Thanks to Authority Magazine for publishing this interview!
As long as you are open to it, this industry keeps you on your toes in a good way. Things are always changing which keeps things interesting. There’s always a new delivery mechanism (streaming, CDs, vinyl) or a new social platform (hello TikTok!). Some people find that frustrating as there’s a lot of learning but really, that’s true in any industry, so if you can establish a healthy outlook towards that end of things, it makes it easier not to feel like you’re smashing your head on the punk rock.
Asa part of our series about rising music stars, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Mackenzie Kristjon of This Mad Desire.
This Mad Desire, Mackenzie Kristjon’s rock and roll brand, has toured North America, UK, Europe, and Iceland since winning his first national songwriting competition as a teenager. 2020 album American Dream includes production from Toronto-based hit producer Mark Zubek (Zedd Records) and Dan Konopka (OK Go) and an unwitting collaboration with Leonard Cohen.
In spring 2021, during the pandemic, Kristjon recorded a new album –the forthcoming Open Hearts Open Minds- and collaborated with an ever-increasing number of musicians across the planet that were also in lockdown. Currently released singles from the album include Operators Are Standing By (felino Remix), Love Is A Glorious Thing and title track Open Hearts Open Minds, featuring background singers from Vancouver to Cape Breton and from San Francisco to Philadelphia.
For the most up-to-date info, visit http://thismaddesire.net.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
Igrew up in Western Canada, mostly in Winnipeg, Manitoba, before moving to southern Ontario for university. When I was little, my parents noticed I was having a hard time controlling my hands. If I moved the muscles in my right hand, the left hand moved as well and vice versa. The doctor laughed, “Well he’ll never play the piano!” And of course, the next day, my mother put me in piano lessons –which were an effective physical therapy. Eventually, I started playing guitar as well as writing my own material and started playing in bands in high school. My final year in high school was in Thunder Bay, which is maybe even more isolated than Winnipeg. Sometimes I think that the relative isolation led to more time practicing music.
Aside from music, I played hockey and soccer and felt awkward at school dances. Normal childhood/teenage stuff!
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
Music has always been the most important activity in my life. The sheer joy I’ve felt through playing instruments and expressing myself in a song has not been an easy addiction to cure! It has led to traveling the world, acting in TV shows and movies, and other opportunities both professionally and personally that have enriched my life and hopefully others that I have come across. Even as a young child, I was obsessed with KISS and wanted to know everything about them, which led to my writing my own songs and starting bands.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
There have been so many! One time I received a call from my friend Barzin who needed someone to play vibraphones on a European tour at the last minute. I had to learn the instrument and the material in a few short weeks. Not a bad way to get an all-expenses-paid European vacation!
Another interesting experience was when I re-launched my career in 2017. I recorded a song called Operators Are Standing By with hit producer Mark Zubek (Zedd Records) in Toronto. I started putting out feelers in the community about how I wanted to put together a really exciting video and was put in touch with Simon Winterson, who owns Digital Canaries Sets + Studios, a prominent film studio that caters to major film companies from Hollywood. Simon loved the song and wound up directing Operators. Within a week, we had a cast of around twenty actors, choreographers, and dancers, and all kinds of crew members. It was a great example of making something from nothing and everyone contributing to a very fun, larger artistic vision! When the choreographer and dancers arrived (who we thought were not coming) showed up and started teaching the cast a dance to my own song, I was in Seventh Heaven. I only introduced myself AFTER they taught us the moves.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I made many mistakes when first starting out in the clubs. We had this one gimmick where I’d light my lead guitarist’s guitar on fire and it worked out perfectly in rehearsal. The idea was you’d apply some rubber cement to the head of the guitar and then just the rubber cement would burn. This one time in Hamilton, Canada, I lit the guitar and all the strings burned up as well! I guess the moral of the story is that anything can happen in front of a live audience and don’t try this at home, kids!
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
In spring 2021, during the pandemic, I recorded a new album –the forthcoming Open Hearts Open Minds- and collaborated with an ever-increasing number of musicians across the planet that were also in lockdown. I was already working with Dan Konopka (OK Go) in Los Angeles, who drums and does some mixing, and I was co-writing over Zoom with Leon Harrison (Bandwagon Workshops, The Lazys) who was in Toronto (but now back in Australia). I thought it might be interesting to open up the collaboration to anyone that wanted to supply background vocals. I wound up with a great mix of professional singers and amateurs from Vancouver to Cape Breton in Canada and from San Francisco to Philadelphia in the US. And we have remixes from artists in Brazil, Canada, and the US that will come out.
Out of doing that, I have started a Christmas album, a covers album, and another future original collection employing the same method of working with artists remotely. Honestly, I would never have thought of working this way pre-pandemic.
