[00:00:00] Welcome to Trevor McCormack Music Podcast. I'm Chrissie Mack from Radio Northern Beaches and I couldn't be more excited to kick off this musical journey with you. Joining me is my brother, the legendary Trevor McCormack, known as Mack, a true storyteller and music enthusiast. With each episode we're peeling back the layers behind the hits, sharing untold stories from artists and exploring what sparks the creativity behind the music that moves us.
[00:00:30] Whether you're a diehard music fan or just love discovering new sounds, this is the place where passion meets storytelling. So hit the follow button, share this with your fellow music lovers and leave a review. Your support keeps the vibe alive. Turn up the volume and get ready to be inspired. And let's dive into the world of music together. Let's go!
[00:00:53] Okay, it's time again for Trevor and I to have our weekly Saturday chat. So I have Trev on the phone again. Hi Trev, how you doing? Hey everybody, hello! Now, I'm going to throw you some really hard questions today. So I'm not going to expect you to be off the cuff really quickly with these ones because they're not easy questions. But I'm going to hit you first off with what was the first song or artist you heard that made you think that you're going to be a good song?
[00:01:23] Do you think, I want to do that? Well, I suppose that would be sitting around camp, playing John Denver, Olivia Newton, John Beatles, a little bit of Eagles, a little bit of John Fogarty. You just go, I love this. I wonder if I could do this. And that's what gets you while you start playing the guitar. You've got to have something to play.
[00:01:44] So that's basically where it come from. But when I really got, I want to do this was listening to songs I didn't like. I went, well, there's a lot of songs and songwriters out there that are just trying to get somewhere and they might put it on a radio station. You think, well, I can do that. So that inspired me to do that even more so. That's interesting.
[00:02:05] Yeah, because not everyone likes everything. But I just went, well, I can do this and I'm going to give this a shot. And that's what actually really started me to go, well, I want to write songs, not sing other people's songs.
[00:02:18] Because you start off singing everybody else's songs and play their music, which is what gets you into the guitars or drums or whatever instrument you're going to play. But to write a song, so all those artists give me that inspiration. But it comes down to, I wonder if I can. I wonder if I can write a better song than that song. And that's what kicked me off. Okay, well, that's an interesting beginning. So do you have a song that you love, but you could never quite finish?
[00:02:45] Well, in saying that, I love all the songs I've written, but are they unfinished? They're on paper. They're in the book. I sing them. I take them out, test them out. But when you say, well, I love every song I've written and every song I write is better than the one before. But unfinished, they're only finished once they're recorded. So all of my songs that I have written and I have on paper aren't finished. And I'd love to finish them.
[00:03:11] Because when you go to record, you'll change things. You'll better it again. So the songs, even when I first did my first album, when we play them live, I've actually bettered them from experience, from talking to people like Glenn Shorick, other artists that have said to me, finish these. Do them better.
[00:03:29] Every time, if you haven't recorded them, always improve. And you learn that with experience and time. So every song I've written that I haven't recorded, I know I can actually better that song. And I love them all. So that's the passion. You just, when you get in the studio, it's a whole different story. You've got a great song and you'll listen to it come back and you'll think, oh no, I can, let's, let's fix this or just adjust that or let's just slide a middle eight in here.
[00:03:55] So there's a lot of work to be done. Even when you've written a song and you think you've got it nailed. And some songs, you don't change at all. They're just spot on. They just, you play them out and away they go. You've heard me do this in a studio. We wrote songs, put them together and then played them in the studio and you probably wouldn't change it. They're like, no, that's just, that's it. It's the song.
[00:04:17] I know we worked really hard on Lucky Charm. We really worked hard on that one and we got it to a stage where you were pretty happy with it. Are you still happy with it or do you think it still needs a little bit more work?
[00:04:31] No, I've ran that by the boys and they've all, they're pretty, well, they reckon they can do it better, which there's a lot of stops and starts in Lucky Charm, but I think it's smack on. It's just a case of when these guys get in the studio with me, I don't think they'll change it a lot. They've got their feel, that's all. It'll be the same feel, but they'll just add their little licks and their drum, different beats. So they'll just put their signature to it. That's probably the best way to explain that.
