Growing up in Carpentersville, just outside Chicago, Illinois-based independent music artist Mac Rapach has always been creative. His parents say that he has been creating ever since he could pick up a paintbrush. “I’ve always created, especially when working through or going through something,” Rapach said. In terms of music, Rapach started learning how to produce in 2020 after learning how to play the bass guitar. “I was just fooling around on my iPad, and I knew I connected with music,” he said.
Breaking into the music industry doesn’t always require all the high-end equipment that seasoned professionals may use. Rapach is no stranger to this, making some of his earliest songs only using his iPhone and GarageBand. At just 20 years old, Rapach has built a reputation as a self-produced musician, blending organic and electronic sounds into atmospheres for existential mantras and fugues.
Rapach has released nine songs, each showcasing his unique sound and approach to the creative process. When Rapach sits down to make a song, he usually starts with drums, or lyrics that rhyme or detail how he is feeling, and then builds a beat. He usually builds the beat based on something that he would like to listen to or whatever inspires him lately, incorporating this into the song he is making.
“I’ll kind of build the song out in sections, how I want to be introduced to the world and how I want to exit it. I want to feel while I’m in it,” he said. “Then I will sit down for way, way, way too long and write the lyrics.” By then, Rapach will have a full scope of what the world of the song is. When listening to the song, he envisions what colors he is seeing and what the original feeling is. “Typically, when I start writing, the ideas get carried away,” he said.
Rapach’s creative process does not only involve the emotions involved when making the song, but additionally includes other musical artists and sounds that have influenced him over the years. “Growing up in Carpentersville, there is always a sound. It’s not like the city, there’s always sound like that, but there is definitely noise,” he said.
Rapach incorporates all kinds of sounds, coming from nature around him, before he adds lyrics to his beats. “Almost all of the songs that I have released now have sounds from either my wind chimes in my backyard, coyotes howling at night, me starting my car, or ambience,” he said.
His greatest influence is the musical duo, Twenty One Pilots,which he has loved since the fifth grade. He appreciates what the group stands for and how their music translates visually. “It translates story-wise, and the connection to the people their music reaches,” he said.
Rapach appreciates the continuity the band has and how they have strung along for a decade- something he aspires to do one day. Additionally, a dream collaboration of Rapach’s would be to work with Tyler Joseph, the frontman for the band.
“I don’t know what it means to be an artist as yet,” Rapach said. “I’ve just been creating my songs for myself, recording phrases or mantras about what I am going through and structuring them as songs.”
In addition to music, Rapach is drawn to visuals, as well as breaking down the technicalities involved in this process. At 13 years old, Rapach played the role of Kyle Buchanan on “Chicago Fire,” giving him a chance to look behind the curtain and get into creating rather than performing. This experience helped him to further develop an understanding of the technicalities involved with creating. He also starred in the drama short, “Bombing the Hill,” directed by Jonah Ocuto in 2023.
Rapach also participated in a film camp the summer before his sophomore year of high school, where he and other attendees were able to write their own stories, shoot, create and go home to edit their work. These experiences were another doorway into the world of creating. “That just blew my mind, and that was one of my top five experiences of all time,” he said.
Now, Rapach is completing an Audio/Video Arts Technology Certificate at Harper College in Palatine, Illinois, taking classes in information technology, video editing, live broadcasting and mixing and mastering sound.
Rapach values the autonomy that independent artists have over their vision, and how the final product looks and how it is delivered. He strives to hold on to this but also recognizes that there may be a time when the business aspect of creating may need adjustments. For Rapach, one of the benefits that comes with being self-produced stems from being an only child is being very hands-on with everything he has created. Having this autonomy as a benefit also presents a struggle, where it could be challenging to find a middle ground when collaborating with other people. Additionally, he appreciates being able to hang on to his freedom to speak about anything. Being signed to a label is something that he wants to work toward in the future, believing it is the next step.
Outside of creating music, Rapach enjoys visual art as it is what he grew up doing and exploring. He enjoys spending time with his dogs, Theo and Bruno, as it is a way for him to get both them and himself outside. Doing this for work is something that he is grateful and fortunate to do, and many of his hobbies revolve around it.
“I just love this, and that’s who I am, so I just kind of eat, sleep and breathe visual and audio media,” he said.
To keep up-to-date with Mac Rapach and his latest releases, follow him on Instagram and TikTok @macrapachmusic.
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