We are very interested in diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers about why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in film and television? How can that potentially affect our culture?
I personally work with a very diverse group of people in my music and projects. As far as I’m concerned, as a white heterosexual man, I think “the more the merrier”. Representing a diverse set of cultures and backgrounds in art only amplifies the similarities between all of us. In many ways, the theme of our new song Open Hearts Open Minds is about overcoming and being tolerant. I know for a fact that it can feel pretty weird in society when you look up at the screen and there’s no one that looks like you. One of our themes is “We’re All Alive Together”, which is really a message of strength in diversity. In politics, for example, I always say that you can’t fly on one wing.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
I kind of wish my piano was more in tune when I started. It took me a long time to straighten out my sense of pitch, which I think is because I was playing on an instrument that was always out of tune. More career-wise, I would say that this is such a tough industry and it might have been better to have more tactics for dealing with the insane amount of rejection that exists. If I had realized that it was going to take 100 phone calls to get one gig, for example, I might have had a different mentality about it. In so many ways, this is a business like any other and it is sales-driven and unique (especially nowadays) in that what seems like your main product (songs) is given away for free, for the most part. Also, thinking back, I was stuck in a rut of only listening to certain kinds of music and although I was learning classical and other styles, I was not as open-minded as I could have been to the boundless depths of glory that exist in so many kinds of music. Part of that came from my school dividing into cliques largely based on what bands you liked. It all seems so silly to me now! Another lesson I wish I would have learned sooner is that I am not alone nor are my experiences all that unique. As Maria Bamford so hilariously pointed out, “There’s 8 Billion people on the planet. Chances are somewhat else has gone through the same thing and is currently on a book tour about it.” That kind of perspective is invaluable.
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?
As long as you are open to it, this industry keeps you on your toes in a good way. Things are always changing which keeps things interesting. There’s always a new delivery mechanism (streaming, CDs, vinyl) or a new social platform (hello TikTok!). Some people find that frustrating as there’s a lot of learning but really, that’s true in any industry, so if you can establish a healthy outlook towards that end of things, it makes it easier not to feel like you’re smashing your head on the punk rock. Also, creatively, I like to challenge myself by working with lots of new people all the time. That provides a steady stream of fresh perspectives and insights which keeps everything exciting. It can be sort of easy to just stick to what you know and get stuck in a rut.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
Open Hearts Open Minds would be the name of my not-for-profit agency and I’d probably devote a lot of it towards mental health resources. There is a lot of stigma –even now!- surrounding mental health issues and that prevents people from getting help. Also, it can be expensive depending on where you live –which does not help anyone. We’re All Alive Together and we have to help each other out!
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
Mark Zubek who produced Operators Are Standing By the song and Simon Winterson who produced the Operators video quickly come to mind. I had never worked with Mark when I entered his Toronto studio one snowy day. I slipped down the stairs pretty much using my guitar case like a sled. Mark quickly explained that he had insurance and once we determined that I wasn’t dead, we started talking about the track. He wanted to speed it up and change the key. This change in key prompted a new guitar tuning and a very different vibe. It was totally the right call and led to a fantastic video produced by Simon Winterson. Nothing would have come without that song though. Since then, I’ve worked a lot with Dan Konopka from OK Go. We met online somehow and he has been a fantastic person to work with. He drums on most of my tracks and mixes many of them as well. And I guess if this were an awards ceremony, I’d thank my piano teachers Lynn Bryll and Marilyn Wong for endangering the world by giving me the musical tools to unleash my creativity!
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
At the bottom of my emails and everywhere else, I write, “Life is too short. Enjoy it.” That’s definitely one of the slogans I live by. It is sort of like, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” I tend to think that if I won’t care about something in five years, I probably do not need to worry too much now. It’s a way of keeping focused. A couple of summers ago, I was attacked on the street by a meth addict and beaten to within an inch of my life. My face was horribly disfigured and it took a long time to heal. Admittedly, it was hard looking in the mirror sometimes but I told myself, I’d be better off getting back in the saddle, recording new music than throwing myself a pity party. And I also thought that a person with Viking roots should probably have a few battle scars!
Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)
In the past, I might have said David Bowie or Lou Reed, but since they are no longer available, I would think that Neil Young or Perry Farrell might be my guys. I describe our music as “Neil Young on David Bowie drugs” which came from a British review, and I think that’s pretty fair. Certainly, I learned to play guitar by learning all of Neil’s tunes that I could, and Perry is such a great connector. His festivals are legendary even setting aside his incredible talent as a singer, frontman, and songwriter.
How can our readers follow you online?
The most up-to-date info is always on thismaddesire.net and from there, they can get social with us pretty much anywhere.
This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!