For producer extraordinaire Mac Wetha the last 12 months have been non-stop. An EP which fully trademarked his innovative style was followed by a slew of incredible singles, boasting some immaculate features – all in preparation for his hotly anticipated project ‘Mac Wetha & Friends Vol.2’. “That’s the thing about ‘Mac Wetha & Friends’; if there’s someone I’ve been a fan of for a while but for whatever reason we haven’t crossed paths, we just make it happen basically. Meet new people, bridge gaps. It’s such a crazy interconnected world. That’s kinda the point of it, joining these dots. I would genuinely call everyone on the project a friend.”
The London-based multi-hyphenate utilises a signature sound, crafting ‘live’ moments within his computer – “digital emo” is how he’s described it in the past. Between fluid collaborations with some heavy hitters, plus his roots in the NiNE8 Collective – “quite a few NiNE8 shows coming up in the summer!” – Mac has rarely slowed down; he even signed his record deal over lockdown, still working tirelessly through that period. For an artist on the rise, though, the industry can be tricky to navigate. “It can all be taxing sometimes. It’s very difficult for me. The pressure of being signed to a label… when you’re doing it for your job now, you gotta find new ways of getting that feeling of release back.”
In spite of the high-speed intensity of the music world, Mac isn’t stressing about what’s next. “With the ‘Mac Wetha & Friends’ stuff, it’s almost like a by-product of just doing what I do anyway. It’s just being in the studio all the time and always wanting to work with mates. This one had some more reaching out to people, but I’m really happy with it.” His laidback, organic approach to his craft is what makes the project undeniably intimate and infectious, the chemistry between Mac and his collaborators constantly audible, culminating in some of his slickest, most creative music. And for a man who’s constantly working, enjoying the current project is paramount. “I’ve got no immediate plans to start working on the next thing; I’m just gonna do my thing and something will come out naturally. With the first one, if I’d made something with an artist and they didn’t wanna release it, I was like ‘I’ll release it!’ Maybe I’ll do that again. The tracks that come for the next thing, it’ll be like I’m not even working on it, it’ll just happen.”
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What: DIY alt pop
Where: Central London
3 Songs: ‘Play Pretend’, ‘Red Hook’ and ‘Pelican Freestyle’
Fact: The first artist Mac saw live was Peter Andre.
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Words: James Mellen
Photography: Bella Howard
Fashion: Sabrina Soormally
