Mac DeMarco gets to grips with fame: “Wait a minute, you little brat - you’re so lucky”

In the August 2015 issue of DIY (out Friday 7th August), Mac DeMarco says he’s beginning to get used to his newfound fame.

For the past couple of years, the Canadian has been the source of wild fandom. If there was ever a marker for his barmy, adore-everything fanbase, it was when he decided to auction off a destroyed pair of trainers on eBay. With proceeds going to the WIllie Mae Rock Camp for Girls, this once humble listing took off. Maybe it was the time of year - post-Christmas, kids had cash to spend. But not $21,000. That’s how much the shoes raised, although the winning bidder didn’t pay up. Mac split the fee and made sure the charity of his choice got its funds. “It’s a shame but if you think about it, who would have actually paid that amount of money for a pair of shoes?” he asks, still slightly unaware of the measures his fans would take to get a little piece of Mac. “I let it stay a secret for a while, and I still got the press where it’s like “MAC’S SHOES HAVE GONE FOR 21K”. It’s funny enough - that’s all I really needed. And now a lot of people know more about Willie Mae too. It’s a funny Christmas prank, in a way.”

What started as a casual hobby has since spiralled into a world tour that never looks like ending. Breakthrough release ‘2’ saw this gap-toothed eccentric being lapped up by a new audience. Its follow-up, ‘Salad Days’, was the story of Mac being overwhelmed and at times fed up by his status. “I was pretty grumpy,” he admits. “Back then, I’d get blackout drunk every single night, sometimes when we were still on stage. I’ve reeled it in a little bit, but not that much.” Mac’s the first to claim, however, that the touring lifestyle is “nothing really that you should be complaining about.

“‘Salad Days’ was a mix between ‘Oh maaaan, I hate this’ and ‘Wait a minute, you little brat - you’re so lucky. You get to travel and you’re doing something you wanna do. You’re an idiot for being a little bitch about it.’ It helped me come to terms with that. Ever since then, I’ve felt pretty good.”

Mac DeMarco’s new mini-album ‘Another One’ will be released on 7th August via Captured Tracks.

Read the full interview in the August 2015 issue of DIY, out 7th August. Pre-order a copy below.