Mac Demarco KEXP

Every week, I will be publishing one live performance. I intend for each of these performances to encapsulate the week I am living. I will take into account

• the weather
• current events
• my mood 
• other people’s moods 
• the shoes my professor chooses to wear 
• the amount of colorful socks I see
• if my plants are still alive 
• if I see any cool bugs
•  how funny my reels are
• if slither io is working 
• if rastles has ice
• how active @aldo2swag has been on social media 
• card games played
• Many other things 

I hope that by reading this, you can enjoy an interesting, hopefully excellent performance that reflects musical talent and changes how you listen to the artist. I also hope to reflect and make an archive of how different experiences affect how I listen to and appreciate music and performance.

This week: Mac DeMarco live on KEXP

To start off, I felt like Mac DeMarco was the only way to go. He is one of my favorite performers, and this video just highlights all that makes his style unique. KEXP is a radio station in Seattle, Washington, that somehow has had almost all of my favorite artists live. My obsession with the station began after I completed what felt like the entirety of NPR’s Tiny Desk series. Cheryl Waters, who is the interviewer for this performance, has been the host of the Mid-Day Show for the past 10 years. Right off the bat, you can feel her comfort in this role of interviewer, along with her enjoyment of Mac. They have a playful, almost flirty banter from the beginning, setting the stage for the improvisational nature of his performance style. He opens with On the Level, which was a formative song for my taste in music. 

 In 2019, this song was introduced to me by my brother Rory. He had been on a Mac Demarco kick and determined that this was his all-time favorite song. Sitting on my roof on a particularly chilly North Carolina night, this song, with its funky, hazy arrangement,  became a soundtrack for the friendship developing between me and my siblings. I couldn’t listen to this song for the longest time, as the repetitive tune became overplayed, but now, in the fall of 2025, the song sounds nostalgic and peaceful and makes me want to call my brothers (which I will do after I write this)

After On The Level, he dedicates the next song to “Mrs. Cheryl Waters”. The camera pans to her, and she is smiling so big. I just think that’s the cutest thing ever. He then adds a mysterious person to his dedication, and the camera pans to his friend sleeping on the studio floor.

I often want to enjoy music performances and large social gatherings without having to actually exist there. Sometimes feel like I would enjoy things more if I could walk around undetected and listen to other people’s conversations. Not really to easdrop but more to enjoy the company of other people’s thoughts without having to share my own. This dude seems like he’s in such an ideal spot, and I am envious of him, particularly after Halloweekend.

He then quickly transitions into the song in which the album gets its title, “This Old Dog.” This song is not my favorite of his, but I have no complaints about it being in the performance. Cheryl and him continue to chop it up about his recording process. They talk about the comfort of recording from home, and she later mentions that she can envision him in his underwear, recording the tracks. Then dreams form yesterday 

I have recently found myself constantly cleaning and adding to my room. I have a single this year and am continually working to perfect it. Most people who visit comment on the space’s beauty and peaceful energy. I have filled up almost the entire room, and yet it never feels finished. I add something new nearly every day. I sometimes find myself missing my room in Loomis even though I constantly itched to get out. This song touches on such a basic idea, but I feel it so much this week. I don’t know if or how I will ever be satisfied with my room.

The set finishes with one of my favorite songs, “One More Love Song”. I originally found this song odd because I felt that almost every one of his songs was a love song, but that is kinda what I love about his music. He articulates his feelings in a way that is so tangible to me. Along with that, he articulates heartbreak with equal relatability.

I have only recently gotten back into playlist making. I typically just queue songs that feel right for the activity I am doing (or lack thereof). The other day, as I was reading in my room, I realized that my queue was entirely love songs. Each song I had played had a different person or thought process attached, but they were all about romantic feelings. I I always thought that I listened to mostly sad music, but it seems that love songs probably dominate my streams

^{This post was written with the intention of being published Sunday, November 2nd}