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Photo by Ariane Kiks

Just one week ahead of his debut headline show in Paris, where he is based, OnesToWatch sat down in Brussels with up-and-coming singer and producer Max Baby – and yes, that´s his real name – was he meant to be an artist or what?

Max had an explosive performance at Fifty Lab festival in Brussels where he gave the audience a taste of what´s to come, but already had them eating out of the palm of his hand. Having just released his second EP BREAK, which talks about and deals with different kinds of endings and breaks: breaking patterns, breaking-up or breaking-down; he dives into the hard-hitting truths that come with closing chapters and trying to find firm ground to start anew. 

A self-taught multi-instrumentalist, performer and producer, he has produced for artists like Hannah Jadagu, Clara Luciani, Drugdealer and Weyes Blood; but in helping others find their sound, he has found his own style: a mix of post-modern indie, alternative rock and alt-electronics that is created entirely by himself with little to no input from others. His process he says “is just me in a room”. It is clear that trusting his own instincts has paid off, as he has created a sonic and visual world that feels completely intentional and authentic, full of symbolism, hardcore energy and black monochrome outfits.

In this interview we chatted about the dreams that inspired BREAK, life in Paris, Max´s songwriting process and allowing his limitations to fuel his creativity.

OTW: Hi Max. How are you?

Max Baby (MB): Hi, I’m good yeah. Our train was a bit delayed, but everything’s fine.

Ah those Paris trains. I wanted to start by asking you, since I think this is the first interview you’re doing for American media...

Yeah, it is the first one. It´s our introduction!

Exciting! No pressure for me then (laughs). Since it’s your introduction, could you “elevator pitch” us your music?

Wow! So, I'm Max Baby. It is my real name. It's not a pseudo. It's not a nickname. I'm making, I guess, some kind of indie rock and alt-electronic music. 

And what are the vibes we can expect from seeing you perform live? 

Oh, intense, electric. I'm always going really hard every time. And yeah, it's energetic, chaotic and there's some kind of proximity. Usually I like to go and meet the audience, so I’m always asking venues for 20 meter cables.

I realized your first song was only out into the world last year, but have you been performing for a long time before that?

Well, with this project we started performing like a year and a half ago, a little bit before it was released. But I was a musician way before I became an artist and I had a band a few years ago as well, but nothing like this. Yeah, now I'm being like really properly out front. 

In your other band, were you also the front man?

I was, but I used to be much shyer, and it was a long time ago. Now I´ve slowly grown into it more.

There are so many layers to you as an artist as well, because there's obviously the performer, but there's also, as you said, the musician, the singer and the producer in everything you do. I love your song “Dogma” and when I went to check the credits for the guitar, what really intrigued me was to see that you are the only person in the credits to all of your songs, so you do everything fully alone.

Yeah, the process is just me in a room (laughs). I play all the instruments myself and produce everything. I've always done it that way and you know, as I've also been producing other artists for a while, I felt like it would be more true to myself if I did everything by myself. I feel like there's a lot of creativity driven by having limitations. I could hire an amazing drummer or an amazing keyboard player, but it wouldn't be true to me. I have my own limitations and I think it's interesting to put that into a record, not to make the perfect record, but to make it as true as possible.

Also, when I'm recording, if I have an idea that's a bit too hard for me, pushing my limitations helps me get better and helps me learn, so it´s fun!

I'm curious because whenever I make anything, I kind of always need someone to look at it from the outside. Is there anyone you trust to give you an opinion?

Definitely. There's Edouard, my manager, he has a very good ear and I really trust him, but in the end, you know, you can never know what people think completely. I think the more I'm making music, the more I'm trying to stay true to my own decisions. It's been hard in the past, but I'm working on it, because in the end, I need to be the one convinced about the music I´m making. I have to make a decision because if I don't think it's good, nobody is gonna think it's good. 

100%! Because you play quite a few instruments: drums, guitar, bass, piano/synths, machines and vocals; do you have a go to instrument to start writing songs on?

Not really. I think I'm best at the guitar, but not all the songs started out on the guitar. It's always kind of different and I'm trying not to have a routine or recipe so that I can keep things fresh every time. Honestly, every time I'm writing a song, I feel like I don't know how to make a song (laughs), it always feels like I'm 13 again and it's my first song. 

Yeah, I guess you feel what the song needs from you. Are you a lyrics person as well? 

Years ago I wasn't, but now, yeah, like, that's kind of what started the first EP and changed my approach to music. If you start with good lyrics, the lyrics are going to guide you through a song that you would have never thought of making. So I think that's really interesting when I start a song and I think I have a pretty clear idea of it, but the lyrics are guiding me through another road.

I think it's cool when artists figure out a way to kind of make the rhythm reflect the words. A very simple example, but let's say you say the word “stop” and you kind of stop the track as well to reflect the words.

