Meg Mac performs in The Current studio
by Mary Lucia
April 06, 2015
It was a bit daunting for Meg Mac to travel to America without the band she'd been playing with in her native Australia. "It's very busy to get everyone over," she says.
But thanks to an arrangement with her U.S. label, 300, she was able to audition a number of New York musicians and have her pick for a touring band. "These guys were my favorites, so I got to play with them," Meg says. "I was so nervous coming over because I had all these shows booked and no band. In my head, there was no show. [These musicians] saved by life."
Meg Mac performed at SXSW in Austin, Texas, before touring the States with English electronic outfit Clean Bandits. After playing a show at First Avenue in Minneapolis the previous night, Meg Mac stopped at The Current's studio to chat with Mary Lucia and to perform some songs off her self-titled EP.
Here are some of Meg Mac's highlights from the interview:
On touring America for the first time:
"I kind of thought America as this giant place and I kind of found it overwhelming; I saw it as one giant challenge instead of separate shows. I realized each audience is different; it's not this giant thing. Each show, each audience is different."
On whether she aspired to be touring musician:
"I secretly hoped … it's been my dream for a long time, so it feels really crazy to be in America, travelling and singing."
On the background of her song, "Known Better":
"It was about me, and the lyric 'little boy inside my head' was actually 'little voice inside my head', but then I thought I'd rather blame my problems on a boy than on my mind."
On her influences:
"When I was 17, I was obsessed with the French singer Camille, and she had this album where it was all made of vocals and vocal layers, and I was in shock at how you could use your vocals to do weird stuff. … I was just like, 'Oh my gosh, I didn't know you could do that!' My whole world opened up with endless ways of using my voice."
Songs Performed
"Every Lie"
"Known Better"
"Roll Up Your Sleeves"
All songs are on Meg Mac's self-titled EP, available in the U.S. on 300 Records.
Hosted by Mary Lucia
Produced by Derrick Stevens
Engineered by Michael DeMark and Henry Ingber
Web feature by Luke Taylor