[00:05:02] Okay. So what about covers? Are there any covers that you'd love to play that your audience probably wouldn't expect you to play because of your original style? Oh, yeah, I have. It's funny because you play your covers, you play your originals and I'll sing something that someone actually come up to me and stopped and looked at me
[00:05:26] and went, oh, and they thought I was a girl singing this song because I sang an Adele song. Oh, that would shock people. And I just pretty it up and I just sang it in a different pitch. Songbird by Fleetwood Mac, Chrissy McVee, McVee, McVee. Love her stuff. She was a great writer. Okay, that's way away from your style.
[00:05:53] Yeah. So I love to do those songs as well, the ballads and just sing it as if I'm the girl trying to sing it in my own way. But yeah, I've had people come up and go, I thought the girl was singing that. Can I come around and it's you? So I sort of think, well, okay. Well, you've accomplished it then. I accomplished it. I can nail it. I can, yeah, people just go, that was so beautiful, so pretty. Yeah. So things like that happen. Yeah.
[00:06:21] But they're the songs I can do as a female artist. I love how female artists do their vocals. I love their styles. So yeah, there's a couple for that. Well, that's an answer I wouldn't have expected. Yeah. And Adele. I just do it the Mac way. Fair enough. All right. Well, if you were mentoring a young person just starting out in the Australian music scene today, what is the one mistake you tell them to avoid?
[00:06:51] Don't listen to everybody. Follow your heart, number one. Just do not. This I get emotional about. This actually affects me. And why is that? It's just something so deep in your heart. Wow. Wow. You just sort of knock me off the chair. It just, I've had people go, oh, I don't like that. And really knock me and think, oh, I mustn't be any good. And nearly stopped doing it.
[00:07:21] When I was, this is when I first started. When I, I suppose when I first started writing songs, I just went, nah, nah, that's, nah, no good. And within the month, I got up on the stage, scared to death and performed in front of my first crowd. Now, I'd sat around campfires and chilled out with mates and friends and people and had no problem. But this was scary. And the guy come up to me after I'd sang the first song.
[00:07:50] He was playing a bass guitar and said, I don't know who you are, but do not leave until I talk to you. And I went, yeah. He said, that song was fantastic. He says, I've seen how scared you were, but you did what you had to do. You did the job. He says, and you wrote that song even better. So, my advice, follow your heart, follow your dreams. Yeah. And just do it with all the love you've got.
[00:08:19] Yeah, because not everybody likes the same style of music. And you can be a really harsh critic on yourself. But, you know, if someone hears a song that's not quite their style, well, yes, they can give like an opinion. But you don't have to listen to that. If you like the song yourself, then there's 20 out of 10 that there's other people out there that will like that style of music too. That's right.
[00:08:45] There is a million people out there, and I've probably met a million over the time, that have just gone, wow, why do you work up a date? Why don't you sing for a living? You know, and you get all these things that are, you know, this is where I get my stories. I meet people like you, where I work. Someone will say something. I get an expression. It just becomes, oh, I'll put that into a song. Life ain't a practice run. Yeah, I like that song. I do. Just simple little things I write songs from. Just do what you love.
[00:09:14] And if you're good at it, you will know. You will find out. There's people that can sing probably their whole lives. And mum's told them, oh, dad, oh, you're fantastic. And you're just average. The same people. Mum and dad can say, well, mate, you're great. This is really good. But you prove it to yourself. You go out there and record it. Play it back to yourself. Listen to what you do. Have your friends be honest. Tell them, be honest. Do you think I can do this?
[00:09:43] And just do what you love. And you grow. You just constantly grow when you get into music and sing. And sing for your friends. Sing for everybody you can. And play. They'll tell you. You'll hear more honesty than you. If someone looks at you, kind of odd. You're going, oh, blah, blah, blah. Pay attention. But when people are tapping toes, want to get up and dance, want to sing the chorus, you've written that song.
[00:10:12] You've created that song. That's what gets you very emotional. It gets very, very, very deep inside. And that's why this subject sort of caught you off guard. Wow, yeah. You don't realise how deep it gets into you. Like I've been sitting here for hours writing music and just working on stuff I've got to work on. My dining table is just covered in paper.
