Mary McCartney "grew up going to Abbey Road Studios" — but she wasn't sure that she was the right person to tell the iconic institution's story due to her relation to her famous father.
The 53-year-old photographer, filmmaker and daughter of Sir Paul McCartney directed a new documentary for Disney+ titled If These Walls Could Sing about the history of Abbey Road Studios, where the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Kate Bush and other legendary musicians have recorded.
In a new interview with NME, Mary spoke in-depth about working on the film, noting that it was en eye-opening experience despite she and her family spending time at the studio while Paul recorded with his band, Wings. "Pretty much everything I learnt [for the first time]. We wouldn't sit around as a family and talk about these Beatles stories," she told the outlet.
While making the film, she learned a lot about her father. "It was really interesting getting the history from him, because I hadn't spoken to him about it in that way," continued Mary. "When it's your family, you don't sit down and interview them about things, so I learned so much through the process."
She also said that her 80-year-old dad gave her "little tips" and "snippets" upon learning she was directing the documentary: "So he kind of taught me how Abbey Road really was significant, not just being a recording studio, but [how] the character of the place has really worked its way onto quite a lot of the music there."
Despite her experience as a photographer, music video director and television personality, however, she initially felt that her relation to the famous Beatle might cloud the film. "Because of my surname, I almost shied away from doing the project, because sometimes I can overthink it and be like, 'It's too close', and, 'You need to just be independent,'" explained Mary.
However, she continued with the project because she trusted producer John Battsek and appreciated the "amazing calibre" of its collaborators — as the film features interviews with Paul, Ringo Starr, Elton John, Nile Rodgers, Noel and Liam Gallagher, George Lucas and more artists.
"I knew [Battsek] wouldn't ask me unless he really was doing it because of my career. He wouldn't just say, 'Let's get Mary McCartney to do it,'" Mary noted. "I took it very seriously and very professionally."
If These Walls Could Sing is available now on Disney+.
