Below is the 2004 profile I wrote about Patrick MacDonald, the soon-to-be former music critic for the Seattle Times. The article originally appeared in the UW Daily.
‘Seattle institution’ got his start at UW
By Travis Hay
May 27, 2004Patrick MacDonald was born to be a journalist. He has the proof.
In a photograph of him taken on his sixth birthday, MacDonald, who is now 59 years old, is seen clutching a newspaper at the kitchen table in anticipation birthday festivities.
Although he didn’t know it at the time, this photographic foreshadowing marked the beginning of what would become his career. Like Anakin Skywalker’s eventual fall to the Dark Side, becoming a journalist was a part of MacDonald’s destiny.
Dubbed a “Seattle institution” by Seattle Weekly, he has been a fixture in the Seattle music scene for nearly four decades and his stamp of approval has launched careers.
The “institution” got its start at the UW and MacDonald, who is a music critic for The Seattle Times and UW alumnus, merits the title since he has covered music in the print and broadcast industries in Seattle for more than 35 years.
“I was a rock critic even though the term rock critic hadn’t been invented yet,” MacDonald jokingly stated.
While attending the UW between 1966 and 1970, MacDonald earned a degree in political science and he was editor of The Daily. One might think someone who has been a journalist as long as MacDonald has and who was editor of his college paper would have journalism training. Surprisingly, MacDonald graduated from the UW without any.
However, that’s not to say he left here without any journalistic experience. He wrote for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and The Daily during his college career and he also freelanced for a burgeoning music magazine known as Rolling Stone.
The editors at Rolling Stone were so impressed by his work they offered him a job at the offices in San Francisco. Eventually, he turned down the offer because of his desire to stay in the Emerald City.
“It scared the hell out of me,” he said. “I didn’t want to leave my friends, the U campus or the P-I.”
His experiences have given him the opportunity to vicariously live out the dreams of many music fans. He has interviewed the likes of Eminem, Jimi Hendrix, Paul McCartney, Kurt Cobain and countless other big-name musicians.
But MacDonald hasn’t spent his entire career in print. In the late 1960s he was a DJ at a progressive rock station. During his first shift he put on a record by Led Zeppelin and it was the first time Jimmy Page and Robert Plant were heard on the airwaves in Seattle. Shortly after, listeners let MacDonald know they were plugged into Paige’s wailing guitar and Plant’s shrieking vocals and wanted to hear more.
“I remember the reaction was almost immediate. People were calling to find out who was on the radio,” MacDonald said.
Highly influenced by the new journalism movement, he cites pioneering rock journalist Lester Bangs and Hunter S. Thompson as writers who impacted his decision to get involved in music journalism. He described his own style of writing as a cross between The New Yorker and the defunct rock magazine Creem.
Flash-forward to today and the veteran writer is encouraged by the current boom of technology and the potential impact it has on the recording industry. The Internet’s influence on the distribution of music has become a favorite topic of his to write about.
Recently, he made an inspiring trip to the South by Southwest Music Festival in Texas that reinvigorated his desire to write about music.
“I was encouraged by the strength of indie music,” said MacDonald. “There were no signs of major labels. It was like you could see the revolution in action.”
As a critic MacDonald has an opinion on everything involving music, especially the latest crop of upcoming superstars.
Some of his favorites include Swedish rockers The Hives, (“They’ve got the best lead singer going right now. He’s a Mic Jager and Beck hybrid”), iPod poster boys Jet (“They’re commercial, but they make undeniably good music”) and 50 Cent (“He’s great at what he does”).
Prince, who MacDonald labeled “one of the greatest rock guitarists of all time,” is another of his favorite artists. He said attending a Prince concert during his Purple Rain tour was one of the best concert-going experiences, which means you’ll likely find him at KeyArena in August when the Purple One rolls into town.
At the age of 59 MacDonald is often criticized for being too old to cover popular music and for his writing not appealing to younger readers. He takes this criticism as a challenge and constantly strives for ways to improve his writing.
“I’m always working on the craft of writing,” said MacDonald. “I used to be more concerned with being a critic and finishing and assignment. Being a critical listener is always important, but now I can really hone my writing skills.”
Since he has spent so many years reporting on all things music, will Seattle ever lose this “institution”?
“What’s not to like? My job is fun, interesting, challenging and always entertaining. Right now I am having too much fun to call it quits,” he said.
