Angie McMahon is an artist from Melbourne, Australia, but several of her influences are rooted in North America; to wit: Bob Dylan, the Potawatomi author and scientist Robin Wall Kimmerer, and the Bon Iver circle of musicians and producers. 

McMahon’s latest album, Light, Dark, Light Again, was released in October 2023. On tour in support of the album, McMahon stopped at The Current to talk with host Zach McCormick about her record, including what it was like to work with producer Brad Cook. (Based for several years now in North Carolina, Cook’s origins are in the creative Eau Claire, Wisconsin, nucleus that produced so many fine musicians.) “I'd never, you know, traveled across the ocean to record,” McMahon says. “I left my band back home, and Brad pulled some really great musicians together for us to do the songs, and he was really helpful with me.”

Watch and listen to McMahon’s solo studio performance above. Just below, you can watch and read a transcript of her full interview with Zach.

Interview Transcript

Zach McCormick: My name is Zach McCormick, and I am The Current's new host from 10 to 2, joined in studio right now by Angie McMahon, whose new album, Light, Dark, Light Again, came out last year, in October of 2023. Thank you so much for joining us.

Angie McMahon: Thank you for having me. Pleasure to be here.

Zach McCormick: I've seen you reference Bob Dylan as a musical inspiration in the past. And Bob was born here in Minnesota, so fans in this state tend to be like, even more obsessed with his work than the average American might be. What do you connect with most about Bob Dylan's music and how has his influence kind of shaped your own personal approach to songwriting?

Angie McMahon: Yeah, I only learnt this yesterday, that he was born around here, which I thought was very cool. I've been singing a Bob Dylan cover on this tour, which has been really nice. And I think I've found returning to his music — I mean, I was brought up on like, some folk music by my dad, and he introduced me to Dylan, he's a really big Dylan fan, and it did take me a while as like a 14-year-old girl to really understand, like, the greatness of like a song like "Hurricane," or, you know, it's just like, "Ugh, it's annoying," but it did plant itself in my body. And he's, I mean, he's just such a great songwriter. He writes about the times really well, I think, and in particularly lately and singing, like singing some covers of his, I really feel so just so glad that there are songs like that to return to that kind of comment on what we're living through, and, you know, living through when he was writing those songs, and still, like, some of that stuff is so relevant. And I I just find that it's a great relief and a great outlet to be able to, like, to be able to put music to those things. And yeah, I think he's just been a really great voice for society, you know, the things around him. And he's got some classic sonic stuff going on that is also, it feels really like safe to return to like a nice, a nice roots for like a songwriter like myself.

Zach McCormick: Kind of trying to balance that idea of like being topical, but also trying to make sure that your music stays timeless, I can imagine that's tough.

Angie McMahon: Totally! And not too complex, not too convoluted, just kind of leaning into poetry. I think I mean, something that my dad taught me about Dylan as well — I haven't done that much reading about him, but, you know, kind of like anecdotal Dylan stuff is what I know — but he read a lot. And I think I'm really inspired by that as well. I'm not an amazing reader, but I'm always trying to get a little bit more, yeah, like literature into the music and into my brain. So I really love that about him.

Zach McCormick: Let's talk about a book that was, I was reading has been somewhat influential on your work here, Braiding Sweetgrass, by the Potawatomi author, Robin Wall Kimmerer, and you mentioned in another interview, that's had a profound effect on your mental health and your relationship into the natural world. What lessons did you take away from that book? And how do they play into more ecologically minded songs on your new record, like "Mother Nature"?

