Mac DeMarco has been reflecting on some of his musical inspiration and detailed how the individual music of The Beatles can dictate his mood.

While DeMarco’s music has clear signs of influence from both Paul McCartney and John Lennon, the Canadian musician has admitted that the music of both Ringo Starr and George Harrison sometimes take precedence given his frame of mind.

“Honestly, my favourite Beatle changes all the time,” DeMarco said in an interview with NME when asked about his most favoured member of the Fab Four. “I probably listen to Paul‘s solo records the most. He did the home recording thing on McCartney 2 and started making these crazy albums at his farm, and I love that. People give him flack like ‘What the hell is this song about!?’ and say the lyrics are gibberish, but I think the songs on Ram are beautiful.

DeMarco added: “I guess when I want to get real and angry, I listen to John [Lennon]. If I want to be peaceful, I listen to George [Harrison]. Then I listen to Ringo [Starr]’s stuff if I want to go somewhere really weird. There’s a Beatle for every occasion of life.”

DeMarco’s tendency to build his music around deeply personal lyrical subject suggests the influence of Lennon, but the experimental production and unusual soundbites hins at a lot of McCartney references.

When asked to name some of his most love records in an interview with the Guardian, DeMarco revealed that Mother by John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band was the first album that ‘gave him a taste for weird music’. “I went through a phase of liking all the classic rock stuff – the Beatles, the Kinks, Harry Nilsson. Then I got the John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album and I was like, whoa,” McCartney said. “I remember listening to this song in my room in the basement at home and thinking, holy crow, this is the raw shit! At that point – aged 15 or 16 – I was starting to play in bands a bit and meeting other kids who played instruments.

“They were really committed to music and I was like, sweet, I’m going to do this too.

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