Photo courtesy of Jack Macneil ’19 | The album cover for Jack Macneil’s debut album Silhouettes.

By Josh Belgrad ’19

THE ROUNDUP

Jack Macneil ’19 is an aspiring musician and released his debut album Silhouettes this February on Spotify. The album was uploaded to Spotify on February 25th of 2019 but the album has been a work in progress since June of 2018. 

“I woke up one day in the first few weeks of last summer and I was so bored with nothing to so I started experimenting with my guitar and my voice, then, powered by boredom in later July I decided I would set out to make an album,” said Macneil. 

Macneil started out as a guitarist but wanted to make an album where he sang as well. 

“I would consider myself a guitar player first and a singer second, so I really tried to focus on the quality of the chords and how they went with one another,” Macneil said.

While this was a very much self-driven album, Macneil had a lot of help and people to bounce ideas off of along the way.

“My parents obviously heard a lot, with me jamming out every day in the house, additionally I shared a google drive album with my good friend Cameron Donley ’19, and he told me how awesome it was which really gave me confidence that the album could make it onto Spotify.” Macneil said. 

Donley and Macneil’s friendship started at Brophy and Donley has always been into music and guitar so he thought it was really cool to see his friend produce an album, and was glad he got to listen before the album’s release.

“I listened to the songs, I really liked them and I told him honestly the stuff that was bad and the stuff that was good and he fixed some things and I think it ultimately helped give him some confidence to post it,” Donley said.

Macneil was very surprised that the first song he ever wrote (Sunshine Girl) actually ended up being his most popular to date. 

“It was my first crack at even writing a song ever from start to finish and its funny to see how that ended up resonating with people,” Macneil said.

When it comes to music, Macneil’s biggest inspiration is John Mayer. 

“I like to sound like him vocally, but not structurally. I definitely wanted to make my original sound but I drew inspiration from John Mayer and artists like Rex Orange County.” Macneil said.

When asked what his plans are going forward with music, Macneil said, “The answer is a big question mark, I will be going to University of Arizona for pre-Business next year and I definitely will not stop playing music, I will be playing gigs down in Tucson, and I’m still going to make new music so hopefully it does well.”

Macneil says that since the album release he has only been more passionate about making music.

“I found that post uploading the album, I’ve just wanted to write more songs. I think everything I make is better than the piece before. I shut my mind off for the guitar and just mess with different sounds, but with lyrics, I need my mind locked in to create good content.” Macneil said.

Alex Edwin ’19 is a good friend of Macneil’s and is someone who heard the music in the early stages of production as well.

“I was really glad that he confided in me to share the album with me early because I knew that it meant a lot to him and it was his pride and joy and a culmination of his musical talents thus far,” Edwin said.

“When I heard it for the first time I knew that it was going to be something that all the guys at Brophy and anyone that listened to it can appreciate, it shocked me because none of his close friends really knew he had a voice like that, everyone knew he had the guitar talent but nobody knew he could sing that well,” Edwin said.

When asked about what it was like seeing a close friend produce something that made it to Spotify Edwin said, “I will still listen to it on occasion and have to text him to remind him how much he amazes me, to see someone so dedicated and self-driven create something so great, I was happy to be a part of it.”

When asked if he has any plans upcoming, Macneil said, “I actually have been working on a project with Simon Cantor ’19 so I am really excited about what we are working on.”

If you have not listened to Jack Macneil’s album, check out his album on Spotify that is streaming now.