Angie McMahon: Yeah, that book really opened my eyes to a whole new way to look at the world. I'm not sure if I can, like fully sum it up; I kind of am always recommending it to people, I buy it for people as birthday gifts. I gave it to my mom, and she really loves it and gave it to some of her friends. It's just like, what she does really well is combine Indigenous thought and like, you know, these ancient practices of relating to the natural world with her experience as a botanist. She's, you know, she's a scientist, and she, like, combines these two worlds really beautifully and poetically; it's like, it's such a beautiful read, but, you know, there's so much incredible Indigenous knowledge, I think, that we generally just, we need to, like, learn from and listen to all of this wisdom that like, for me, it comes down to also just simply caring about the climate crisis and how to like, you know, repair the way that we treat the Earth, but also just as a way to get through each day, we are surrounded by — and I didn't used to think this way, but I think this book did really open my eyes to it — we're surrounded by so much incredible nature, natural cycles, healing and a culture of, like, reciprocity in like the natural world. And she talks about that in a way that really, like awoke something in me. It's so important, and it has sort of become like a spiritual focus for me. So yeah, it's just such an incredible book, like the first chapter is talking about, like, the way that the Earth was created, and kind of the, like, the Native American story of the creation of the Earth and it's just, it's immediately about giving back and relationship, and I was never really taught to think that way coming from like a Catholic upbringing, where like, Adam and Eve are kind of like, ejected from the Garden of Eden; it's like, "Good luck on Earth," like, "It sucks out there," and you're just immediately in this like conflicted relationship. This just like gives a whole new, a whole new context to that. So yeah, it's been a really foundational book for me. And in terms of the songwriting, I did want to find a way to kind of write about those things. And I think her really poetic, beautiful language just like helped helped me care more and find words for that.

Zach McCormick: That's great. I love how some of the songs on the new album have these almost kind of like mantra-like repetitions of lyrics. Like the refrain of "It's OK, make mistakes," in the song that you performed earlier, "Letting Go." When do these mantras come to you and your songwriting process? And how do you decide which words will be most effective with those multiple repetitions?

Angie McMahon: Yeah, it's really just instinct. It's actually mostly me talking to myself. A real kind of like, hand on heart, soothing, it's like a self-soothing thing, and I think that's the decision is just like, "What does my body need right now? What am I responding well to?" There's some songs on the record where I'm really like trying to sing myself into, like, a calm space. And that song, I had written most of the song, but didn't have the ending; I didn't have a bridge or whatever. And I was really in a perfectionist mindset and needed to like, you know, lull myself out of that. And then the mantra kind of came; it wasn't necessarily going to be part of the song. But then it was actually the only way that I could finish the song was to sort of like, really cathartically yell myself out of perfectionism. And so, I think the repetition and the mantras are really just whatever I needed to hear. And then I'm like, "Hopefully this is soothing to someone else as well." And it's been a nice way to yeah, try not to make a song like a perfect thing or like the ultimate artistic expression. It's more just like a mind-body thing. It's like, what does my body need right now? What feels good? Yeah.

Zach McCormick: That's cool. It kind of came from your own personal process of working through the record, and then the words found their way onto the album. I could totally see those words being, like you said, helpful for other creatives, or you know, really anybody in their lives, like, "It's OK, make mistakes."

Angie McMahon: Yeah! And I, like, when I was writing that song, I was going through a really hard time, and I'd be doing morning meditation with like, my hand on my chest, saying out loud, which I found is really helpful, I didn't used to do this, but saying out loud, "It's OK," and kind of like actually verbally soothing myself. And so it was very related to, yeah, just like my own kind of therapy needs at the time. Yeah. Yeah.

Zach McCormick: That's great. You worked with producer Brad Cook, who grew up with Bon Iver just across the border in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on your most recent album, Light, Dark, Light Again. What was that experience like? And what did Brad's influence bring to this album for you?

Angie McMahon: Yeah, it was awesome. It was a brand-new experience for me. I'd never, you know, traveled across the ocean to record. I left my band back home, and Brad pulled some really great musicians together for us to do the songs. And he was really helpful with me, like, coming into like a comfortable place as a co-producer. Like he was really encouraging me to mess around in the studio. I think it's probably similar to, like, what the Bon Iver crew are great at, is just like, experimenting with sounds, and like, following these threads. And it was really fun to just work with brand-new people and come into my own like confidence in a new way. Like I was finally, for myself, finding like sonic risks that I wanted to take. And he was just like, "Yeah, do that. Try that. Why not?" And that was really fun. And yeah, we were in North Carolina, I'd never been there. Again, like really beautiful nature, a really beautiful place to kind of draw energy from. And yeah, just like an awesome, like, challenging experience for me, but in like the best way. I wanted to, like, have new challenges, and yeah, I'm really glad I did that. I kind of believe in myself a bit more after having made a record that way.

