Notes From Somewhere

A patchwork of songs, late night conversations and wild ideas coalesced together after four years of ‘rip it up and start again’.

Unique sounds in strange rooms, late nights in bars, but mostly watching others glide through rites of passage - handling their relationships with lovers, friends and loved ones.

Scattered songs are already out there, now all the gaps will be filled in. Pre-order the vinyl to hold something beautiful with it, and in return I’ll give you the music a lil’ early too. 

With this one, I created my ‘life’s work’, then I had to do a lot of ‘life work’ to get to the point of releasing it. 

We celebrate this announcement with the new single “One Tattoo” which you can find at all the streaming places.

Here’s to more of what serves us well - and less of what doesn’t.

Thank you truly <3

-Aymen

Quite honestly it was an absurd situation, very funny on the face of it. I look nothing like quasi-famous indie singer Mac DeMarco, and to be put on the spot at border control as to whether I'm him.. very bizarre. The odd feeling I remember is essentially one of having to soft-sell disappointment to her - the agent - just to keep myself viable as someone allowed into the US… to, very literally, go home.

It isn't lost on me that when a lot of people come across me here, as a person with a foreign accent and holding a guitar- they assume I am someone 'big time'. This one was different in that beyond the awkward, unwanted discomfort... there were stakes at play. I had my passport which is literal proof that I'm not him.. however, any question about me and my motives for being in the country, outed me squarely as "Mac". It does seem that I am a songwriter, yes I do play guitar, OK so I'm here to play shows... etc. 

The deeper side of the story is one of identity. Blunt comparison exists- for example, his appearance, or his level of success. Obviously I'd love to be as successful as the lad - I definitely imagine a life of Mac being filled with a bounty of creative opportunity and abundance of audience connection. However, the thread I'm pulling at more so in the lyrics, intentionally or not, is the pressure to have to "make sense" to someone else when something's on the line. In a border crossing, you have to tell them the 'round peg' story to go into the 'round hole' and be let in. It's like this in many other areas of life whether similarly consequential (like a job interview) or frivolous (meeting a stranger at a supermarket).

I have my next album recorded (it's called "wedding season"-- out sept) and I've been trickling out a few singles and trying to figure out what avenues it might be able to reach people. There is a lot of pressure to "make sense" to people for opportunities - ie. the journalists that you want to cover you, or the music industry people who you want to work with. Am I a solo artist or a band? What genre? What's my one-line elevator pitch? You need me to sound like x to be considered for y-- how do I contextualise myself to try to fit that?

I've always felt like an outlier - maybe we all do- but I'm definitely reminded of that in moments at the border.. and moments when I sound all english-and-weird when I talk or sing. I can't help or change who I am. Would I opt to change who I am if it enabled more of what I want from life? Well, that's a huge philosophical question - we can spend a couple of hours on that question at the bar (after a few malörts, of course). 

I recorded this song myself. What was I thinking with this one? I thought something 'simple'-- casiotone and drum machine would be a fun lo-fi aesthetic. I definitely kept it quite pared back, although I'm very good at never making things as simple as they could be. My friend Marina helped guide me through the vocal recording when we were hanging out together. Andy D Park handled the mix, Nick Stetina on the mastering and the artwork was by Evan Marsalli. 

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You can check out the song here.