Mackenzie First
November 25th, 2009 - Written by melissa
That wasn’t the only thing the band has learned through ten years of experience. “You learn to trust people” Dom said. To which Dave added: “We’re learning every single day. The smartest thing you can know is that you know absolutely nothing. There is something to learn from everybody, and you need to be able to listen to everybody without necessarily letting every single person affect your life”.
Finally, after years of hard work, many lessons learned and countless ups and downs, Mackenzie First have released their much anticipated album. Twelve songs (and one bonus track on iTunes) have been tirelessly worked on by the band and the label, and the final product is one that everyone involved is seriously proud of – as they should be. If you haven’t listened to the album yet, you won’t regret it once you do. From songs like ‘Mr. Groove Change’ to ‘Think’ to their oldest track, ‘Blasé’, the album is incredibly catchy.
While discussing the album and the impressions you get about each song, Dave told me that his current favorite track is ‘Think’:
“ It’s one of our best, most well-written songs… and also the lyrics came together with melody, which is something that happens once in a while where bands where you really get your point across and it goes well with the song, and I feel really good about that one.”
Other favorites include ‘Mr. Groove Change’ and ‘I Shot the Monkey’ simply for “feel good reasons” according to Dave. Talking briefly about the meaning behind the first single off their album, ‘I Shot the Monkey’, the guys told me that the two main ideas behind the track are affliction and addiction:
“If you could just be happy and take it easy and enjoy what you enjoy without it becoming a problem then you ‘shot that monkey’… and both of those are in that song.”
Their self-titled debut is a culmination of all the efforts of each member throughout their time in the band. Each song has its own influence, its own meaning, and as a whole you can hear the effort that was put into making each track unique.
“What you listen to directly affects what you write so you want to listen to what you consider to be really good music, and just do the best job you can composing and being creative on your own and collectively a really good album covers angles that take a long time to put together.” Dave explained about the process of putting the record together.
Although the album has only been out since October 13th, it has already been doing incredibly well, allowing Mackenzie First to move on to bigger and better things. With an upcoming tour in the works and a set date to play a show in Montreal on December 19th, Mack 1st is just getting started. Get ready to see a whole lot more of them, and according to Dave they aren’t going anywhere anytime soon:
“I can’t imagine how I would have chosen to do anything else. So ten years?! Pfff! I’ll be here in ten more! [we’re] not going to stop.”
You’ll also be able to check out them out at D-Tox stores across Canada as they will be their featured artist in the month of December.
If you’d like to learn more about the band, you can look them up at any of the following websites:
Also, the full transcript of my interview with the band can be read here.
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