Name: Gregory Macdonald

Nationality: Canadian
Current Release: After first collaborating on a New Age Doom project, Tim Lefebvre and Gregory Macdonald formed Night Plow to keep working together. Their homonymous debut album is out 24th February 2023 via We Are Busy Bodies.

[Read our New Age Doom interview]
[Read our Tim Lefebvre interview]

If you enjoyed this interview with Gregory Macdonald and would like to find out more about his music, visit the website of his new solo project Cola Wars.



For many artists, a solitary phase of creative development precedes collaborative work. What was this like for you: How would you describe your own development as an artist and the transition towards your first collaborations?

For me it was kind of the opposite, really - I've really spent most of my my career so far being in 'bands' and transitioning to a more 'solitary' phase came later on.

My happy place has always been on a team in a studio with one or two other people bouncing ideas off each other in real time and it wasn't until I was in my 40s that I started working on solo projects 100% alone at home. (COLA WARS - 2020, murderecords; also, "The Shade", 2020)



I was often encouraged by my friends / bandmates to try my own solo projects over the years but I never really took the idea seriously until I started tinkering with modular synth gear and working by myself at home.

The NIGHT PLOW collaboration really was Tim's idea.

Tell me a bit, about your current instruments and tools, please. In which way do they support creative exchange and collaborations with others? Are there obstacles and what are potential solutions towards making collaborations easier?

I have a bit of modular gear, some modules by Non Linear, Doepfer, Music Thing, and Mutable Peaks.

I'm also a big fan of the Korg Volca series. The Cola Wars record was all Korg Volca Beats. It's an awesome little analog drum machine. There's also a little Volca Mixer which has some onboard compression that is pretty wild. That's a big part of the Cola Wars sound. The Volca stuff is great because you can patch them all together and sync them and even share a power supply so it's great if you just want to set up and make sounds fast.

I'm also super into the Soundtoys 5 suite, that is all over the NIGHT PLOW album.

Besides the aforementioned early collaborations, can you talk about one particular collaboration that was important for you? Why did it feel special to you? When, why and how did you start working on it, what were some of the motivations and ideas behind it?

I started collaborating a lot with a Toronto based artist named Thomas D'Arcy about 15 years ago and that was important to me because Thom had a lot of vintage synths and encouraged me to use them.



That was when I really started looking at weirder sounds and synths that were outside the sort of more 'normal' classic rock keyboards like piano and organ.

That opened my eyes and sort of set me on a path to explore more crazy sounds.

What are some of the things you learned from your collaborations over the years?

I learned a lot from a good friend in North Carolina named Alex Maiolo whom I met at SXSW in about 2006. Alex is a modular synth expert and a writer for TapeOp. He helped me build my first skiff which I used on NIGHT PLOW and my solo Cola Wars project. I have great admiration for Alex and he has taught me a lot. He has this amazing series called Themes For Great Cities which everyone should check out.

Alex taught me how a modular synth works and really encouraged me to explore and create within that medium. I'm really grateful for his friendship and mentorship.

How do you feel your sense of identity influences your collaborations? Do you feel as though you are able to express yourself more fully in solo mode or, conversely, through the interaction with other musicians? Are you “gaining” or “sacrificing” something in a collaboration?

I've certainly "gained" by working with Tim on NIGHT PLOW. Working in solo mode I sometimes place stricter rules or boundaries upon myself to avoid being burdened by choice too much which sometimes can lead to things taking forever or just never getting done.

With Tim we were able to work quickly and with no rules so it resulted in a much more chaotic and broader, fuller sounding result than anything I've produced entirely on my own, I think.

There are many potential models for collaboration, from live performances and jamming via producing in the same room together up to file sharing. Which of these do you prefer – and why?  

I've done a lot of both now and I'm not sure I have one that I prefer. They're both great in their own way. Obviously it's nice to work on headphones at home with my slippers and a cup of coffee. But being at home comes with disctractions and other roadblocks.

For NIGHT PLOW being a file sharing record I had time to lay down parts and sit with them, sometimes having ideas come to me as I was falling asleep later that night, which of course can't happen in a live situation.

Is there typically a planning phase for your collaborations? If so, what happens in this phase and how does it contribute to the results?

NIGHT PLOW had no 'planning' phase whatsoever.  Everything was spontaneous and improvised. We didn't even really plan to make an album, it just sort of happened.

Tim is a great improvisor, coming from the jazz world so he brought a lot to the table for me to react to.

What tend to be the best collaborations in your opinion – those with artists you have a lot in common with or those where you have more differences? What happens when another musician take you outside of your comfort zone?

I think a bit of both - and there's a lot more one can have in common with someone that just musical interests. A sense of humor, for example.

I knew long before I worked with Tim that we had that in common and held similar interests and values other that strictly music. When you have a lot in common with someone you can have shared references ready and almost a shorthand way of communicating that can make things smooth and easy, but I find I personally sometimes fall back on the same tricks over and over in those situations.

Working with someone where there are more differences can be less comfortable, but I feel like I'm more likely to experiment and try something else. I also feel like that leads to more chances to learn and grow as an artist.

Do you need to have a good relationship with your collaborator? Or can there be a benefit to working with someone you may not get along with on a personal level?

I can't speak to collaborating with someone I don't get along with since I've never done that. But I had absolutely no relationship with Tim prior to working with him on NIGHT PLOW. We were total strangers and had never even been in the same room or spoken on the phone.

I don't know if it's essential to have a 'good' relationship with your collaborator but it certainly doesn't hurt. I try not to say no to anyone / anything, and I think one can learn from even the least likely partnership.

Some artists feel as though the creative process should not be a democratic one. What are your thoughts on the interaction with other musicians, the need for compromise and the decision making process?

Since 2006 I've played in the most democratic band of all time, SLOAN, which for over 30 years now has had the same original 4 equal members who all write and sing and contribute songs to every album and it's worked quite well for them, though I know they are a rare exception. The secret is you have to split the money evenly!

I've also worked with control freaks to whom compromise does not come easy, and that can work well too, as long as everyone knows where they stand. If these things aren't known or worked out in advance by everyone involved, you can have disasters.

What's your take on cross-over collaborations between different genres?

You mean like Lil Nas X and Billy Ray? I think it's awesome. Expose an artist to a whole new generation and wider audience. I love it. At the end of the day, genres don't mean much anymore as long as there's quality. It's all just pop music really anyway. “Old Town Road” is amazing.



I'd love to see more like that. We need like Spice Girls and Slayer to get together. Someone make that happen.

I mean, this whole NIGHT PLOW album really came about because of a weird cross-over collaboration between different genres in the first place. Tim and I both worked on the New Age Doom X Lee "Scratch" Perry album Lee "Scratch" Perry's Guide To The Universe last year which is basically a doom metal band collaborating with a Jamaican dub and reggae icon.

[Read our Dubokaj interview about Dubbing the Swiss Alps, Lee Perry and Painting with Sound]



In a live situation, decisions between creatives often work without words. How does this process work – and how does it change your performance compared to a solo performance?

Well it depends on what you're going for, really. I always feel like if you're in front of a live audience, they are part of the creative process as well. This applies not only to live bands but solo performances, because ultimately the goal is to make the audience feel something.

Reacting to a crowd and feeding off of their feedback is a big part of performing to me.