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McBriare Samuel Lanyon DeMarco (born Vernor Winfield McBriare Smith IV; April 21, 1990) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer. Mac initially emerged in the indie music scene in 2012, and has since released five full-length studio albums: his debut 2 (2012), Salad Days (2014), This Old Dog (2017), Here Comes the Cowboy (2019), and Five Easy Hot Dogs (2023). He additionally released the Mini-LP Rock and Roll Night Club in 2012 and Another One in 2015, as well as the compilation album One Wayne G in 2023. In 2018, DeMarco made his own record label by the name of "Mac's Record Label".
Before his commercial debut Rock and Roll Night Club in 2012, he made music by the pseudonym "Makeout Videotape" on Bandcamp. Throughout 2009 to 2010 he released albums under this name until in 2011 when he moved from Vancouver to Montreal, and started working as a solo artist, in which he didn't find any success, so he participated in medical experiments for money. In early 2012 however, Mac eventually signed to indie label Captured Tracks and released his debut extended play, Rock and Roll Night Club, on vinyl. Earlier, Green Burrito Records released the album on a limited edition 100-unit cassette run.
His style of music has been described as "blue wave" and slacker rock, or, by DeMarco himself, "jizz jazz".
Mac DeMarco attended McKernan School for Junior High. Around this time he started playing guitar, with lessons from his grandmother. During high school he was in several bands, including indie rock band the Meat Cleavers, alternative R&B group the Sound of Love and post-punk band Outdoor Miners (along with current keyboardist, Alec Meen), which was named after "Outdoor Miner", a song by English rock band Wire. He started smoking cigarettes as a teenager, which would become a big part of his image. In January 2023, DeMarco said he no longer smokes.
After graduating from Strathcona High School in Edmonton in 2008, DeMarco became a backing musician. He then moved to Vancouver.
On January 21, 2014, DeMarco announced the release of his upcoming second album, Salad Days, along with debuting the lead single "Passing Out Pieces". The record was released on April 1, 2014, and again received the "Best New Music" designation from Pitchfork. It was a shortlisted nominee for the 2014 Polaris Music Prize.
DeMarco made his first talk show appearance (and second TV appearance after The Eric Andre Show) when he performed the song "Let Her Go" on Conan on March 30, 2015. On April 22, 2015, DeMarco announced the release of an upcoming album titled Another One, which was released on August 7, 2015, in addition to a video depicting the making of Another One. DeMarco describes the album to be a collection of love songs, "It's just kind of like every angle of how somebody might feel if they're having strange feelings in their chest." On May 11, 2015, Captured Tracks released the first single of Another One, titled "The Way You'd Love Her". Another One received a generally favourable response from music critics, scoring 75/100 on Metacritic. Still in Rock has ranked this LP as the third best of 2015.
On July 8, 2015, DeMarco released a 9-track instrumental album titled Some Other Ones and called it a "BBQ soundtrack". The album was later re-released in 2023 on streaming services. Later that evening, he hosted a listening party in New York City (where DeMarco was based) for fans to hear Another One, where they could get free hot dogs if they donated to a food bank.
On October 10, 2017, DeMarco appeared on Charlie Rose, in which the two discussed the new album, as well as DeMarco's relationship with his father. Acting as bookends to the interview, DeMarco performed acoustic versions of This Old Dog, as well as Still Together.
On April 8, 2018, DeMarco appeared on FishCenter Live and had an interview with Max Simonet. He partnered with the non-profit organization Plus1 for his tours that year, and one dollar for every ticket purchase went to the Girls Rock Camp Alliance to: "empower girls, trans and gender-diverse young people through music education and mentorship."
On September 7, 2020, DeMarco was featured on a collaboration with English artist Yellow Days, entitled "The Curse". On October 28, 2020, DeMarco was again featured on French musician Myd's single "Moving Men". An animated version of DeMarco also appeared in the music video for the single. Released October 28, 2020, DeMarco also appeared in the music video for the song "Whatever You Want" by Crowded House. DeMarco contributed a cover of the Metallica song "Enter Sandman" to the charity tribute album The Metallica Blacklist, released in September 2021.
