Mac DeMarco released his sixth album, Guitar, in August 2025. Next, he’s kicking off the 2026 leg of an extensive tour on February 16. The stripped-down, acoustic-heavy album came after several years of heavy drinking and uncertainty. According to DeMarco, it’s meant to represent his current life and perspective.
Rumors started that DeMarco was retiring from music around 2023. But since then, he’s given up drinking and decided to downsize his tour stops. Speaking with NME in February 2026, DeMarco described his recent work and life at length. In part, he explained what it’s like to survive the hype, what downsizing means for him, and how he views the buzz around new artists.
He was asked about headlining the massive End of the Road Festival in September 2026, which he last did in 2017. Here, DeMarco first mentioned the downsizing.
“It’s cool,” he said of the festival. “But what we’re trying to actively do with the new record and the new touring is to downsize in a tasteful way. To play nicer, smaller venues, and create a different environment.”
Unfortunately, he admitted, that plan hasn’t always worked. “I think that it’s backfired a little bit where some of the booking has just been smaller venues that aren’t super nice, and then the fans are like, ‘Well, we couldn’t get a ticket, then the resale was $400,’ which is not what I was trying to do,” he said. “So we’re figuring it out.”
Mac DeMarco Talks Future Plans and Past Hype
“I want to keep going forward with my art and my music, but if it’s palatable to a giant-er and giant-er audience? It’s not something I [aspire to],” DeMarco continued. “I didn’t really think about it back in the day either, though, really. I’m just happy that I’m able to make whatever the f*** I feel like, and we’re still able to go out [and] do things on whatever scale.”
The point of downsizing, he said, ultimately comes down to not wanting to perform in huge venues. “There’s a focus on growing something bigger and bigger and bigger, but you reach a threshold,” he said. “When you wind up in a gigantic square box, and it’s this lifeless echoey venue where you need to supplement the size of the place with video screens and cameras—that’s not what I want to be doing. That’s not where I wanna put my energy, I’d rather put it somewhere that’s more fulfilling for me.”
Meanwhile, Mac DeMarco considered the unlikely rise of acts like Geese, who seemed to dominate year-end lists in 2025. Or like Mk.gee (who DeMarco revealed lives down the street from him). Even Geese frontman Cameron Winter, who put out solo work in 2024. He admitted that the hype “seems cool,” but that he remembers what comes later.
“I have a thing when I see someone like Cameron [Winter] or Mk.gee, and it’s like, ‘I was there once. The hype was coming for me… Have fun, but it gets weirder!’” he said. “I think also, when there’s something that’s that popping, the hype makes it so I don’t know how to consume it right now.”
Photo by Frank Hoensch/Redferns
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