Macario is the youngest of the three children of Macario Snr and Maria De Souza, who immigrated from Minas Gerais, Brazil, in the mid-1970s and settled in Sydney, Australia. His parents provided a traditional Brazilian influence in Macario's and his two sisters, Glenda and Ingrid's lives growing up. After attending Matraville public primary school, Macario went on to complete his HSC at South Sydney High School, graduating as school captain. During his time at high school, De Souza explored music and film projects. "I was always in and out of punk rock bands in school but it wasn't until the Bra Boys film that I got the chance to professionally record my music". De Souza was in the minority of his circle of friends, as he applied for and was accepted into university. "Maroubra is a party town. It is very easy to fall in that trap. I put in the hard yards at a crucial period through my teens. While everyone else was on the drink and on benders every weekend, I was putting in the work.” Macario went on to study film and music production in a bachelor of fine arts degree, majoring in time-based art at UNSW Art & Design.
Career
Since graduating university, De Souza has produced two short films, Ours and The Hard Way, the feature-length documentary ', two eight-episode seasons of the reality television showFootball Superstar for Foxtel, and a six-part documentary called South Side Story featuring Russell Crowe and the battle for the Rabbitohs football club. Macario's first feature film, ', was shot locally in and around Maroubra and edited in his family's apartment near Maroubra beach. It is presented as a documentary encompassing the lifestyle and ideals of the "Bra Boys" brotherhood. It portrays members of the Bra Boys reflecting on both the benefits and difficulties of growing up in Maroubra. Narrated by actor Russell Crowe, Bra Boys features three of Macario's original compositions in the soundtrack, which were written and recorded for the film. In 2011 De Souza completed shooting his second feature-length film, Fighting Fear. The film features his two best friends and fellow Bra Boy members that he grew up with, big wave surferMark Matthews and Mixed Martial Arts champion Richie Vaculik. De Souza describes the film as "a story of friendship and redemption".
Music
After Bra Boys, De Souza began building his brand, marketing himself with his music under the name of Kid Mac. He has collaborated musically and toured with these Australian and international recording artists:
De Souza remains an ambassador for the education of youth about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse. In September, De Souza, Vaculik and Mathews featured on the ABC'S show Australian Story. The episode depicted the three friends recounting their experiences with alcohol-related incidents as teenagers and the lifelong consequences that can ensue from that pattern of behaviour. In February, De Souza became an ambassador for Feb Fast 2012, an organisation that raises money for alcohol problem awareness. De Souza released his first CD in April 2012.
