EXCLUSIVE: MAX – Style & Substance

Iconic pink shades, gleaming gold jacket, sparkly trainers…the slick and soulful MAX certainly isn’t one to shy away when it comes to fashion. When we met with the snazzy dresser and super-cool singer backstage on his tour supporting Fall Out Boy he didn’t disappoint in the style stakes, snapping on his statement sunnies and sporting a bold pair of sneakers hours before the first show of his 2018 tour.
“I love fashion!” MAX enthused when we commented on his unique dress sense. “Back stage on tour I am not really in my most fashionable attire; I’ve got like 2 modes: I’m either at 100 and wearing crazy stuff or I’m in like a hoody and I can sleep anywhere – those are my 2 extremes. My wife does most of my styling and I love getting to be comfortable yet eccentric in my outfits.”
Aside from his ‘out there’ fashion, MAX also stands out with his musical style, which can be described as a mixture of pop soul and electronic. “I always like it to be like an emotional party,” he said when discussing his sound. “Basically, there’s a lot of energy, but I also wanna get deep in your feels.”
The quirky character even has a way with words, making up his own vocab proves his creativity has no bounds: “I would say I am energetic, tasty, and napful…I like lots of naps!” MAX commented when asked to summarise his personality in 3 words.
His flair for writing really shines with ‘Lights Down Low’, a track he wrote specifically for his wife Emily and used as a means to propose. “It’s beautiful that it’s a song that people have heard the most from me because it’s so special to us,” MAX said.
“We really believe that love is love and you should be able to be with and love whoever you want no matter their race, sexuality, who they are or where they are from, so it’s beautiful that this is the song of mine that has travelled in the way that it has – it has such a powerful message to us and hopefully people really enjoy and connect to it.”
As a support act, it can be difficult to reach out to an audience who may not necessarily be familiar with your music. Whilst addressing this, MAX said involving the crowd is important in order to establish that relationship: “I love connecting with audiences that maybe don’t know my music, so I figure out ways to get them engaged.
“This involves teaching them the lyrics and encouraging them to get involved with physical movements like clapping and jumping around. I also like to incorporate little unique elements specific to me like with ‘Basement Party’ (which I teach everyone the hook to) and ‘Lights Down Low’ where I get everyone to put the phone lighters up and that sorta thing.
“I like to make people feel they are part of a cohesive energy even if they don’t know the music.”
Performing alongside Fall Out Boy was a dream for MAX, who looks up to the musicians for number of reasons. “They are an inspiration, and are around not only because of their music and talent but also because they’ve continued to perform and work hard.
“It’s great to watch that and learn from it. It is also awesome to be a fan boy every night whilst on tour!”
So, we know that MAX is a singer, dancer, actor, model and fashion god…what else is he interested in?
“I would say I am down to do anything from sky diving to shark diving; anything that would get your heart racing!” he told us. “I also do a lot of shows at animal rescue centres and stuff in the states so I would like to do that in the UK too.”
The multi-talented marvel, despite his rising status and growing rep, continues to keep a level head, staying grounded whilst enjoying the fruits of his success.
“In general I go by the life motto of always humbling yourself in all moments,” he concluded. “It’s important to be passionate about what you are doing, whether that’s living in a van for 2 months whilst touring and living on a blow up mattress and peeing into a bottle. Even if it isn’t the most luxurious life you are doing what you love, and that’s something you have to be into no matter what point of life you are at.”
During the final 5 minutes of our designated interview time MAX’s family entered his dressing room and greeted the musician with the warmest of welcomes, bombarding the starlet with hugs and kisses galore – Emily was the first on the scene to embrace her hubby and looked every inch the glam wife with her glossy hair and chic outfit.
Max closed our convo with a hug and took the time to pose with our latest issue of WhatsOn, to the delight of our readers. He was a real pleasure to speak to and he delivered a rocking show later that evening complete with energetic dance routines. It is safe to say he turnt it up – to the MAX!
MAX is excited to reveal new music in the upcoming months with the release of a second album. His latest song ‘Lonely’ features Matoma.
> Hannah Montgomery