tracks. Maybe the charming, golden sketch of a distinguished gentleman (is that supposed to be Mac?) against the striking royal blue wasn’t enough to convince me to check out whatever the hell this damn thing was. Maybe I didn’t even end up listening to music after I picked up my phone for the 23rd time that day and decided to scroll instead. So it goes. On to the next album, on to the next playlist, on to living, on to figuring out what to get for lunch, on to whatever came next.
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One Wayne G is a strange “album”, if you’ll grant me the grace to call it that. A better term, if we want to have a pissing contest over it, is a compilation of demos that Mac had recorded beginning in 2018 (it turns out those number sandwiches are dates he laid these tracks to tape) and ending at the start of 2023. Aside from a couple of red herrings, most of these tracks are instrumentals no longer than 3 minutes, consisting of a simple drum pattern and either some classic Mac guitar jamming or synths that sound like they were pulled from an old Super Nintendo RPG. Others feature Mac charmingly ad-libbing some gibberish melodies over his instrumentals, creating charming little tunes that answer the timeless question plaguing subreddits worldwide: What would Mac sound like in The Urbz: Sims in the City?
Better yet, for those hungry for demos of songs with actual lyrics and structure, One Wayne G does have some sprinkled throughout its marathon of a runtime. And good ol’ Mac was kind enough to distinguish these more fleshed-out demos with actual titles along the date they were recorded, so one need not write down the numerical date of one they enjoyed or spend the better part of 2 hours listening through assorted odds and ends to reach it again. Not surprisingly, these rough drafts of songs feel the most familiar to listeners looking for more of Mac’s laid-back, romantic vibe, and they will probably be the sole reason for anyone to return for repeated listens. One personal favorite of mine is a demo from 2019 entitled “I Like Her”, a short little pop diddy of Mac expressing his affection for a romantic partner over a lazy drum beat and a catchy guitar lick so effortlessly played that one can almost imagine Mac dosing off midway through tracking.
As fun as these little demos are, they are not what makes One Wayne G so fascinating to me. Given the glut of stupid “remixes” and “slowed/SPED UP” versions of pop songs produced solely for juicing streaming numbers, it’s super easy to dismiss One Wayne G as another cash grab bred for background listening. But Mac isn’t a popstar, nor has a sped-up edit of one of his songs taken Tik-Tok by storm (editor’s note needed)- he owns a label and distributes his music himself, so there isn’t any external pressure for him to bloat his artist page. Plus, Mac himself has said that the 199-track album was a reaction to the fast-moving, single-driven state of the Streaming Era. Of course, this is assuming that he’s being genuine with us in his intent to release this album- and I don’t see any reason not to believe him.
What makes One Wayne G so interesting to me is that it really does seem like a genuine expression of Mac, both as an artist and a person. It’s hard to deny that a lot of these tracks bleed into one another, coagulating into something akin to a YouTube live stream of Lofi Mac Demarco Radio- Beats to Relax/Study To. And yet, I find it hard not to find the whole project charming (albeit, in small doses). The chronological structure of the tracklist gives the record a much stronger sense of purpose than if Mac just tossed a shit load of demos he found on one of his old hard drives into a scattered playlist. And you really can trace Mac’s development as an artist throughout One Wayne G’s runtime: the demos showcased here from 2018 sound very similar to the sonic colors Mac painted within the introspective This Old Dog, while it seems like Mac was growing bored of those soundscapes in 2019 and started to explore more “traditional” ambient sounds and field recordings. 2022 finds Mac exploring more with woodwind instruments until he comes back to his tried and true, easy-listening trio of guitar, drums (or drum machines), and bass in 2023, the final year of demos in One Wayne G and also the release year for his studio instrumental album Five Easy Hot Dogs that finds Mac back in the same grooves.
The album is, surprisingly, very intimate and life-affirming. One Wayne G is a sketchbook of a dude who just loves to make music, and like any sketchbook, it’s not supposed to be composed of only the best an artist has to offer. A sketchbook is the kernel of any artist in any medium- it’s an opportunity to explore, create, and develop oneself without fear of critique or failure. It’s one of the closest things to a playground we can get to as adults. And just like children learning to swing or leap across monkey bars for the first time, there are times when a sketchbook isn’t going to reflect the best what an artist can offer. One Wayne G isn’t 9 straight hours of bangers or artistic genius- I know you know that, and I’d bet $20 Mac knows that as well. If you’re so inclined, you could listen to only the named tracks off the album and have a typical Mac mixtape of demos that he releases alongside his studio work. But I feel like that’s a disservice to what I feel Mac was doing with One Wayne G. It’s rare for an artist to make so much of their unreleased material willingly accessible to the public and show that at the end of the day, they aren’t too different from you and me- they have days in the office where they’re just showing up, days where the only goal is to lay something to tape or paper, or days to try something new and not care about the results.
Based on what I’ve read about the album, both critique and Twitter peanut gallery, a lot of people weren’t fucking with this album. I get it. As I said at the start of this piece, I’m not a die-hard Mac-head (although I’m sure he’s going to land in my most streamed artists this year due to One Wayne G), but I am always willing to give someone credit for trying something new and, frankly, kinda strange. I don’t think One Wayne G will fundamentally change me as a person or drastically change my viewpoint on what art can be. Still, it is nonetheless a great behind-the-scenes look at the highs and lows of the artistic process and an intimate look into Mac Demarco’s world.
And hey, even if you think this it’s all bullshit, at least you can still tune into Lofi Mac Demarco Radio- Beats to Relax/Study To when you need it.
Musings
workday blues
waiting for the weekend
and the ocean’s waves
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caked in light
youtube shows me
lives I wish i was
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thin piece of plastic
I charge life
and reap nothing
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morning birdsong
hit “record”
and then silence
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book of haiku
flip through
and see within
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small cracks on my screen
small cuts on my fingers
small problems in my soul
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Good luck out there,
Nick <3