DeMarco released an instrumental album, Five Easy Hot Dogs, on January 20, 2023. The fourteen-track album was recorded in different locations during a road trip from Los Angeles to New York City.
During the week of Five Easy Hot Dogs' release, the track "Heart to Heart" from DeMarco's previous album, Here Comes the Cowboy, became a viral hit on TikTok. As a result, the song became DeMarco's first to chart on the US Billboard Hot 100, eventually peaking at #83. The song also reached the top 10 and top 5 of Billboard's Hot Rock Songs and Hot Alternative Songs charts, respectively.
On April 21, 2023, DeMarco released his first compilation album titled One Wayne G, online only, without any prior announcement. A post on the Instagram account for Mac's Record Label indicated a cut-down LP record and Cassette tape release will be forthcoming. The compilation has been noted for being unusually long, with 199 tracks and a runtime of 8:43:20. Of the 199 tracks, 18 have full titles and lyrics, the remainder being instrumentals or having simple , suggesting the compilation is composed of demos as well as finished pieces. The title of the compilation appears to be an allusion to hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, combining the number 1 with Gretzky's jersey number, 99, making the number 199, the amount of tracks on the album. The album, released without prior announcement, features 199 tracks of instrumental and demo recordings made between 2018 and 2023. With a runtime of over nine hours, it received positive coverage for its experimental format and intimate atmosphere.
On June 24, 2025, Mac revealed the title of the album to be Guitar and announced a release date of August 22, 2025. The announcement coincided with the release of a lead single, "Home". The album was recorded in November 2024 in Mac's home studio in Los Angeles, with DeMarco recording, mixing, and producing the album himself and David Ives mastering. On July 22, 2025, he released a second single, "Holy", along with a music video.
He uses vintage Japanese synthesizers, including a Yamaha DX7 and a Korg Microsampler. Additional models include a Rhodes piano, a Moog synthesizer Realistic MG-1, a Prophet-5, a Roland Juno 60, JX-3P, and a Yamaha DX100. Amplifiers used include a 1970s Fender Twin Reverb, a Roland JC-120, and both a small Fender Vibro-Champ and a large Roland KC-550; DeMarco uses them during stage performances by hooking his keyboards with the Vibro-Champ amplifier which was linked to the KC-550. Effect pedals used are a MXR Micro Amp, a Boss Corporation CE-2 Chorus, a Boss VB-2 Vibrato, TU-3 tuner, an Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Reverb, a Polyphonic Octave Generator and a JHS Pedals Colour Box for overdrive tones.
DeMarco records his music on reel-to-reel tape recorders and vintage effects unit, such as a Fostex A-8, Tascam 388 and Portastudio's, an Alesis Micro Limiter and a Roland Space Echo RE-201. However, he recorded his album This Old Dog on a MacBook with an Apogee Quartet interface. He uses a Neumann U 87 condenser mic, a Royer R-121 ribbon mic, and a four-channel AMS Neve Portico preamp strip with his Ableton Live setup. DeMarco also uses a Roland CR-78 drum machine to record demos. In his home in Los Angeles, he had an empty room turned into a reverb chamber. He uses a Neumann KM184 as the microphone and a Mackie 15A speaker as the output for the chamber.
DeMarco is a fan of the Edmonton Oilers, his hometown ice hockey team. His 2023 album One Wayne G is named for Oilers legend Wayne Gretzky, with its 199-song length referencing Gretzky's 99 jersey number.
| 2014 | Album of the Year (Shortlist) | Salad Days | ||
| 2017 | Album of the Year (Longlist) | This Old Dog | ||
| 2014 | Best Male Artist | |||
| Best Songwriter |
Backing band members
Timeline Discography Solo
Mini-LPs
Demos { class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed collapsible collapsed" style="text-align:left; background-color:white;" | 2 Demos (2012) | ||
| Salad Days Demos (2014) |
Studio albums
| Ying Yang (2010) |
| Eyeballing (2010) |
Extended plays (EPs)
| Heat Wave! (2009) |
| Eating Like A Kid (2010) |
| Bossa Yeye (2009) |
| Weird Meats EP (2009) |
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