After spending years behind the music scene as a producer, Avi Mack gets in front of the mic.
Avi Mack has worked behind the scenes with the likes of Gangs of Ballet, Gcina Mhlophe and Michael Lowman. Now he’s at the forefront as a singer with his newest single, Caught Up.
The song, a crossover of pop and retro synth RnB was written and produced by Mack and Easy Freak and is a journey of him letting go of his past. "Creating "Caught Up" was like walking through a maze of mirrors, seeing all these different sides of who you are and essentially what makes you, you. The song really details a relationship I was in, that just seemed to be this on-going on/off situation. We all go through that relationship, the one that doesn't work out and it's not really clear why. And we all deal and move on with it in our different ways. This was mine," said the 29-year old.
The Durban based artist was born in the USA, spent time in Canada before moving back to SA in 1994. He’s been playing music and writing for years, but it is only recently that he made the switch to singing.
"I didn't want to wake up, be 50 and wonder if I had ever taken that chance what could have been. There is this certain safety to producing/writing music for others, because most people don't really pay attention to who produced it, but there was always this "what if" factor for me. Music is something that surpasses language, time and space. The chance that I might one day play to a crowd of people who connect to what I wrote and felt?" said Mack.
Mack's song doesn't shy away from using the lyrical content to evoke emotion and depth. Without distracting from the melodic hooks, the vocals add a catchy melancholy whilst the 90’s RnB beat uses its distinct production for syncopation and space. "I was lucky enough to work with Easy Freak to produce "Caught Up," which was a great experience. If I could work with an SA artist it would most likely be probably be Sho Madjozi. I love her energy, and everything she is doing. I've spent a lot of time in studios over the years. I interned on Gangs of Ballet's first album, and assisted on Michael Lowman's first album as well," he said.
About whether he would change anything on "Caught Up," he said the most important thing is that he likes his own music. "I think I'm always going to look back on anything I write and think I could have done this differently, or I could have changed this. But for me, the most important thing is that I like my own music. That it represents who I am, and what I was going through. And I really feel like "Caught Up" does that. Because I'm always going to want it to be perfect, and the truth is, what I might find to be an imperfection might be perfection to someone else. It's funny I guess, accepting your writing for what it is, is like accepting part of yourself," he said.
Over the next few months Mack will be busy releasing his next single, followed by the music video, followed by another single.
Listen to the single below.