Quick Q and A with Lindsay Mac
 by Cliff Garber  ·  20 October 2008

One of Lindsay Mac’s most defining features as a musician is her adaptation of the cello as a sort of cello-guitar, where she straps it on and plays it like a guitar. It is a feature that reminisces her classical training while capturing something very exciting and creative about the way she makes music. Although Friday will be the first time I have seen Lindsay live, her records have been playing obsessively since I downloaded them. There’s something captivating about the combination of her lyrics, sound, and voice. Check her on YouTube. This Use Me Up video brags just under 5,000 hits. If you’re up for something more recent, try this video from her CD release show a few weeks ago at Club Passim. Additional music, details, and tour information can be found on her website.

You started playing the cello at a young age and it has been with you ever since. Talk about how it contributes to your music and your unique style.

The cello contributes a lot to my sound for sure. It is a beautiful instrument whether you bow it or pluck it or strum it or knock on it. It just rocks. Perhaps what’s contributed to my unique style more than the cello itself, though, is the cello community. Cellists tend to band together and have a lot of fun. They are often very passionate about their art but also have a sense of humor, innovation and experimentation. I think that foundation allowed me to pursue new directions with the cello that other groups of players might not have felt as able to pursue.

After spending many years training as a classical musician and attending Dartmouth, Royal College of Music, and San Francisco Conservatory of Music, you took your music in a new direction. What prompted this shift away from your classical training?

I realized that I wanted to be more intimately and personally involved with making music. For me, that meant singing (as well as playing) the songs, having lyrics that spoke to our common humanity — not just the actual music, and eventually, composing the songs myself. As far as I can tell, you can’t get any more personal than that!

In what ways has your music developed since recording your debut record, Small Revolution?

I think in a way it has become simpler. And that doesn’t mean simple or simplistic, it means less complex than before. I think I’ve learned more about how to craft a song that hits you the first time you hear it but that also leaves nuggets for you to discover over time. It’s a tough balance because there is so much to say or do in any particular song or recording. The choice about what to leave OUT is almost always the more important decision. Clarity of message, clarity of thought, etc. Aren’t we all looking for in so many ways anyway? Music is no different.

Looking into the future, do you have ideas about where you’d like to be or how you see yourself and your music?

My biggest goal is to remain effective. By effective I mean that I always want to move people or cause them to feel the emotions of the music. I mean really that’s what us musicians are: Emotion Distributors. If I can just keep working towards that end, I think where I’ll be as a musician will flush itself out in a way that’s meant to be.