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Guitarist and vocalist for cult indie/emo band Closer to Far than Near. His name is taken from the McDonalds hamburger and it is stated on the band's official website that he chose the moniker as means of satirising the increasingly commercial nature of modern hip-hop music<ref>NME, "Emo's Best Kept Secret? Revolutionary? Genius?". December 2006</ref>

Biography

Early life

Born and raised in a rough area close to the small town of Airdrie MC Big Mac (Real name Christopher McDonald) had a tough time growing up. Orphaned at three years old when his parents died in a freak car accident he moved in with his eccentric aunt, notorious in the Plains community for her radical feminist views and liberal attitude towards drugs (she was a local dealer). From an early age Aunt Florence, as she called herself as tribute to Florence Nightingale with whom she was obsessed, encouraged young Christopher to use drugs such as LSD and Cannabis<ref>Clash, "My Rather Quirky Childhood by a Certain Mr. Christopher 'Big Mac' McDonald". November 2006</ref> in an effort to help develop his creative side. At the age of 10 he had become an accomplished guitarist and saxophone player, at this point however, he decided that he wanted to pursue a career in medicine and dedicated himself wholeheartedly to his studies. He left high school with all the necessary qualifications required to attend medical school but decided instead that he should become a writer having had an article he had sent in to the NME published.

University & Band Formation

As of 2005 Christopher studies English Literature at Glasgow University. It was during his first months at the school that he decided that he should form a band. Inspired by acts such as Biffy Clyro, Starsailor, Scissor Sisters, Panic! at the Disco, Starsailor and Starsailor, he sought out a musical/spiritual companion, holding many auditions, but to no avail. It was only when he ran into old school friend, and former child prodigy, Thomas Gray (More commonly known by his stage name 'T') that things started to fall into place. Said meeting took place, according to a biography of the band available on Glasgow University Union's webpage, on 5th November, 2005 in Kelvingrove Park when MC Big Mac, walking the park late one night deep in contemplation, stumbled upon a sleeping Thomas singing mid-slumber (He had been evicted from the family home due to excessive drug taking). Amazed by his voice MC Big Mac eagerly woke him up and the two sang songs together all night; MC Big Mac asserts that the two came up with the basic idea for exactly 23 songs whilst 'T' claims to have been so high that he has no recollection of it whatsoever.

The duo, obviously, went on to form Closer to Far than Near with MC Big Mac providing guitar, saxophone, vocals and sound effects while 'T' performs lead vocals, synthesizer and percussion. The band are generally associated indie and emo but have also stated that they have been influenced by prog, country as well as religious and world music. "We don't want to be easily categorized, and I'm confident we won't be"<ref>Fly, "Hot Scots". December 2005 article</ref>said McDonald in a Fly interview.

Success

The band has developed a cult following in Scotland and have embarked on tours of Europe and Australasia. While they are yet to achieve a top 40 single they have received generally positive reviews from mainstream music magazines such as NME and Kerrang!, the latter of which hailed them as "Scotland's answer to Enter Shikari"<ref>Kerrang, The Dirt, the Pain, the Noise and the Poetry". August 2006</ref> Tickets for the bands homecoming gig at Glasgow University's Queen Margaret Union sold out in less than an hour. The band refuse to make videos to accompany their singles with 'T' branding them "silly"<ref>NME, "Introducing your New Favourite Bands". June 2006</ref> .

Christopher continues to write and is currently said to have completed a novel similar to the style of Generation X author Chuck Palahniuk which is awaiting a publishing deal.<ref>Kerrang, "A Novel Idea". August 2006</ref>

The Bite Incident

At a Gig in Aberdeen on the 23 November 2006 an event transpired which has since been referred to as "The Bite Incident"<ref> The Scotsman, "Indie Singer Savages Petrified Teen". 26th November 2005</ref> by fans on internet forums. What essentially happened is that an enraged 'T' jumped from the stage mid-set and began to repeatedly bite a teenage girl (who cannot be named for legal reasons) in the legs, arms and face and could only be restrained by two bouncers. 'T' claimed that the girl had shouted racist comments at him<ref>Kerrang, "Yet More Craziness, Debauchery and Arrests on the Road with one of the Rockin'est New Bands in Scotland" November 2006</ref> but the girl and many witnesses from the show denied this. Whilst this was going on MC Big Mac proceeded to set fire the instruments on stage and run around in a circle chanting manically. Trial is still pending after the victim failed to appear at the hearing (It is rumoured she was too afraid to face her attacker).

Hiatus

The band is currently "on hiatus" due to drug-related issues as well as reported Artist/Record Label conflict. . Much of this centres around the fact that Big Mac felt T was being disriminated against by the head of their record label, Lance Overwood. However, shortly after Big Mac voiced these opinions it was announced that T was to make a record under the guidance of Overwood on his new label UltraSound<ref>Kerrang, "The Lone Wolf is set to Attack". March 2007</ref>. Upset by this Big Mac decided to concentrate more on his poetry (having already completed 'The Poem' to much critical acclaim) prose writing and experimental dance.

New Work

Since the haitus status of Closer to Far than Near was confirmed, Big Mac (formerly MC Big Mac) has produced a variety of work through various mediums in a short period of time, with just as varied a response from critics. His fifteen hour interpretive dance show, cryptically named 'One', was decribed as "better than our wedding day" by nine and half out of ten couples who attended the show. However his poem "Upsidedown Poem: A Poem That Is Upsidedown" was critically denigrated, with one poetry enthusiast, commenting on the ukpoetry.com messageboard, saying



However some Big Mac fans have claimed that; "he is so ahead of his time that traditionalists and newcomers to poetry are bound to struggle to come to terms with his work".

The Artist Formerly Known as?

In October, poor response to one of his works resulted in Big Mac deciding it was "time for a change" and after flirting with the idea of a full persona change (He performed under the names; 'C. Don', 'Kwirk-E', 'The Wave', 'B. Maccy', 'LuvChild' and 'Fourteenth Representitive of the British House of Lords') he went on to insist that the press and his fans call him simply 'Christopher'. He communicated this desire to journalists and explained that the name of 'Big Mac' was weighing him down and that he believed it was no longer relevent to him as an artist. It is felt by most, however, that the pressure of achieving the same level of critical success he had with Closer to Far than Near is becoming too much to bear and that he has opted for a name change to to help quell any comparisons between his current and early work. He now refuses point blank to answer questions by journalists who address him as 'Big Mac'. Ex-bandmate 'T' commented "no-one call me Big Mac either, my name's 'T'".

A minority of Big Mac fans are outraged, however, by what the see as an abandonment of his roots. These fans consider themselves to be the Closer to Far than Near core fanbase and also believe they are Big Mac or "Christopher's" original followers. Said fans now shun the artist and mockingly refer to him as 'The Artist Formerly Known As Big Mac'.

Notes