Melbourne artist, Meg Mac recently released her long-awaited debut album, “Low Blows,” which debuted at #1 on the Australian overall iTunes and Alternative charts and #6 on the US singer/songwriter charts.
Reflecting on recording the album Meg explains, “I’d met the Niles City Sound guys when they were touring with Leon Bridges; Austin Jenkins, Josh Block, and Chris Vivon produced and played on Leon’s album, which is one of the reasons I was drawn to recording with them. While I was working in LA, I decided to fly to Fort Worth to check out their studio. On arrival I worked up a song live with them and decided that was it”, Meg explains. “I then went to Electric Lady in New York where John O’Mahony mixed it did some additional production,” she adds.
Mac’s has been touring incessantly since, performing at major festivals including Governor’s Ball, Hangout Fest and Field Trip Festival, tours with Clean Bandit and a North American ‘Black Messiah’ tour with D’Angelo that brought her to the Independent in San Francisco. She was kind enough to find some time in her busy schedule to answer a few questions for us and here is what transpired.
Can you give our listeners a brief introduction of who you are for people that may not be familiar with Meg Mac?
My name is Meg Mac. I’m from Melbourne Australia. I sing, play piano and write songs. My debut album Low Blows just came out.
When did you start singing and when did you know you wanted to do this for a living?
When I was a teenager, I discovered that you could make up your own music and that’s when I knew I didn’t just like singing. I wanted to make music.
What’s been the biggest thing that’s happened to you so far?
I guess making my debut album was a pretty big step I’d been thinking about for a long time and I’ve done that now.
You went out on tour with D’Angelo last year. How did that come about and what was that like?
Yeah, I toured America supporting D’Angelo, and it was an inspiring tour to be on. I watched D’Angelo and his band every night and just had to soak it all up.
What would say are the main differences between American and Australian audiences?
I’ve mostly been touring as the support act in America, so it’s getting up in front of a crowd of people who probably don’t know any of my songs or who I am.
What was the inspiration behind your new album “Low Blows”?
I wrote a lot of the songs in Australia as well as overseas when I was touring and traveling. It’s a collection of very personal songs that I’ve written at the piano and brought to life at Niles City Sound in Fort Worth, Texas.
What was your favorite city you visited on tour?
Without spending much time in the cities I played in on tour, I have to choose my favorites based on my favorite shows. They were in Atlanta and Detroit on the D’Angelo tour.
You played San Francisco a few weeks back. I missed the show, unfortunately, how did it go?
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Where would you like to see your career heading in the next five years?
More music & more touring & more traveling.
Lastly, name one surprising thing about you that most people don’t know?
I started teaching myself guitar in the studio when we were making the album.