I actually did that in this new EP in a part where I say “wait” and stop the track. It's really cheesy, but it's actually clever. We should write something together as we have similar ideas (laughs). 

I´m 100% down! Five days ago, you released your second EP “BREAK”, composed of 7 really amazing songs. Since we´re on lyrics, what's like your favorite lyrics from the EP?

Oh God. “Always” is the most poetic track I've ever written I guess, but there is a line in “FAKDAP” where I say “About to fall and I feel like the ground won’t be here for a while.” I think it gives a pretty clear image of what I was going through and it actually came from a recurring dream that I've been having, where I'm jumping and I keep falling forever and the ground is not there - it's a horrifying feeling. 

Do you believe in reading dreams and finding a meaning? 

Yeah, I think it's a pretty legit science, but I don´t know how to explain it.  

How about the rest of the EP? I heard that the title” BREAK” came after all the songs were ready?

It did, yeah! I love all the songs and they approach different types of breaks. There's breaking beliefs, breaking down, breaking up, breaking out of a shell, etc. I realized there was this common theme and decided that “BREAK” was the perfect name.

There are certain lyrics of yours that hit me. Like “Playground” in the chorus, I was like “ouch, dude, you didn't have to do me like that”. 

Yeah, that song is like a break with childhood and it's a tough one. It's basically a lesson, like trying to tell myself to get my sh*t together, you know? Like, what the hell are you doing? Because I´m exactly in that phase where I´m jumping full on into adulthood and figuring it all out.

What's your best growing up advice?

Try to keep a child's mind as long as possible.

If it´s okay to ask, a word that comes to mind with the EP´s theme is grief, because when something breaks, the next step is often going through that grief process and it can go way beyond losing a person, as you said.

100% yeah, it's acceptance. I think it's beautiful what you're saying and it's really true, because I've been grieving different things, as I said, breakups, but maybe subconsciously things from my past. I lost my dad like 10 years ago or something and I'll never put it into any songs but, I guess that in my life, the concept of grief is prevalent and I've been grieving things I need to let go of.

I´m sorry to hear that, thank you for opening up and sharing that. Outside of the music, I wanted to ask about your artistry. You have a world with a certain aesthetic and lots of symbolism to you. Has there been any very intentional world building from you or is it very true to your style? Because I see that black is your color of choice (Max is wearing an all-black outfit during the interview). 

To be honest yes.

How many black T-shirts do you own? 

How many black T-shirts do I own (laughs)? My closet is mostly black, so it's an aesthetic that came naturally to me. Again, it had to be true to who I am.

I didn't want to have a character, I wanted the whole thing to look like me and look like the insides of my brain. And the symbolism was kind of subconscious, but I guess that's kind of the way my brain works. That literally is what happened when writing this EP, like I listened to all the songs and read the lyrics again and break was everywhere; even the drums are broken beats. 

That´s amazing, so you were always subconsciously guiding yourself.

100%, but yeah, regarding the visual word, yes, it's intentional, but very natural as well. I really know what I want and I've been surrounding myself with amazing artists that make the vision real. It all comes from an amazing community of artists in Paris, where I live. But yeah, I never want to really explain the meanings of the visuals, I love that people make their own meanings or their own sense of it. 

Then we leave it at that. On the 19th of November, which is in one week, you have your headline debut in Paris. So how are you feeling?

Extremely excited. I would lie if I said I wasn't a bit stressed, but I'm really excited to meet the people and to give a proper show, an actual one for like an hour and 15 minutes, with lights and everything, you know? We´ll play the full first EP, the full second EP and new versions of the songs that I've rearranged for the show. 

I had to prepare the show before I gave it to the musicians, it's like I had to prepare everything myself, but in rehearsal we talk about it and we fine tune it together. The only thing is that the drummers who play with me know that I'm a drummer as well and that I'm really specific about the drum breaks, so it´s challenging for them.

So you're a drum snob.

I'm a drum snob (laughs). Yeah. I'm actually just obsessed with drums.

What is your tip for anyone visiting Paris?

Go to Chez Jeanette in the 10th. It's my friend's bar - “shout out to Fred!” We played all my songs there when they got released, it's like it's my second home. 

Who are some of your OnesToWatch?

Can I say Hannah Jadagu? I've been working with her and produced some stuff on her album. I would also say Florence Sinclair and TTSSFU.

Can I ask you something quickly. I find it curious in a way that you do all of your stuff alone, yet you're so easy to work with for other people as a producer. Why do you think that is?

Well, I love to work with other people and get the best out of them and give my best to them. It's really fulfilling and enriching and it feeds into my work. Never literally, but it's very inspiring and I feel like I wouldn't make the same music if I hadn't worked with all these artists. As different as they are, you know, they really make me want to be myself and that's what's most inspiring about them. 

You find your sound through finding theirs in a way. 

Exactly!

Thanks so much Max and lots of luck for the headline.

Thanks so much.

You can listen to BREAK here: