SOUND IN. GROOVE OUT.
Hi Max, how are you today?
I’m great thanks, I have spent a lovely day in Rhodes, Greece with my girlfriend and my baby.
You’ve had some major success in your career so far, if you can choose what has been your highlight moment ?
There are many to be honest, I have been very lucky to be able to go to the places I have been and do the things I have done during my career, and I must admit that when I was coming through it was a lot easier than it is today. The BBC radio 1 essential mix is up there, to be able to partake in such a prolific series is was a dream come true. Pete Tong was always a big supporter of mine during my breakthrough. As for gigs it has to be playing to 20000 people at Parklife for Kaluki, I was on the same stage as Jamie Jones, The Martinez Brothers, Hot Since 82, Patrick Topping and Richy Ahmed. Release wise it has to be La FIesta on Hot Creations
Lets get straight into it.. What was your first ever piece of hardware ?
It was a Korg Microkorg, I literally wrote every tune for about a year or so, including an entire album with it, I would use it for leads, bass lines and arps I absolutely rinsed it!
What is the longest piece of hardware you’ve owned that you still use today?
I still have that microkorg today!
could you name all your favourite bits of equipment, And tell us what genres they work best in for you and why?
My favourite ever has to be the Moog Little Phatty, it taught me so much, I learned to shape and make sounds from scratch, use LFO’s and much more. Ever since i have owned a fair bit of moog gear. For me I don’t really know what it worked best for tbh as I used it for all sorts, if I had to choose I would say using the filter lfo on lead sounds to emphasise a drop.
Some of the plugins that replicate hardware are incredible these days, If any, what are your go to plugins & why?
Arturia do such a great job of this and so do Roland. The emulations these days are so close the real thing that it’s not really worth having the hardware in my opinion, unless your turned on by analogue gear. Fortunately that doesn’t bother me.
hardware or software? And why?
Using hardware is fun but it’s time consuming and in this day and age time in the studio isn’t as frequent as it used to be, so for that reason I would say soft synths are my go to, purely because you can switch plugins and presets with the click of a button and leave the midi pattern in place without any re-recording if the first sound wasn’t quite right.
who inspired you from an early age and is there anyone who is inspiring you now?
Jamie Jones and Loco Dice were a huge inspiration for years but Art Department I saw live on a boat party in Sydney when I was 20 and I realised it was house music I wanted to make from that moment on. A couple of years later Pete Tong played my debut track on Radio 1. I actually take a lot of inspiration from friends and family nowadays. George Smeddles and Iglesias inspire me the most but in different ways. George with his distinctive classic 90’s and 00’s influence allways rubs off on me and makes me want to make music, and Iglesias is always teaching me new things in the studio and I have learned so much from him and I still am. He’s a tech geek and I’m absolutely here for it.
all time top 5 records?
In no particular order I have loads but these came to mind first.
1. Nathan Fake – The Sky Was Pink (James Holden Remix)
2. Lil Louis – French Kiss
3. MJ Cole – Crazy Love
4. Xpansions 95 – Move Your Body
5. N-Joi – Anthem
basement or festival?
Festival. I’m not saying I don’t love basement gigs because they were my bread and butter coming through, but there’s something special about being out in the sun with hundreds or thousands of like minded people just letting go of life for a while in a state of ecstasy.
favourite gig so far?
Boiler Room, Lost Beach Club Ecuador. It was the first ever boiler room for both myself and the country of Ecuador. It was an incredible experience, I played for 2 hours on Boiler Room and then a further 16 hours when the cameras went off.
what’s been your most fun to work on project to date?
I’ve just done a record with Mischief and Rag ‘n’ Bone Man which was super fun and it’s still very housey. I’m really excited for people to hear it. My self and Smeddles always work well together and when our heads collide it’s usually a good outcome. My single on PIV called Strung Up is probably the best track I’ve ever done and that was so fun to make.
can you tell us some artists you’ve worked with over the years & any fun stories?
I’ve worked with plenty of people over the years and had some funny times, but being out with James Barlow from Solardo or Skream takes the cake. I wish I could tell the tales on here but I don’t think they should be told to be honest haha!
tell us a fun fact about yourself that not man people know?
I have a Building company that I am also very passionate about, I love being creative with spaces especially kitchens and bathrooms. I get a similar kick out of that as I do music.
You have done a sample pack for us, how did you find making it from scratch ?
Sample packs are always a meticulous process, especially about half way in. But the sample pack that is coming on Groove Source has had far more attention to detail than anything else I have done before, the brand will only release high quality packs and I love that about Groove Source. When it’s all done and dusted it’s a very proud time though, knowing that a lot of the music going out to the world will have your work in it is pretty cool. John Summit actually told me he used one of my previous sample packs for every track he ever made which was pretty cool considering he’s up there with one of the biggest electronic artists of all time.
what do you think of the rest of the packs on our website & why are they different from other sites?
They are great, I like the fact you can buy the smaller packs that contain specific sounds, sometimes when I’m looking for something particular those packs are great and I’m often overwhelmed with options which is rare. I also love the fact they have a ‘submit your own pack’ tab too which is revolutionary, I have never seen that before and it gives talented producers that aren’t well known a chance to shine.
Thanks for taking time to talk to us Max, best of luck with everything going forward and hopefully we catch you soon!