[00:10:42] Songs I've got to learn, songs I'm writing. Yeah, it is. It's very personal. It's very personal. And a great passion. A great passion, yeah. All right. Well, let's ask you another question. What is the most meaningful thing a listener has ever said to you about one of your songs? Oh, well, I've heard a few things about one of my songs. Okay, I've had people come up and cry and thank me and do all sorts of things for songs I've done.
[00:11:11] But I think the connection with the meaning of the song, I suppose. The people connect with a song that you do. It could be the chorus. It could be the first verse, the second verse, the third verse. It just hits home. And it's something that they just start to sing or they just, you see them put their hand on their chest, on their heart and just go, oh, wow, I can relate to this song.
[00:11:38] So I've had people come up and say that, that I just, I'm not sure what you're writing about, but the words hit home to me and mean something, to a relationship, to a problem I had. So yes, the sun will shine another day. I've had a hard week. Mate, that song is great. Another one would be, oh, someone came up to me one day and said to me, so you wrote some of those songs? And I said, yes. They said, well, I couldn't tell which were your songs and which were covers. Like they all sound like covers.
[00:12:07] They all sound like songs I've heard. They all sound familiar. That was the greatest compliment I think I've ever had. That's a pretty big compliment. Yeah, yeah. That rocked me. I went, well, keep going. Keep learning. Keep pushing forward. Keep trying to make every song better than the one before, which I had that advice given to me. Every song, what was the best song you ever wrote? I said, oh, this one. Don't tell me what to do or something like that. So it was way back. And he said, wrong answer. And I looked at him. He was a country singer.
[00:12:37] And I said, well, that was a good song. He goes, the next song you write will be the best song you've ever written. And if you remember that, you will become a very good songwriter. So I took that advice under my belt as well. That was very deep and meaningful. Yeah. And he was right because every song then, as you think, I love that last song I just wrote and you've watched me in front of you. Write the next one or create another one. I like the way that you get on a roll and we're there together. And we finish one song and we put it aside.
[00:13:06] And then you're straight into the next one. We can do three songs, like the basis of three songs in one night. That's amazing. Yes. So we get a chord or a note or just from the last song, you think of something else. And away you go. It just, it's, it's, it's like adrenaline. It just gets in underneath your skin and you just, you can't stop. I get nights like that where I just go all night. I'll get me two o'clock in the morning. I'm like, I've got to go to bed.
[00:13:34] I'm so tired that I cannot stop until I finish. Whether it be, I've just started a song. I need to at least get a verse or a chorus. Something written down before I close my eyes or I won't sleep. I cannot put that guitar down or I cannot put that pen down until I get to that point. And then I'll come back to it the next day. But I could have written three songs then, one after another, all just rough sketched out and three different tunes. And I've got the foundation of what I'm going to do. That's how that works.
[00:14:02] And I like the way we bounced off each other when it comes to the wording and the styling of that wording. That was a lot of fun. Oh, look, yeah. One of the boys said to me, Brian, Brian said to me, get with someone else. You will just create so much more when you've got two minds working on one song. And what we did when we were together here and down there, he's right. He's spot on. Get with other songwriters, other people and create. It just makes it bigger and better and a lot more fun.
[00:14:31] And I so enjoyed that. And it was amazing the creativity that came across between the two of us. And we seem to have, we're lucky in the way that we seem to have a real rapport with that sort of thing at the moment. That could change, but at the moment. I never knew you had that in you either. But it just said we just clicked. We're family. So there's obviously a connection of music somewhere in our genes.
[00:15:02] And, yeah, we're older, wiser. And it did. You actually helped me by just explaining a few different lines. You know, you change the expression to just different words. Yeah. And we search stuff. It just gets your mind really, really digging deep. Well, I remember getting really excited by what we were doing at the time, especially when we were doing a couple of the later songs. There was anticipation, excitement and genuine like,
[00:15:32] we're really getting this right. Yeah. That's it. And that is the key. If you get excited and you feel so good about what you're doing, all the tune, all the lyrics, you're on the right page. You're on the right track. And that's where you go. You dig into that and dig deep. Yeah. And what fascinated me most of all was that each song was entirely different. It didn't even have a similar sound. That's, yeah, that's what I do. I try and just go in opposite direction. You wait till you hear the new ones I'm working on.
