Paul Francis McDermott (born 17 September 1965), who performs as Paul Mac, is an Australian electropop musician, singer-songwriter, producer and music re-mixer. He was classically trained at Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Mac has formed various bands including Smash Mac Mac (1986–88), The Lab (1989–1998), Itch-E and Scratch-E (1991–present), Boo Boo Mace & Nutcase (1996–98), and The Dissociatives (2003–2005). Mac has released two solo albums, 3000 Feet High (6 August 2001) and Panic Room (17 October 2005) – both appeared in the top 40 on the ARIA Albums Chart.

At the ARIA Music Awards of 2002 Mac won 'Best Dance Release' for 3000 Feet High and was nominated for 'Best Male Artist' and 'Engineer of the Year'. In June 2001 he released his highest-charting single, "Just the Thing", which featured lead vocals by Peta Morris. It reached No. 17 on the ARIA Singles Chart and at the APRA Music Awards of 2002 it won 'Most Performed Dance Work'.

Mac played with Severed Heads. He was also a touring member of Silverchair as well as recording piano parts for their album, Young Modern (March 2007), having worked with frontman Daniel Johns as The Dissociatives previously. He has provided remixes for Silverchair, Powderfinger, The Mark of Cain, Grinspoon, The Cruel Sea, INXS and Placebo. Mac has worked on soundtracks for Baz Luhrmann and on the films Head On and Sample People. He was the musical director on the Australian TV show, Good News Week, and composed music for ABC-TV including The Afternoon Show, EC Plays Lift Off, Play School and TVTV.

Biography

Mac was born on 17 September 1965.

In February 2019, Mac released a new single titled "Cataplexy" and confirmed a new album is coming soon. In April, Mac confirmed the album is titled Mesmerism and will be released on 3 May 2019. That same year, Mac composed a new score for the silent film The Sentimental Bloke (1919). The score was commissioned by the National Film and Sound Archive and performed live by Mac during screenings of the film.

Academic career

Decades after completing his earlier music degree, Mac returned to his alma mater, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, for postgraduate study. In 2021, he graduated with a Doctor of Musical Arts qualification in composition, based on fusing electronic dance music traditions with experimental practice. As at 2022, he holds an academic staff role at the Conservatorium, teaching Contemporary Music Practice courses within its Bachelor of Music programme.

Personal life

In October 2004, Mac was living in Erskineville.

|-

! scope="row"| 3000 Feet High

|

  • Released: 6 August 2001
  • Label: Eleven: A Music Company
  • Formats: CD

| 29

|

  • ARIA: Gold

|-

! scope="row"| Panic Room

|

  • Released: 17 October 2005
  • Label: Eleven: A Music Company
  • Formats: CD

| 39

|

|-

! scope="row"| Holiday From Me

|

  • Released: 10 April 2015
  • Label: Eleven: A Music Company
  • Formats: CD, digital download

| —

|

|-

! scope="row"| Mesmerism

|

  • Released: 3 May 2019
  • Label: Here to Hell
  • Formats: Digital download, streaming

| —

|

|}

Extended plays

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"

|+ List of extended plays

! scope="col"| Title

! scope="col"| EP details

|-

! scope="row"| Paul Mac Presents Snapshots

|

  • Released: 1998
  • Label: Interdance
  • Format: CD

|}

Singles

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"

|+ List of singles, with selected chart positions and certifications

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:19em;"| Title

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:1em;"| Year

! scope="col" colspan="1" | Peak chart positions

! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Certifications

! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Album

|-

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| AUS<br />

|-

! scope="row"| "The Sound of Breaking Up"<br /><span style="font-size:85%;">(featuring Peta Morris)</span>

| 25

|

|-

! scope="row"| "Gonna Miss You"<br /><span style="font-size:85%;">(featuring Abby Dobson)</span>

|rowspan="2"| 2002

| 62

|

|-

! scope="row"| "Stay"<br /><span style="font-size:85%;">(featuring Jacqui Hunt)</span>

