Category: Mac DeMarco

Why tho.

celeb-stork
Celebrity storkin.

As someone who asks questions of strangers for a living I’m a big fan of the word ‘why’. There’s a reason kids often drive their parents insane with it – overdo it at your peril but without any preface or bias it’s pretty much the most thought provoking thing you could ask another person.

Asking why invokes explanation, justification and sometimes deflection, but it’s a fantastic gauge of what someone is thinking and what their actions genuinely mean.

If I had a dollar for every time someone asked why I’m taking a trip overseas on a whim to try stalk a celebrity I’d probably have enough coin to pay for a flight to LA and back.

This week I’m going to answer some of the more commonly asked questions I’ve had since ‘going public’ with my plans. There’s only two, but they’re pretty much the ones everyone has anyway.

Why are you going overseas to stalk a celebrity?

This trip is so much more about the last few years of my life than it is about trying to find Mac DeMarco.

This thing keeps happening with my eye at work, where it gets this involuntary twitch if I spend too long at my desk. I think a few weeks away will help that calm down.

In actuality we all have our ups and downs, but having worked in three jobs and moved house six times since entering the full time workforce at the beginning of 2014, made and lost friends and colleagues, and just all of the other things that have happened I really feel a holiday is overdue.

Despite this, the motivation to actually get on a plane didn’t arise until I heard Mac’s ‘invite’ for the first time. Whether the meeting with the musician actually happens or not is irrelevant at this point, it’s the throwaway invitation which has inspired a trip across the globe, and one I’m incredibly grateful to have.

He moved. What are you gonna do now?

hotline-bling
Waitin for that email bling

Around a week ago I emailed Mac’s management and heard back almost instantly. He’s touring and writing at the time, but the message has been passed on to him for consideration and I guess that’s why I’m waking up at all hours of the night to check my emails. At least I hope it is. I’d hate to think my subscription to Hostelworld’s email newsletter is having that level of impact on my life (seems like it will still come in handy if ever in Budapest).

If we can hook something up for a meeting I’ll fly to LA during a window of the trip. If he’s not, well on a personal level I guess it doesn’t really matter – see above.

Yeah but why? You’re not even a massive fan.

This is the essence of the annoying kid overdoing it with the why thing. I’m going to New York for me, not for Mac DeMarco or for anyone else.

*Surprisingly common blank stare*

……..

Thanks for reading and to all who have subscribed – you the real MVPs. I’ll keep you posted on if I hear anything from Mac or his manager.

Roaches and records

roachy-1-diplodopest

Note: A lot of blogs I’ve read open with a cheery welcome post. Through no fault of its own this one doesn’t, but it picks up. 

It was an unbearably warm Saturday evening spent alone in a roach infested two-bedroom flat in Perth’s southern suburbs. The apartment – my apartment – had helped me back on my feet, but a lot had changed during my time there and things felt really stale.

The recent changes – a relationship breakdown, a loss of interest in my only hobby and the cancellation of my plans for the evening – added up to feel heavier than the sum of their parts, and as such, things were pretty flat.

I was moving in a few weeks time and most my stuff was packed, but instead of making new plans that evening I sat among the roaches and the boxes and tried to keep the roaches out of the boxes and honestly felt really sorry for myself. It wasn’t a great night.

Pretty much the only thing I hadn’t packed was my record player, and having spontaneously picked up a copy earlier in the day that was when I first listened to Mac DeMarco’s Another One.

I like DeMarco’s work, but I’m no fanatic by any stretch. That said, there was a moment on Another One which particularly stood out. It wasn’t even a song. At the mini-LP’s conclusion the Canadian crooner, now residing in some weird part of New York, blurted out his address and invited the listener around for a cup of coffee.

Normally an invite to anyone who cared wouldn’t elicit a second thought, but in these circumstances it did. I’d never had any motivation to travel to New York before so I slept on the idea, but within a week I’d booked my flights to JFK – initially in September by accident but eventually in October like I’d intended. And so began a plan to travel several thousand miles from the world’s most isolated city to one of its most populous and drink a cup of coffee with a complete stranger.

I’ve read that people have made the trip before, but I’ve not heard of anyone going from Perth to do so. Provided he’s home I guess I’ll know for sure in a few months’ time.