A Quick Chat with 22mackie

Imprint has just been released. What does this project represent for you, and what do you hope people take away from it?

Imprint to me was built to be a first impression. As an upcoming, self-produced artist I understand that almost everything I create will be landing on new ears every time, so it’s super important for me to instantly catch the attention of the listener to build my audience. This is why I landed on Imprint as the title for the EP. It's me taking my opportunity to introduce who I am as a person and as an artist in hopes to make an imprint on whoever listens.

Many of the songs on the EP use uniquely Australian people, places and cultural references as metaphors. What draws you to writing through that lens?

I really firmly believe that one of the strongest ways to separate yourself from the crowd in what is right now a really saturated music scene - is a sense of place. During the writing process of the EP I’d found myself heavily inspired locally by artists such as Ninajirachi and Sidney Phillipz who I think do an incredible job at blending Australian identity into their respective genres of music, but also in a lot of international acts who do the same thing, such as Jim Legxacy (who I also had in heavy rotation at the time.)

You're completely self-produced. What does your creative process usually look like, from the first idea through to the finished track?

The beat comes first, for the EP I spent a few months building up a huge library of beats I’d produced and then I spent a lot of time filtering through them for writing inspiration. Sometimes I’d hyperfixate on a word of a phrase I’d heard or read somewhere that day and try to build around that, what can I turn this into? What do these words mean to me? What would it mean to somebody else with a different perspective to myself? Eventually when I had a full song written down I’d spend weeks going back through them to proofread and really try zero-in on a topic or theme. The biggest struggle for me was deciding when to actually leave the song alone and label it as being ‘complete’.

Every track on Imprint tells a different story. Was there one song that surprised you during the writing process or ended up meaning something different to you by the time it was finished?

Corey Worthington actually started out completely different when I first started writing it. A lot of the time I’ll actually write my music at work in my head, as my job requires me to be without any electronics or distractions while on shift - so I’ll usually have one of my beats playing in my head while I try to write melodies and words to match before I take them down in my phone while on break. Originally I’d written the song as way more rap influenced with fast-paced verses and a lot less melodic, but I had to strip this back as I couldn’t keep up with my own production and didn’t want to slow down the tempo for what was at the time a sort of ‘party anthem’. Eventually in slowing down my writing the reference to Corey Worthington felt like it became way more fleshed out and conceptual rather than just a fun call back to the party icon. Having to remove a majority of the words from each line suddenly made the verses feel more intentional and important to a larger story. I ended up really loving the message I’d built into the song just by being patient and allowing myself to fully realise its potential as something much larger than a party banger.

You've mentioned artists like Porter Robinson, New Order, Ninajirachi, Underscores and Jane Remover as influences. What have you taken from those artists while still developing your own sound?

All these artists mean a lot to me in different ways, but I think what really draws me to each as influences is their ability to craft out a sound that is so uniquely theirs. While New Order represents a different era in music I’ve always been drawn to their style and a lot of my earlier work was actually guitar based before it moved into a more electronic style. Porter Robinson, Nina, Underscores and Jane are my current-age inspirations that really encourage me to keep experimenting and fine-tuning my music to sound unique and special.

If someone was discovering 22mackie for the very first time, which track from Imprint would you tell them to start with, and why?

It’s hard to say because I feel like each of the six tracks on my EP showcase different elements of my sound and have their own unique strengths. My personal favourite songs off the project are probably ‘Comedown’ or ‘Nostalgia Bait’ though, so I’d maybe say either of those two would be my recommendations.

You're celebrating the release of Imprint with your first-ever live show on July 31st. How does it feel knowing your songs are finally going to be performed live?

It’s pretty surreal considering how long I’ve been making music for now. I didn’t really ever think I’d be able to get to the stage where I’d actually perform anything but now that the opportunity has presented itself I’m super excited. I’d pictured a moment like this plenty of times, so while admittedly I’m nervous about it I also can’t wait to do it.

The Australian music scene feels more connected than ever, but it can still be challenging for emerging artists to break through. What's been the biggest challenge you've faced so far, and what keeps you motivated to keep going?

I think the biggest challenge I’ve faced personally is just finding my audience. Australian music has come a long way I think in the last couple years in carving out a strong identity but it’s not always easy to actually get your music out to the right ears as I think the underground scene is still very much developing and connecting itself together. Being consistent and trying to find a good mix between quality and quantity in my music and social media content this year as a key focus point has definitely helped bridge the gap in a lot of ways for me.

If you could collaborate with any artist, who would it be and why?

It’s so hard to answer a question like this but I think Jane Remover would be so much fun to work with, her ability to morph any genre into something uniquely her own is where I draw a lot of inspiration and I’d just love to even be able to sit in on a session of her making music, so to be able to collaborate on a track with her would be surreal, but there’s a thousand other artists I could list off.

What's next for 22mackie? Are there any goals or projects you're hoping to tick off before the end of 2026?

The Imprint Launch party I’ll be headlining on the 31st of July was a huge goal for me to tick off this year, it’s something I’ve been building towards for a long time and I’m really excited for it - after that, my plan is to keep building my discography up with some new singles, and hopefully shoot my first music video before the end of the year as that’s something I’ve also really been looking forward to!