5 December 2022 |
Bold, bleeding 808s, sequinned synths and unmistakable cut-and-paste elements; this is the kind of stuff that London-based 360º talent Mac Wetha – real name Lloyd MacDonald – makes. At just 24 years old, he is a lauded multi-hyphenate cutting his teeth as a DJ, producer, songwriter, mixer, and sound engineer. From touring with Beabadoobee to being an artist in residence at Gorillaz’s Studio 13 in West London, the Dirty Hit-signed producer-in-demand can’t be confined to a box.
Originally playing in bands, Wetha naturally moved on to creating beats. He’s now NiNE8 Collective‘s resident producer and has been since he conceived it alongside a creative crew of college classmates. The acclaimed collective, which has has sprouted talents such as Bone Slim, Biig Piig and Lava LaRue, recorded its early material with just a USB mic, stitching together tunes while crammed into Wetha’s single bedroom. NiNE8 is a family name, a creative home to return to after pursuing their own musical endeavours – but Wetha is no longer content to paint the scenery. Now, he’s working on a canvas of his own, stepping out of the shadows and into the spotlight to build a powerful catalogue of solo work outside of the underground collective. His latest single “Don’t You Go Falling In Love” comes after the release of Spill Tab feature track “Play Pretend” and his sophomore EP Cloud Paint.
“Don’t You Go Falling In Love” is Mac Wetha at his most soulful – the raw, punk-edged sound, allowing for his feelings to come to the surface, paints a detailed self-portrait. Featuring fellow neo-soul NiNE8-er Biig Piig as well as lo-fi alternative rapper Lord Apex – both of whom are close friends of the artist – it riffs on the idea of being in love and not wanting to lose that love to another. Wetha sings over melodic guitar work that unspools like a daydream, tripping over itself with fizzing percussion and running faster and faster until it hits a free fall of caustic pop-punk probed by post-hardcore fingerprints and wreathed in optimism.
With a raw, DIY feel to his disruptive sounds, Mac Wetha is finding his feet writing from a place of reflection rarely afforded in all the noise of every day. Here, the music-maker talks NiNE8 Collective, collaborating with friends, “Don’t You Go Falling In Love”, and what’s on the Mac Wetha-forecast.
1. In just a sentence, who is Mac Wetha?
“London’s answer to Riff Raff, aka the young Fred Durst.”
2. How did you come up with the name?
“I’m a big fan of Raider Klan and was listening to a lot of Bones and Xavier Wulf around 15/16 years old; the song “WeatherMan” was a big inspiration for me to start making beats, so I took the ‘Mac’ from my surname and the ‘Wetha’ from “WeatherMan” as an ode to the tune which influenced me.”
3. As a member of Nine8 Collective, what would you say is your primary role?
“Well, in a studio setting I’m usually engineering so I guess I’m often trying to keep everyone focussed which, trust me, is no small feat when we’re all in a tiny room together. There’s actually a really good video on youtube that Lava made which is a nice little look into what our chemistry is like. You can watch that here.”
4. What’s the best thing about touring with Deb Never and Beababdoobee?
“Well the best thing is I love Deb and Bea, Jacob, Eliana and Luca and enjoy spending time with them, so that makes touring easy and real fun :-). It also helps that I love their music so I get to watch them perform every night as a fan as well as a friend.”
5. What would you say has the greatest influence on your sound?
“Whatever instrument or pedal or plug-in I’m into, I think, affects my sound in a big way. I’m big into starting an idea with a texture as opposed to a chord progression. In terms of songwriting it’s nothing crazy; it’s my mood and what’s going on around me or what’s on my mind.”
6. Your track “Play Pretend” has been a hit amongst your fans. How were you feeling when it came together?
“I was feeling pretty neutral when we got together to write – Spill Tab, Kurisu (co-producer) and I. However, Spill took the lead lyrically with the notion or theme of working tirelessly to please someone who doesn’t care either way, and this touched a nerve for me. After that the words kinda just wrote themselves, honestly, as corny as it sounds.”
7. How about the new track “Don’t Go Falling In Love” which features Biig Piig and Lord Apex. What is the song really about and why were they the right people to make it with?
“Similar to the Spill Tab session, Biig Piig was the one to kick things off in terms of a lyrical theme – I came in without much to say but she brought it out of me. It was awesome! We were messing around with this chord progression and Biig Piig out of nowhere just sang what became the chorus; “Don’t You Go Falling In Love”. The title speaks for itself, we were writing about being in love and not ever wanting to lose it to someone else, it’s a kind of selfish but tongue-in-cheek message to your lover I guess. Biig Piig and Apex are some of my favourite artists and we’re all mates, so I’ve always wanted to get all the three of us on a track. Stylistically, this track felt right to have us all on.”
8. If you could have any designer create your touring wardrobe, who would it be?
“@danikm”
9. What scent reminds you of home?
“That wintery’ wood-burning smell. I spent a while living in Spain as a kid but even then this smell would give me this sense of nostalgia.”
10. What’s next for you?
“As many shows as possible!!!!!!!!”
Photography courtesy of Mac Wetha. Stream “Don’t You Go Falling In Love” on all major platforms now.
