Mac DeMarco explains decision to quit caffeine and nicotine
In a new interview, indie rock singer-songwriter Mac DeMarco has shared his recent sobriety journey that includes quitting caffeine and nicotine.
“Haven’t had any nicotine in about a little over a year now,” DeMarco revealed in a new interview with the Associated Press. “My journey with sobriety or whatever — I don’t have a journey, that sounds a bit weird. I’m not the most ‘sober guy’ sober guy, but I think I don’t like being beholden to things like that. As humans, what are we? We gotta have water, you gotta have shelter, you gotta have food — that’s enough things to be trapped by. I don’t want to be trapped by alcohol, I don’t want to be trapped by cigarettes.”
He continued: “The real thing? I quit cigarettes and started vaping. That’s a problem. Marlboro Reds? You can get them any… go to a little town in China somewhere, they’re gonna have Marlboro Red. Juul? Mhmmm … I remember I crossed into Canada and everyone was like, ‘Wow, you have a Juul, that’s so rare and interesting’ and I was like ‘Noooo…’ I don’t want that, I want ease of life. All I need is that air I breathe and hot water, no cold water.”
In the promotional material for his recent album Five Easy Hot Dogs, DeMarco described the process of recording the final song on the album as coinciding with his quitting cigarettes while he was on a road trip across America and Canada.
“It probably could have slept about 20 people, but instead, it was just me withdrawing from nicotine with a bunch of taxidermy animals all over the place,” he said of his vehicle. “No other humans for probably 50 miles in any direction. Horrible idea. I lasted one night and went back to Los Angeles the next day. When I first got back home, I felt as though I had given up on my idea and failed to finish what I was trying to do. But that’s all dog shit.”
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