Mac DeMarco Quotes

Those first big concerts we played as 'Throwing Copper' started to really reach people worldwide - I think we played our first big arena show at the George Estate basketball arena down in Atlanta. I remember showing up and standing on stage and just being like, 'I can't believe this is going to be full of people. This is huge.'

I never expected a camera was going to follow all of my moves, and that was surprising when I saw it for the first time.

I love music but I never went to a concert in my life. The first time I went to a concert I performed on a stage with Drake.

People don't buy music anymore; they're stealing it. But you can't steal a live show. There's no way to reproduce a real live show. So I think that when you put a great bill together, that people will come out for it.

The thing about doing gigs is you make music, and then it is gone and that is being watched by thousands of people.

People watch me... whatever I do, wherever I go.

Tribute bands have kind of taken over the market, and I don't want to come across as being that.

You couldn't get away with anything at City because there were always photographers everywhere.

Our movements and feelings are constantly monitored, because surveillance is the business model of the digital age.

We're not the corporation of Foster the People. We're a band.

When you make records, you gotta think about what's going to be happening at the concert.

I just think you shouldn't expect people to pay money to see someone sing live and then lip-synch.

We went to see Lenny Kravitz last summer in Austin and he was awesome. His show was just awesome. I mean, like, when you see some of these great bands, you sit there and think, man, if only we were that tight, you know?

If you want to be entertained, go and see Hanson.

Abba's last tour was a success but awful for me.

The Beatles realized that what they were making in the studio could never be performed. And they had already given up on performing because there were too many screaming fans and they were playing in larger and larger venues so they couldn't even hear what they were playing, it just wasn't any fun any more.

The most common characteristic of all police states is intimidation by surveillance. Citizens know they are being watched and overheard. Their mail is being examined. Their homes can be invaded.

You had to live - did live, from habit that became instinct - in the assumption that evey sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every moment scrutinized.

We were always getting away with something, which implied that someone was always watching us, which meant that we were not alone in this world.

I THINK EVERYONE SHOULD BE BUGGED ALL THE TIME...BUGGED AND PHOTOGRAPHED

I mean there’s a certain finality about a movie, when it’s done it’s done – that raised eyebrow in that moment will always be that raised eyebrow. Whereas a play only lives as a blueprint for a performance on any given night. There’s a reason you can eat popcorn and watch a movie and you can’t do that in the theatre. Theatre you have to lean in, you have to tune your ear to the stage and participateI respond to heat. And blood. And humanity. The cold experience is not for me. I’ve always enjoyed all the real people in a room together in the theatre.

There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork. It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time. But at any rate they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to. You had to live-did live, from habit that became instinct-in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized.

The fans get to see you, and you can do great by your record if you have a great performance or a great night there. That's all part of the business. But at their core, awards shows are not really a sincere thing. For a lot of years, the artists had to pay to play their own set.

I get the most starstruck around musicians. I get tongue-tied and don't know what to say. I'm so jealous of them. When you make a movie, you're constructing something - it's a little bit like making an album. But after musicians make an album, they get to perform it live and experience it in front of a crowd.

Having cameras follow you is something that requires a little personal adjustment, but you actually do begin to forget they're there. It's impossible to maintain that awareness all the time, and when you're going through an emotional or absorbing experience, you really don't have any spare attention to think, "Got to remember that the camera is rolling."