| 79

|

|-

! scope="row"| "Sunshine Eyes"<br /><span style="font-size:85%;">(featuring Peta Morris)</span>

| 2005

| 27

|

|rowspan="3"|Panic Room

|-

! scope="row"| "Love Declaration"<br /><span style="font-size:85%;">(featuring Aaradhna)</span>

|rowspan="2"| 2006

| 39

|

|-

! scope="row"| "It's Not Me, It's You"<br /><span style="font-size:85%;">(featuring Ngaiire)</span>

| —

|

|-

! scope="row"| "The Only One"<br /><span style="font-size:85%;">(featuring Bertie Blackman)</span>

| 2008

| 95

|

| Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger soundtrack

|-

! scope="row"| "State of War"

| 2015

| —

|

|Holiday from Me

|-

! scope="row"| "The Currawong Shall Return" <small> <br />(with Andy Rantzen)</small>

| 2018

| —

|

|non-album single

|-

! scope="row"| "Cataplexy"

|rowspan="2"| 2019

| —

|

|rowspan="2"| Mesmerism

|-

! scope="row"| "Flamenco"

| —

|

|}

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:16em;"| Title

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:1em;"| Year

! scope="col" colspan="1" | Peak chart positions

! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Certifications

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:10em;"| Album

|-

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| NZ<br />

|-

! scope="row"| "In the Clear"<br /><small>(Six60 featuring Paul Mac)</small>

| 2012

| 12

|

  • RMNZ: Gold

| Six60

|}

Production work and other credits

  • 1994 "Dead Eyes Opened (Love Experiment)", (remix) Dead Eyes Opened Remix Severed Heads
  • 1996 "The Contender", "The Contender (reprise)" (remixes) Rock and Roll The Mark of Cain
  • 1999 "Anthem for the Year 2000", "Spawn Again", "Satin Sheets" (keyboards) Neon Ballroom Silverchair
  • 2000 I Can't Believe It's Not Rock (with Daniel Johns)
  • 2002 "Across the Night", "World Upon Your Shoulders", "Tuna in the Brine", "Too Much of Not Enough", "Luv Your Life", "My Favourite Thing" (piano) Diorama Silverchair
  • 2002 "Symphony of Life" (extended euroremix) Tina Arena
  • 2004 "Pictures of You" (remix) One Perfect Day after The Cure's 1989 album Disintegration
  • 2004 "She" (producer) Stella One Eleven Stella One Eleven
  • 2005 (co-producer) Counting Down the Days Natalie Imbruglia
  • 2005 "Mini Morris Parts 1 and 2" (performer with Cezary Skubiszewski) Hating Alison Ashley Various Artists
  • 2025 "Something Good" (remix) (with The Superjesus)

Awards

ARIA Awards

PaulMac has won one award from seven ARIA Music Awards nominations.

|-

| rowspan="2"| 2001

| rowspan="2"| "Just the Thing"

| Best Dance Release

|

|-

| Best Male Artist

|

|-

| rowspan="3"| 2001

| rowspan="3"| 3000 Feet High

| Best Dance Release

|

|-

| Best Male Artist

|

|-

| Engineer of the Year

|

|-

| rowspan="1"| 2004

| rowspan="1"| PaulMac with Daniel Johns for The Dissociatives

| Producer of the Year

|

|-

| rowspan="1"| 2006

| rowspan="1"| Panic Room

| Best Dance Release

|

APRA Awards

The APRA Awards are held in Australia and New Zealand by the Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually. PaulMac has won one award from four nominations.

|-

| rowspan="3"| 2002

| rowspan="2"| "Just the Thing"

| Most Performed Australian Work

|

|-

| rowspan="2"| Most Performed Dance Work

|

|-

| rowspan="1"| "The Sound of Breaking Up"

|

|-

| rowspan="1"| 2006

| rowspan="1"| "Sunshine Eyes"

| Most Performed Dance Work

|

|-

References

;General

  • Note: Archived [on-line] copy has limited functionality.

;Specific