As a child, McCaughan adored the classic rock of bands such as
AC/DC and
the Rolling Stones. In his teens, he was impacted by synthesizer-driven acts like
New Order,
OMD and
Cocteau Twins. Other prominent influences have included
R.E.M.,
Let's Active,
Hüsker Dü,
Sonic Youth and
Minutemen. McCaughan is a founding member of the
rock band Superchunk. Formed in 1989, they are one of the bands that helped define the Chapel Hill music scene of the 1990s. Their energetic, high-velocity style and
do-it-yourself ethics is influenced by
punk rock. The band released a string of full-length albums and compilations throughout the '90s. After releasing their eighth studio album in 2001, the band went into a period of reduced activity. In 2010, the band released a new studio album
Majesty Shredding and followed it up in 2013 with their tenth studio album,
I Hate Music. in 2005 He also heads the band
Portastatic, which began as a
lo-fi side project from Superchunk and has blossomed into his main musical project. Prior to this, he was the head of another lo-fi band named
Bricks with Andrew Webster of
Tsunami, Josh Phillips and
Laura Cantrell. Other bands he played with prior to Superchunk include Slushpuppies, Wwax and Metal Pitcher (with Ballance). In the early 1990s he was also the original drummer in the band
Seam, which was formed in 1991 with former
Bitch Magnet front man
Sooyoung Park. He played on their debut album
Headsparks and the
Kernel EP. In 2002, McCaughan teamed up with
Robert Pollard of
Guided by Voices to form the group Go Back Snowball. The duo recorded and released an album in 2002, titled
Calling Zero. In the same year, he composed the score for Matt Bissonnette and Steven Clark's film
Looking for Leonard. ==Merge Records==