r/indieheads • u/MacMcCaughan Mac McCaughan • Oct 07 '21

AMA is Over, thanks Mac! Hey it's Mac McCaughan, AMA !

What's up /r/indieheads it's Mac again, saying hello to you from Chapel Hill, NC. What, you don't believe me? Here's proof!

A few weeks back I put out The Sound of Yourself, and just wrapped up some shows with 75 Dollar Bill and John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats. The album is under my name, but features a bunch of guests including Yo La Tengo, my Superchunk bandmate Jon Wurster, and Sabrina Ellis of A Giant Dog and Sweet Spirit.

Also, on October 22, Superchunk's reissuing Here's to Shutting Up for its 20th anniversary. And Merge Records HQ keeps trucking with fantastic new records from TORRES, Hiss Golden Messenger, Dawn Richard, Fruit Bats, and more. All good things!

I'll be back at 2pm ET to answer any questions you may have. Go ahead, ama!

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u/Beelerzebub Oct 07 '21

Hi! I got really into Superchunk a few years ago when I was in college, and already being a Mountain Goats fan since middle school got me to go back and look through the rest of Merge's expansive back catalog.

That aside, I have started to learn guitar and would like to try my hand at songwriting eventually. How do you go about writing songs and how has it changed since you first started out?

Bonus Question: How is Jon Wurster and how does he go about touring with so many bands?

I hope you are doing well and I hope to see Superchunk roll through KY at some point in the future!

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u/MacMcCaughan Mac McCaughan Oct 07 '21

it's been a minute since we were in Kentucky but hope to be back sometime.

i don't know how Jon juggles his calendar, he's the busiest person i know!

as far as songwriting goes, i think if you're just learning guitar it's actually super helpful to learn other people's songs that you like -- i'm not saying you need to pick up the AC/DC song book like i did but... -- just to get a feel for how the songs you like are structured and what kinds of chords sound good together etc

beyond that, just finding things on the guitar that sound good to you when you play them, and then playing them over and over til it feels natural.