7 questions with Mac DeMarco: Turkey suits, his ‘confusing’ music and working at McDonald’s

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Mac DeMarco is back, and if anyone remembers his performance at Tropicalia last year – where he wore several blow-up “turkey” suits – don’t be surprised if he does something outrageous when he performs at the Ford Theatre Sept. 11 and the Greek Theatre Sept. 13.

Known for his mellow and often melancholy tunes, DeMarco is currently on a world tour that will bring him back to L.A. for two nights to promote his latest album, “Here Comes the Cowboy,” which dropped in May. DeMarco recently performed the singles “Finally Alone,” and “Nobody,” from his new album on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

The Canadian singer, who now lives in Los Angeles, talked to the Southern California News Group about the new album, his love of trains and his time working flipping burgers at the Golden Arches.

And because it was so memorable, we asked about those inflatable turkey suits, too — and the fact that he finished performing that set in his boxers. Read on for our conversation, which has been edited.

Southern California News Group: What would you say the themes are on “Here Comes the Cowboy”?

DeMarco: It’s just kind of biographical. I write about what I know, and it deals with day-to-day stuff. Maybe a little isolation, a little displacement, a little loneliness – things like that.

Q: Is this a melancholy album or something that is ultimately kind of positive?

A: I think it kind of tows the line. I like that as well where it’s kind of ambiguous. Sometimes music can be happy and uplifting-sounding with the juxtaposition of the lyrics maybe being a little more melancholy or sad. I like to put those two side-by-side. It makes it confusing; I think confusing is probably the best way to describe it.

Q: What inspired those inflatable turkey suits at Tropicalia last year?

A: I had the turkey suit for a while and always wanted to use it on stage, so I did. Actually that day, we hit a bunch of Halloween shops and picked up some other ones because you know a lot of big pop stars do the costumes changes so I thought it would be funny if I costumed changed out of three layers of inflatable suits. And yeah, it looked pretty funny. I had the time of my life at that show. It was also really hot in those suits.

Q: You ended up in just your underwear in front of thousands. How did that feel?

A: Oh, I’ve done it many many times. It’s almost like second nature to me now.

Q: This new album includes a single called “Finally Alone.” What do you like to do when you’re alone?

A: Recently, I’ve been programming video games. I like to listen to music, yeah. Just hang out. Lay down a lot, maybe eat some peas or something. That’s nice.

Q: There’s a song on the album called “Choo Choo,” a funky tune about going on a choo-choo ride. Can you explain that song a little?

A: It’s just a song about choo-choo trains, yeah. It was a spur of the moment idea there but yeah, I like choo-choo trains. I like choo-choo train whistles.

Q: Does anyone ever call you Big Mac?

A: Not so much. Sometimes. I’m the fourth Mac in my family, so I was always Mini Mac, and then there was Mac and Big Mac. But the funny story about that is that I worked at McDonald’s when I was a teenager and my manager thought it was real funny that Mac D was working at Mac D’s. So there you go.