Music’s supposed to make you feel something right? Why not make that feeling uplifting and real. On Australian singer, songwriter Gavin Mac’s debut album Make You Feel, he delivers ten heartfelt, relatable, singalong stories. Exclusive to Australian Musician, Gavin takes us track by track through the new album.
MAKE YOU FEEL
‘Make You Feel’ began as a 3 word promise Gavin scribed to remind himself of the main objective of the album, to awaken the senses and elicit nostalgia be it through lyrics, melodies or musical performances. Make You Feel is a reminder to stop once in a while to reminisce, and reacquaint yourself with the parts of you thought you’d let go.
LIVE YOUR LIFE
This is an adaptation of a track by musician and rising Broadway performer, Nick Cordero. A friend of a close friend of Gavin’s, Nick was struck down with COVID-19 in New York, in April 2020. Whilst in a coma, their mutual friend launched a social media campaign to ‘Wake Up Nick’ by singing his much-loved recording, Live Your Life. Gavin joining the chorus from Australia, learnt and performed the song back.
SIDESWIPED
This track was built for sun-soaked highway road trips and hazy whiskey bars; or, as Mac reveals, to also soundtrack those days where things go from bad to worse. “I love classic cars, so I’m pretty sure there was a subconscious desire to write a song that featured one,” shares Mac. “The story itself, though, is one of misadventure mixed with a dollop of bad karma. A bit like something out of a Quentin Tarantino flick, the (fictional character, loosely based on yours truly) has the proverbial day from hell, that starts off a mess and just gets worse, and with every turn. We all have those kinds of days…right?
GETAWAY
As exciting as it can be, the bump and grind of city life can let you down and then get you down after a while. Its relentless pace and endless stream of opportunities can become more like a an endless roller coaster with no exit sign. Getaway is a reminder to breathe in (and out) and get outta the rat race every once in a while, for some well earned perspective.
BUSHFIRE
Heartfelt, earthy & uplifting, Bushfire, is a roaring ballad about those moments in passion-fuelled relationships, when things explode, and we do, and say things we wish we could take back. It’s inspired by my own impulsive behaviour, and the heart wrenching task of picking up the pieces in the aftermath.”
ONCE DETECTED
The music business can lift you up and beat you around. The resulting waves of high confidence to self doubt, causing extended periods of writer’s block and performance anxiety. Once detected explores these issues as a dialogue between two performers and plea from one to the other. Once Detected was co-written by long time collaborator, Michael Lulich.
YOU FOR ME
They say opposites attract, and for me and my girl, that was definitely true. We were just kids. I saw beauty, she saw potential. Years later, we’re still together. I’m still a work in progress. and she’s still as beautiful as ever.
I particularly love the guitar solo work from guitarist extraordinaire, Ben Butler (Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Suzanne Vega) who played lead on 9 of ten album tracks.
ANGEL, IN A BLACK TSHIRT
Angel In a Black T-Shirt tells the tale of a near death experience, in a bar where a beautiful angel comes to the rescue. The song is an adaptation of an actual experience of co-writer Greg Rudduck. Produced by ARIA and CMAA winner Matt Fell, the track also featured Ollie Thorpe from the Whitlams Black Stump Band, on lead guitar.
HOW MUCH BETTER
After years of commuting weekly interstate for work, Gavin relocated his family to Sydney to put an end to prolonged periods apart from his wife and daughters. Now around his girls day and night, Gavin realised all he’d missed. Evening antics, kitchen karaoke, dress ups and goodnight kisses. How Much Better captures Gavin’s realisation of the joy of family life he’d been missing out on whilst on the road.
FOREVER CHANGING YOU
The inspiration behind Forever Changing You was the emotional and social pressures around cosmetic surgery. The lyric considers the individual and those around them. How confidence can be smashed but also how a few kind words can resurrect it.
MORE ABOUT GAVIN MAC
Discovered at the age of 16 by Sony Music, Gavin Mac quickly gained the title of being Sony Music Australia’s youngest-ever Australian recording artist at the time. Evolving his music industry skills and knowledge in the years to follow, Mac worked alongside both international and iconic Australian artists, including previous work with Nickelback, Queens of the Stone Age, Linda & Vika Bull, and Alex Lloyd. And from managing A&R duties for Roadrunner Records to stepping back from the industry to raise his family, Mac still kept his creative fires alive, co-founding the award-winning brand experience agency Urban, conceiving and delivering marketing campaigns for Electronic Arts, Airbnb, and Netflix.
With years away from music, a fortuitous 2019 road trip to the Tamworth Country Music festival provided the very kindling that would ultimately turn Mac’s gaze firmly back to his passions, songwriting and storytelling, with the Melbourne-hailing singer-songwriter emerging from his musical hiatus with gusto in 2023 balancing renewed purpose, perspective and the powerful drive that comes with unfinished business. In 2023, Mac released his debut solo singles Getaway, Live Your Life and Bushfire, amassing over 300K streams and counting, with 2024 also garnering Mac his first industry nod, taking home the Tamworth Music Association’s 2024 New Songwriter of the Year. Now poised to release his long-awaited debut album this September, Make You Feel may be Gavin Mac’s first official full-length release, but it’s been a labour of love many years in the making, with many incredible experiences also along the way. “Make You Feel is a debut album 30 years in the making,” says Mac. “Do I qualify for some kind of Guinness Book of Records nod?! It’s been a long time in making, but hopefully the first of many to come. I’m already well into my follow up album, which I’m planning to release a little quicker than the first. I take a quiet satisfaction in defying convention. It’s when you know you’re being different, brave and beating to your own drum. So bring it on.”
“The album is like an old photo,” Mac concludes. “I’ve extracted my favourite photos and then digitized them for perpetuity. But not to dwell on the past, instead it’s presentation to the market blends old and new, to ensure it is true to its promise of delivering a ‘modern nostalgia’ experience. I feel the same as I’m sure any artist does when releasing a debut album: excited and nervous. Releasing music into the public domain is also cathartic for any artist. Regardless of how it is received, it’s liberating to hang your music in the public domain for people to hear and hopefully, enjoy in perpetuity.”