Born Megan Sullivan McInerney, the Sydney, Australia-born, Melbourne, Australia-based singer/songwriter, keyboardist and pop artist Meg Mac can trace the origins of her music career to when she was a small girl: As the story goes, she began singing as soon as she could speak and began writing her own original songs when she was a teen.
McInerney began degree studies in Digital Media but relocated to Perth , where she studied music at the Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts. After earning her degree, she recorded “Known Better” and submitted the song to Triple J’s Unearthed. After she submitted her song, McInerney and a car load of friends left on a road trip from Perth to Melbourne, where she would later relocate — and as they were approaching Melbourne, she learned that Triple J had selected her single and were going to play it.
As a result of being named an Unearthed Featured Artist of the Week in 2013 and Unearthed Artist of the Year in 2014, McInerney exploded into the national scene: “Roll Up Your Sleeves,” reached #80 on the ARIA Singles Chart in August 2014 with “Never Be” landing at #39 the following year — and she went on her first national headlining tour.
She also received nominations for Best Female Artist and Breakthrough Artists during the 2015 ARIA Music Awards. And adding to a growing national profile, Marie Claire Australia named her an Artist to Watch in 2015 and Rolling Stone Australia nominated McInerney for a Best New Talent Award. By 2016, “Never Be” landed at #11 on Triple J’s Hottest 100.
“Roll Up Your Sleeves” was featured in a number of American TV series including HBO’s Girls, Grace and Frankie and Astronaut Wives Clubs — and as a result, the MegMac EP became a platinum selling effort. Building upon a rapidly growing profile, Mac’s 2017 full-length debut Low Blows entered the ARIA Charts at #2 and received praise internationally from the likes of InStyle, Buzzfeed, Noisey, V Magazine and the New York Times who called her music “rooted in soul with just enough contemporary production.”
Developing a reputation for live show centered around her soulful vocals, Mag has managed to consistently sell out national tours and shows across her native Australia, has opened for Clean Bandit and D’Angelo — and she’s played some of the major festivals’ across the international festival circuit including Governor’s Ball and SXSW.
Sadly, several years have passed since I’ve last written about Meg Mac. But she begins 2022 with her latest single “Is It Worth Being Sad,” a cathartic pop song centered around McInerney’s powerhouse, pop belter vocals and an atmospheric, Kate Bush-like production featuring a sampled church choral section and a soaring sing-along worthy hook. Interestingly, “Is it Worth Being Sad” manages to be enormous yet intimate, personal and deeply humble while featuring a narrator trying to chart out a new course for their life in the aftermath of profound heartbreak and uncertainty.
“I had just run away to the country,” McInerney recalls. “I was running away from my troubles. I was living in peace and quiet finally and really thought I’d figured it all out, and it was all smooth sailing ahead. It was the start of sorting out my life. This song was like my first step—I didn’t know it then, though.”
The incredibly cinematic, accompanying visual for “Is It Worth Being Sad” features an all-black clad Aussie pop artist on a speed boat in the mountainous countryside. The skies start off as a slate gray before turning stormy and foreboding with lighting in the skies above. But as her little boat keeps moving forward, the skies begin to clear up. All storms, no matter how tumultuous pass in time.