Q&A with Mac DeMarco

Mac DeMarco is a young guitarist and songwriter whose 2012 breakout record, 2, launched him into a whirlwind of international success. Diversions editor Allison Hussey talked to DeMarco about changes he’s had to make and his latest record, Salad Days .

DIVERSIONS: You’ve got a really enthusiastic fan base, but the flip side of that seems to be that they’re aggressive. How do you deal with so many people being so interested in your personal life?

MAC DEMARCO: It’s a little bit weird. I’m still kind of learning how to deal with it and it’s kind of terrifying and I sometimes wish I hadn’t let that much on, but I don’t know, it’s fine. It’s really interesting that so many kids actually care this much. It’s kind of flattering. It’s cool.

DIVE: What would you say is the biggest adjustment you’ve had to make with being on the road so much?

MD: I’ve always wanted to tour, ever since I was 18 or so. I did a little bit, but now, I mean, it’s super crazy. At first it was kind of hard, because we weren’t making very much money, so I had to be really careful.

But at this point, we fly a lot, we’re in hotels a lot. It’s pretty comfortable. So it’s not as crazy as it used to be, I don’t think.

It’s always hard coming off and then coming back on, especially because I have a girlfriend. It kind of wears on your relationship and stuff.

It’s hard to decompress when you’re only off tour for, like, a week, then you have to go back on. You just kind of suck it up and that’s one thing I’ve had to learn.

DIVE: How were you able to get the new record done so quickly?

MD: It was just the only opportunity I had. And I had to work pretty hard to get that time, so. It was either then or never, so I just decided to go ahead and do it. And it worked out, thankfully.

DIVE: It seems like everyone kind of focuses on this one narrative about how you’re this crazy young guy who does all this cool, weird stuff, and that’s all. Do you feel like you’ve been pigeonholed?

MD: Sort of. It’s interesting, though, because there’s a couple different — the press definitely chooses to pick up on certain things when they interview me and stuff, and that’s fine. It’s out of my control, really.

And as long as it’s all true, it’s not making me out to do something freaky or something, that would be fine with me. But I think it’s kind of useful in a way, because there’s that side of me that people are attracted to, and also there’s the records as well. And I think when people put those two beside each other or see that — they hear the music, they get a little bit confused.

And I think it makes a lot of people double take and they pay attention, which is pretty handy, especially a lot of the time, nowadays, it’s like, people only give you five seconds of their time.

So if you can freak them out a little bit — it’s kind of worked in my favor where people get more interested just right off the bat because they don’t understand it right away.