Zach McCormick: That's great. Speaking of collaborations, British producer and DJ Fred again… has become a vocal supporter of your music. He sampled your song "Pasta" for his song, "Angie," and the two of you recently linked up for a big show in Melbourne. What was the experience like? Is it cool to see your songs kind of translate across genre lines to fans of a different genre of music?

Angie McMahon: Yeah, totally. I have also myself in the last, like, you know, few years got much more into dance music, and I never really saw myself in that world. But yeah, Fred's remix or whatever, yeah, Fred's track kind of like launched me into that world without me really knowing that it was gonna happen that way. I mean, I didn't really know who he was when he kind of sent it to me and he was like, "Do you like this?" I was like, "Yeah, put it out. That's fine." And then like, fast forward a couple years, and you know, he's got this whole world around him, and for me, it's been cool just to, yeah, see the music and see myself in that world a little bit more. I'm a lot more interested in production, like I was saying, than I used to be. And I can kind of see myself making some like dance tracks now. And again, like it's related to like therapy and movement; like, I get a lot out of running and dancing. And I always used to be more in my mind. But now I'm like, "Dancing is so important!" And I am excited to just kind of maybe lean into that a little bit more. I don't know how; like, I don't know if I'll actually physically make my own dance record, but it was really cool to sing at his gig and see a whole different side of my song. Yeah.

Zach McCormick: That's great. So moving on from collaborations that have already happened to hypothetical collaborations: We're both big fans of Bruce Springsteen's music. And so I thought of a fun one, a fun question for you would be like: If you could use a time machine to travel back in time to collaborate with Bruce Springsteen kind of at any point in his career, which era would you choose? We could go for like the lo fi, you know, folky Springsteen from the Nebraska era. There's the skinny Asbury Park street poet Springsteen, you know, from early in his career, wild and innocent. There's the beefcake, you know, muscular Bruce from Born in the USA era. Or maybe it's Bruce right now, you don't even need the time machine. Take your pick.

Angie McMahon: True, he's still kicking. Hard to choose. I do love the beefcake era, as you say, like I, there's a lot of catharsis and entertainment there. But I mean, my favorite record is probably Nebraska. It's funny, even as I was just singing in here before, I think I had a little bit of that in my mind; like when I'm doing a solo thing and just kind of like on the guitar, I'm often in the mindset of like the Nebraska record, and just trying to, like, that's such a, it's such a beautiful place for me, like sonically, and I try to return to it and just imagine that I'm making a record like that. Having said that, if I was like, in the room with him, I would just want to be a fly on the wall for that record. I wouldn't want to, I'm not, I don't want to touch it. I just want to like, observe. But I think that is, yeah, that's a really beautiful place, I think, that record; a really special thing that he made. So it's probably that one.

Zach McCormick: Cool.

Angie McMahon: Yeah. 

Zach McCormick: Well, thank you so much for your time, Angie, I really appreciate it. Thank you so much for stopping through our studios here at The Current. Your new album, Light, Dark, Light Again, came out last year in October. It's out right now.

Angie McMahon: Yeah. Thank you. Thanks for having me. It was so fun!

Zach McCormick: Thank you so much.

Songs Performed

00:00:00 Fireball Whiskey
00:03:29 Black Eye
00:06:56 Letting Go

All songs from Angie McMahon’s 2023 album, Light, Dark, Light Again, available on AWAL. 

Musician

Angie McMahon – vocals, guitar

Credits

Guest – Angie McMahon
Host – Zach McCormick
Producer – Derrick Stevens
Video – Evan Clark
Audio – Eric Xu Romani
Camera Operators – Evan Clark, Megan Lundberg
Graphics – Natalia Toledo
Digital Producer – Luke Taylor

External Link

Angie McMahon – official site