[00:16:01] I can't wait. Yeah, that's bluesy, jazzy, just beautiful in-between notes, I call them. And I just can't wait to let loose on these and get some lyrics down. I'm just working on tunes at the moment. So we'll get there. Let's go in another direction. You did a cover for your first album. We've done a cover for the single Velvet Howe, which we were really tickled pink with. And that's literally tickled pink with because it's pink.
[00:16:29] What about the songs that you've got and the albums you've got coming up in the future? Where do you think you're going to get the creativity for designing the covers, the album covers and the singles covers? Well, I suppose every song, every song has a picture. And when I sing a song, I suppose I picture the story of the song. With that, you have to pick the point of the song to get to the visual.
[00:16:57] So the main reason you wrote that song, the main meaning, whether it be I'm sad, so you put a face with a teardrop. I just want happiness and sunshine and good things to happen. So you might put a beautiful country scene with the sun shining on something or a yellow flower. You've got to pick that story of the song. And the main thing that you're singing that song about, I think, is probably where you'd start. Okay.
[00:17:24] So when you did your album, you had you sitting under the tree with a guitar. Why did you come up with that one? Because that's a lovely scene. Well, that, I was actually, we were at my mother-in-law's time and she had this old tree just sitting out the back and we were taking photos. She had a beautiful place up the coast. So we thought we'd take a few photo shots of me with the guitars and this and that just for actually put inside that album. And I walked out the back there and I thought, I like that tree.
[00:17:54] It just looks nice. And the album's going to be called Another Day. Well, it's just another day sitting out in the country or out in a nice area. I put my guitar beside it and I'll just sit beside the tree, take a photo. That's how that worked out. It was for the album itself, not the songs on it. So I just picked Another Day, go outside and take a photo of me being out there another day. Okay. And why did you make it black and white and not colour? That, I don't know. I just thought, go old school.
[00:18:21] I think I did look at a lot of things and there wasn't a lot of black and white at that time. So I decided, let's make it black and white so I stood out. Okay. Well, that's a pretty good reason. Yeah. Well, it's it. Everyone puts colours. And the first one that we looked at and we made it black in the background and a very bright orange centre. And I can't remember whether it was a sun or a flower of some sort. But we ditched that one and we went the other way and went, no, we'll just take a simple photo with me in it
[00:18:50] and a guitar sitting out under a tree another day. That'll work for this one. Cool. Well, I think I'm going to enjoy getting together with you and trying to figure out the covers for these. Because I want to be involved. Am I allowed to be involved? That's a good thing because it's, yes, it creates a great atmosphere for that song. So individual songs, yes. Let's pick a picture for each song.
[00:19:16] As I said, I'd like to release them all one at a time and have something to look at as they go. Well, being an artist, I would love to be involved and collaborate on that one. All right. I'll actually, if I, I'll look up, I have something, a friend of mine that I worked with. Actually, she was a sketch artist and she sketched up a face of a lady and from her head, I can't remember how it was opened.
[00:19:45] Somehow the head was open at the top and it had like a moon shining across out of it and then music coming out of it. All these things coming out of the mind. And if I can find the copy of that, I'll send you that because that's something similar I want for one of my rock songs. Okay. That being hers, that would be copyrighted. So, yeah. So if you're listening to this, that's a copyright. You can't take that idea. She said I could have it.
[00:20:16] Yes, but I'm talking about other people. I'm allowed to do that. Okay. Well, I think that's enough for tonight. We've had a good discussion about the ins and the outs of things. So I think I might let you go and I'll talk to you next week. Yes. And be careful when you hit my sentimental nerves. Okay. Yeah, I really did hit a nerve there, didn't I? Hey, you don't realise. It's just how music affects you and how deep sometimes it goes. I haven't felt like that for a while. It's just probably because I'm into all this music. Yeah. Well, sorry about that. Apologies.
[00:20:47] Anyway, I'll catch you next week. All right. Take care, everybody. Safe week. Lots of love. Bye. Bye. Now, don't forget to check out Trevor McCormack's YouTube for Trevor's latest music video, which is going off. So don't forget to have a listen. And you can also go to Trevor McCormack Music for any podcasts that you might have missed. So don't forget to follow and share.