Ya, pun intended.
A question that I get asked fairly regularly is, 'how did you come up with the name macsmusic?'
Well, there's a few things going on here that led to macsmusic. I considered both business and personal ideas to incorporate into a stage name.
Grab yourself a coffee and read on ...
Here's what took me there;
Jumping back into the performing music biz, I wanted to establish an easy to remember name that would work well for marketing tools such as social media, advertising, merchandise and brand recognition. At the time, I thought using my given name was a bit cumbersome for such branding.
I really wasn't sure where I was going with this new act. My previous project was quite successful and was I really going to aspire to that level again - or higher - as a solo, singer-songwriter?
I wasn't sure if I would stay as a solo act or form a band, or even have guest musicians come and go. So 'macsmusic' allowed for that flexibility too.
I wanted to create some distance between my musical identity and my nine to five occupation. I thought a pseudonym would help do that. Stereotypes abound and I've been a musician (part-time or otherwise) far longer than I've had any full-time, 'real' job that I needed to help support a growing family.
Initially, I thought it'd be a good idea to keep some distance between the two occupations. However, my well received song, The Ballad of John Lewis kinda nixed that! lol
It's all good though, and you just never know what's around life's corner.
The next few things are more personal and kinda cool to know;
My wife had a little best friend, sidekick and buddy for eighteen years. It was a sad day for us all when her faithful Shitzhu named Mac passed away in 2013. His papered name was actually Mr. Air Compressor, which she shortened to MAC. The acronym made complete sense when calling out his name to come inside! I thought it was ideal to have his name and memory included.
When my ancestors immigrated from Scotland in 1804, our surname had the prefix 'Mac', meaning 'son of'. The next generation shortened it to 'Mc' for some unknown reason which has carried on to this day. I've actually thought about changing it back. Oh, the controversy that would stir up!
Over the years, the males in my family had often been given the nickname Mac, too.
As you can see, the 'mac' in macsmusic has some special references for me.
So, considering everything above, it totally was the perfect pick for me to include 'mac' in my musical endeavours.
I like it.
Even though macsmusic looks good on-line, on the marquee, on picks, t-shirts and eventually CD's, I still answer to Ken (or Kenneth - if I'm in the doghouse!).
And there you have it. Kinda deep perhaps, but several of you asked. For those of you still on the edge of your seats, you can sit back and relax now, lol.
And, by the way, I've comfortably settled into the fact that there are several definitions of success in the music industry. Mine now is simply performing & writing music for me (and you). :-)
Cheers!
Ken - macsmusic -