Canadian Experimental Alternative Artist maxime. On This New EP 'mile end (kiss ur friends)'
Photo by Lucas Kuhl
[UNPUBLISHED:] For those who are not familiar with your music, tell us a little about yourself!
[MAXIME.] Howdy there, I’m Maxime and I make music. I just turned 25 and I live in Montreal, Quebec. My stage name (maxime.) is really annoying for written publication because it has a period baked into it (not the best idea but it’s too late now), so I want to say sorry about that up. My bad.
[UNPUBLISHED:] I’m obsessed with the new EP, mile end (kiss your friends) - it’s a no-skip project. What are you most excited about in regards to the new release?
[MAXIME.] Well damn that is quite the compliment, thank you! I’m just so excited for it to be out there. Spent so much time on this and the last two projects, it feels really good to have it all come together and be out in the world. As much as I love this project there is something to be said about freeing up a little more brain real estate to think about what comes next.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Do you have a favorite song off of the EP?
[MAXIME.] “wedgie” - I’m just so happy with how all the sounds and textures work together. That song came together so fast, and to me that’s always a good sign. There’s just something so magic about the way the bass and drums work together on that one. Hope I can recreate that kind of thing again in the future!
[UNPUBLISHED:] Do you have any lyrics you’re particularly proud of?
[MAXIME.] “Brand new city, no more hickeys, why’d god make french girls so pretty?” I really like that line, not because it’s terribly profound or whatever, but because of how well it flows. I wrote that down and on the first take I was audibly surprised by how well it worked (hence the raise in pitch at the end of the phrase). Also my girlfriend really likes the line, she is indeed french and very pretty.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Can you walk us through your creative process for the project?
[MAXIME.] Sure! I don’t remember every song super well but I can tell you how I usually go about writing music for the most part. I rarely ever start a song with a concrete idea, it’s usually just a feeling in my gut that I gotta write something, anything. I’ll start off noodling on the guitar or on the bass and come up with a little riff or some chords and that gets the juices going. For pretty much every song on this project it started off that way, followed by me singing gibberish for the next few hours until I come up with a cool melody or flow. Finally, I write some lyrics. Writing lyrics for me usually ends up just me writing a diary entry that mostly rhymes, just whatever is going on in my life at the time. I really like writing like that because I can listen back to my music a year later and be able to see how different everything is and how everything turned out.
[UNPUBLISHED:] How do you hope your fans receive it?
[MAXIME.] Well gee, I hope well! It’s pretty crazy that I get to make music and more or less live off of that alone. I definitely recognize how lucky I am to be in the position I am in. If this music career thing gets taken away from me tomorrow, I’d be happy to know I got it to work even if just for a little bit. Huge thank you to everyone who listens to my stuff. Also my friends. And my mom. Love you mom. Love you dad.
[UNPUBLISHED:] If you could describe the EP in one word what would it be and why?
[MAXIME.] One word is tough. I feel like every song is pretty different in vibe so it's hard to find a catch all. Let’s go with… swag, First of all because I think that word needs a comeback. It’s fun to say, go ahead, do it. Swag. Feels good doesn’t it? It’s okay, it’s cool. Also, yeah, I’m pretty proud of how the songs make you feel when you’re walking down the street, headphones in style. At least for me. Like when “wedgie” kicks in, I find it pretty difficult to not switch up my stride just a little bit.
[UNPUBLISHED:] How do you think your sound has evolved since you first started making music?
[MAXIME.] Well I used to make EDM so there's that. I was really into deadmau5 and Skrillex when I started making music. I definitely still have some EDM influence with my sound design, but the whole singing and guitar focus is relatively new for me! More recently I think I’ve been leaning more into higher energy stuff, lots of distortion. I’m excited to change things up a bit in the near future! Always fun to try new stuff out.
[UNPUBLISHED:] What are you most excited about right now? It can be anything!
[MAXIME.] I’m really excited for this summer. Catch some sun, get some biking in, get a little bbq action going, maybe drink some light beer and just sit in my backyard. Oh, yeah also I might be playing quite a few shows and those are always a blast!
[UNPUBLISHED:] What is one fun fact that not many people know about you?
[MAXIME.] I’m color-blind. Deuteranopia, baby. Maybe why I do music instead of painting.
[UNPUBLISHED:] When you’re not making music, what do you like to do?
[MAXIME.] Honestly, I’m a pretty big nerd haha. I play a stupid amount of video games. I love most anything that is fantasy or sci-fi. I’ve been getting into board games a lot recently. It feels good to get away from the screens and move little pieces of cardboard around on a table with some friends.
Photo by Lucas Kuhl