Kyle’s Music Corner–What Ever Happened to Mac Demarco’s Old Guitarist?

 By Kyle Arbiola

For all those Mac Demarco fans out there, ever wonder what happened to his old guitarist? Well, he went off to develop more of his wonderful slacker rock sound under the alias “Homeshake.”

But before he was Homeshake he was Peter Sagar. He was originally born and raised in Edmonton, Canada but in 2011 he made the move to Montreal to work on music projects with his friends. During his time there, he joined two bands, one called Sans AIDS and another named Outdoor Miners. Eventually though he made his way to the opportunity to go on tour with the amazing Mac Demarco. For a year straight they toured non-stop with little breaks in between. As touring with Mac took a toll on Peter physically and very much mentally, he decided to quit the band,”rebuild the infrastructure of his life” and go venture out deeper into his own project and thus the magnificent Homeshake was born into the music scene.

Peter wrote a good amount of Homeshake’s most recent album “Midnight Snack” while on tour. The album came out in September of 2015 through the record label Sinderlyn. Sagar whips out the synthesizers and a drum machine to add an electronic feel while simultaneously complementing the mellow guitar and funky basslines.  The album starts off with an intro song called,”What Did He Look Like,” and ends with the song, “Goodnight.” Fitting right?  The total running time of the album is about thirty-three minutes which is a reasonable length, it only makes it more juicier and makes you crave for more. Of course, I absolutely recommend listening to the album in its entirety at least once, but for those who are just looking to get a quick fix, I recommend “Give It to Me,” “I Don’t Wanna,” and “Faded.” These three songs set the tone for the album, so if you like them, you will enjoy the rest. Guaranteed.

The inspiration for the record comes from Peter’s longing for time to spend with his significant other during his time touring. Throughout the album, Peter pays homage to the midnight snacks his girlfriend would make him whenever he was hungry. He also notes that his musical inspirations were Chip E, Mr. Fingers, and Chiemi Manabe, an 80s Japanese pop starlet.

All good things must come to an end so that better things can come of it. In this case it was Peter leaving the Mac Demarco tour band to dabble into his own musical projects. Once again, I strongly encourage you to listen to the whole album. Just sit back crack open a six pack, of soda that is, and listen to this record before going to bed. Great times will ensue.

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