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The Eighth Note: Maxwell Young

‘The Eighth Note’ is 8 quick Questions with Wellington Musicians.

A chance for us to catch up with people & see what they’re up to, or introduce you to a new musician/band and their music.

Today’s guest is bedroom producer Maxwell Young.

Who are you? Tell us a bit about your music:
My name is Maxwell Young. I make music independently in my bedroom. Most of it stems from experiences of anxiety and heartbreak. My music is interestingly most listened to in major international cities like New York, London, Los Angeles and has now collectively over ten million plays.

What have you been working on lately? Any new tracks or albums on the way?
I have my first self produced album “Daydreamer” releasing on July 18th. It’s the most work I’ve ever put into a project and I’m really excited for it to finally come out. I see it as more of a diary than an album because it’s really personal and relatively rough around the edges but I’m proud of it for that fact.

Where is the best place people can follow you & find your music?
You can hear my music wherever you listen to music on the internet [Soundcloud] and you can follow me at on Instagram to keep up to date with what I have going on as well as whatever other social media you prefer.

What were the 3 most influential albums to you growing up?
Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix by Phoenix, Vampire Weekend’s Self Titled & A Rush of Blood to the Head by Coldplay. There’s so many more but I hold these very close to my heart and think they’ve influenced my sound a lot. These albums all have originality, flair and really clever songwriting within the bounds of creating commercial, structured Popular music. I’d like to strike that balance as well as those bands did with those projects one day.

Which other Wellington musician (s) would you most like to work with?
Right now I’m working on music with my friend Tom Verberne who I met doing the Massey Commercial Music Course and would like to record a lot of other musicians I’ve met there. That’s something I’m looking forward to doing more on the project after Daydreamer. Orchestrating others to follow my vision rather than realising it all myself.

What’s your favourite Wellington venue to play in?
San Fran is the one I’ve played in the most, my first show opening for the LA band The Internet was there. I really like how it’s narrow. Makes it fun to be on stage and look out. Although I’d like to perform at quite a few more venues really, I’m still relatively new to live performance.

In your songwriting or composing (or the band’s songwriting) how do the compositions and songs take shape?
It’s different every time. I’m always writing lyrics and recording melody ideas on my phone. Often it starts with guitar chords as it’s the easiest songwriting tool for me but I’m trying to start with melody before chords so I can make more memorable melodies. But it’s really just a matter of me making a musical moment that feels full by messing around with adding layers until the loop feels colourful and then creating the developed structure and writing to it.

Where/when is your next gig?
I’m playing my first headline show at Caroline on the 21st of July (this Thursday). I really don’t know what to expect but have been looking forward to doing my own show for a long time. Tom Verberne who I mentioned earlier and Josie Moon will be opening.


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