Interview: Max Black

Seeing and hearing Max Black for the first time was an eye-opener. I was left shocked and intrigued by the impact he had on his audience and the ability he possessed to capture human emotion so vulnerably through his music. At only 17, Max Black has developed a mature sound that is slowly changing Perth's music scene, contributing to an 'anti-social' sub-culture lurking within the youth. With the way Max Black is going, his underground presence may soon come more to light.

Fascinated by discovering this young artist in what is only the beginning of a long journey, it was clear that I had to ask him a few questions.

  [caption id="attachment_40969" align="aligncenter" width="640"] By Umairah Murtaza[/caption]  

Can you tell me a bit about your background in music? How long have you been producing for?

Music has always been this influential soundtrack to life for me, I don’t really remember a time when it wasn’t there. When I was younger my friends would always be giving me weird music, passing stuff around on USB's, or my mum would be playing CD's in the car. It was only when I started noticing the culture behind it and going to live shows that I became interested in wanting to be a part of it. I started DJ-ing around three years ago, playing at my friend’s parties and just doing it for fun, getting paid a little bit was cool too. After seeing a couple of big artists play live it just clicked that I wanted to do what they did. Straight away I had a clear vision of where I wanted my music to go, so I started writing.

I’ve been producing for about 2 years now and it’s been such a cool journey. It’s become so much deeper, both emotionally and process wise since I started. I met so many important people in my life during that time, who shaped me into the person I am today. I’m always thankful for that.

Has living in Perth influenced your style/genre?

I don’t really know if this is a Perth thing, but everyone here seems to lack individuality. I know that’s cliché but it has always been such a big thing for me. I think that having individuality makes you and your message so much more impactful. Also, popularity comes and goes, while individuality will be remembered forever. Artists that sacrifice something that makes them unique for some temporary hype will always puzzle me.

I don’t think I even have a ‘style’ yet, I’m still just making what I think is cool, although in saying that I like to think of my songs as grungy and dark, somewhat anti-social sounding, whatever that means.

What was your inspiration behind the track's meaning and sound for “IHYFMMFTW”?

The direction and meaning of the track just came from how I was feeling when I wrote it, most of my songs are just reflections of how I feel. I’ve always been a fan of Shlohmo and I had stumbled over some cool UK Garage tracks at the time, so that kind of influenced the production too.

IHYFMMFTW is fairly self-explanatory, it was written while I was in something complicated with a girl. The song is almost bitter-sweet, it has lots of contrast between soft, warm elements and harsher, more obnoxious, distorted ones. Which, (again) as cliché as it sounds, is just how I felt. Loving someone who doesn’t know yet whether they love you back is bitter-sweet, although you should get a little bit of a “fuck you, this is how I feel” vibe off it.

 

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