Ralph Lee "Mac" McCaughan (; born July 12, 1967) is an American musician and record label owner, based in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

. His main musical projects have been Superchunk since 1989 and

Portastatic Portastatic is an American indie rock band founded in the early 1990s as a solo project of Mac McCaughan, singer and guitarist of the indie rock band Superchunk. The project has since expanded into a full band, sometimes including Superchunk gui ...

since the early 1990s. In 1989 he founded the independent record label

Merge Records Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as an outlet for music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expande ...

with Superchunk bandmate

Laura Ballance Laura Jane Ballance (born February 22, 1968) is the bassist in the rock band Superchunk (also contributing occasional backing vocals) and co-founder of Merge Records along with Mac McCaughan. In 2013 she announced that she would no longer be to ...

Musical history

McCaughan is a founding member of the

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

Superchunk. Formed in 1989, they are one of the bands that helped define the Chapel Hill music scene of the 1990s. Their energetic, high-velocity style and do-it-yourself ethics is influenced by punk rock. The band released a string of full-length albums and compilations throughout the ‘90s. After releasing their eighth studio album in 2001, the band went into a period of reduced activity. In 2010, the band released a new studio album

Majesty Shredding ''Majesty Shredding'' is the ninth studio album by American indie rock band Superchunk. It was released on September 14, 2010 on Merge Records. It is the group's first studio album since 2001's '' Here's to Shutting Up''. Critical reception On ...

and followed it up in 2013 with their tenth studio album, I Hate Music. He also heads the band

, which began as a

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate choice. The ...

side project from Superchunk and has blossomed into his main musical project. Prior to this, he was the head of another lo-fi band named

Bricks A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

with Andrew Webster of

Tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater exp ...

, Josh Phillips and

Laura Cantrell Laura Cantrell (born July 16, 1967) is a country singer-songwriter and DJ from Nashville, Tennessee. Biography Cantrell moved to New York City from her native Nashville to study English at Columbia University. She briefly recorded songs with ...

. Other bands he played with prior to Superchunk include Slushpuppies, Wwax and Metal Pitcher (with Ballance). In the early 1990s he was also the original drummer in the band Seam, which was formed in 1991 with former

Bitch Magnet Bitch Magnet was an American post-hardcore band who formed in 1986 at Oberlin College in Ohio and later moved to North Carolina, United States. They released their first record in 1988. All of the band's albums were released on Communion Records ...

front man

Sooyoung Park Sooyoung Park (born 1967) is an American and South Korean singer-songwriter, best known for fronting the bands Bitch Magnet and Seam. In 1995 he co-founded Foundation of Asian American Independent Media, an art festival dedicated to showcasing ...

. He played on their debut album Headsparks and the Kernel EP. In 2002, McCaughan teamed up with

Robert Pollard Robert Ellsworth Pollard Jr. (born October 31, 1957) is an American singer and songwriter who is the leader and creative force behind indie rock group Guided by Voices. In addition to his work with Guided by Voices, he continues to have a prol ...

of Guided By Voices to form the group Go Back Snowball. The duo recorded and released an album in 2002, titled ''Calling Zero''. In the same year, he composed the score for Matt Bissonnette and Steven Clark's film '' Looking for Leonard''.

Merge Records

Along with his Superchunk band mate

, he founded the successful independent record label

in 1989 as a way to release music from Superchunk and music created by friends. The label has expanded to include artists from around the world and records reaching the top of the Billboard music charts, including the highly successful band

Arcade Fire Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core member ...

. McCaughan was a co-contributor to the book ''Our Noise - The Story of Merge Records'' by John Cook, released in 2009.

Other activity

On October 24, 2007, McCaughan gave expert witness testimony in the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

Commerce Committee on the topic "The Future of Radio".

Personal life

McCaughan lives in

Chapel Hill, North Carolina Chapel Hill is a town in Orange, Durham and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 census, making Chapel Hill the 17th-largest municipality in the state. Chapel Hill, Durham, and the state ca ...

with his wife and children. He graduated from Columbia College of

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1990.

Discography

Superchunk

* '' Superchunk'' (1990) * ''

No Pocky for Kitty ''No Pocky for Kitty'' is the second studio album by American indie rock band Superchunk, released in 1991. Pocky is a popular Japanese snack food. Production The album was recorded April 21–23, 1991, at the Chicago Recording Company by Steve ...

'' (1991) * ''

On the Mouth ''On the Mouth'' is the third studio album by American indie rock band Superchunk. The album was recorded September 14–20, 1992, at West Beach Studios, engineered by Donnell Cameron, and produced by John Reis and Superchunk. It was released ...

'' (1993) * '' Foolish'' (1994) * ''

Here's Where the Strings Come In ''Here's Where the Strings Come In'' is the fifth studio album by American indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to ...

'' (1995) * ''

Indoor Living ''Indoor Living'' is the sixth studio album by American indie rock band Superchunk, released by Merge Records in 1997. It was recorded at Echo Park Studios in Bloomington, Indiana, and mixed at Overdub Lane, Durham, North Carolina. It was eng ...

'' (1997) * '' Come Pick Me Up'' (1999) * '' Here's to Shutting Up'' (2001) * ''

'' (2010) * '' I Hate Music'' (2013) * '' What a Time to Be Alive'' (2018) * ''Foolish AF'' (2019)

Portastatic

All releases on Merge Records. *'' I Hope Your Heart Is Not Brittle'' (CD/LP) (1994) *'' Slow Note From a Sinking Ship'' (CD/LP) (1995) *''

The Nature of Sap ''The Nature of Sap'' is Portastatic's third studio album. It was released on Merge Records on March 11, 1997. Production The album was recorded at Duck Kee Studios in Mebane, North Carolina, during the summer of 1996, except tracks 4, 7-9, and 1 ...

'' (CD/LP) (1997) *'' Summer of the Shark'' (CD) (2003) *'' Bright Ideas'' (CD) (2005) *'' Be Still Please'' (CD) (2006)

Mac McCaughan

*''Non-Believers'' (CD/LP) (2015) *''New Rain Duets'' (LP/digital) (with Mary Lattimore) (2019)

References

External links

portastatic
- Mac McCaughan's blog
Superchunk
- official website
Merge Records
- official website {{DEFAULTSORT:McCaughan, Mac 1967 births Living people American male singers American rock singers Singers from North Carolina People from Chapel Hill, North Carolina Merge Records Superchunk members Columbia College (New York) alumni