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Mac DeMarco on Mitski Controversy: “I Didn’t Know Who Mitski Was!”

Last month, Mac DeMarco announced a new album called Here Comes the Cowboy and released a single called “Nobody.” The news would’ve been met with the expected level of excitement from Mac fans and standard coverage from music publications, had the album and single not been released months after Mitski’s critically acclaimed Be the Cowboy and its single, “Nobody.” The similarities between the titles didn’t go over well with Mitski fans, many of whom took to social media to express their displeasure. In a just-released interview with Huck Magazine that took place the day after his album’s announcement, DeMarco addressed the controversy, blaming much of it on his obliviousness.

From Huck Mag:

“For some reason, I felt like Mitski would be chill with it, which she was. I talked to her for a while – we were texting yesterday. She had the same outlook. I was like, “It’s so crazy that it’s a similar title.” I don’t show anybody my record ’til I hand it in. By that time, I just said: “This is the title; this will be the first single.”

I didn’t know that one of her singles was ‘Nobody’… My manager told me and I thought, ‘Whoa, weird.’ Even if I had known, I don’t think I would’ve changed it. I didn’t think people were gonna run with it that far. It’s ridiculous. It’s just music. Mitski’s song and my song sound eons different. Most of the people talking about it didn’t even listen to my song. With music today, [it seems] a lot of it isn’t about music.”

Later in the interview, DeMarco reiterated that he was not trying to “troll Mitski.”

“I didn’t know who Mitski was!” he said. “I’m bad at keeping up with music. I only listen to The Beatles and video-game music from when I was a kid. Sorry.”

DeMarco also spoke about #MeToo as it related to his new album. “I understand that I am a man. I’m a white man. I’m a white straight man,” he said. “With this album, I just made a record. I’m not trying to say anything about anything. I’m taking a back seat. If you wanna listen, you can. If not, that’s okay. I hear it and I’m listening. I’m not like, ‘Fuck this shit.’ No way. It’s important.”

Read the entire interview, which includes Mac’s thoughts on his alcoholism and mental health, at Huck Magazine.