Chicago – Twenty-three year-old Austinite Max Frost is no newbie to the music scene. He’s been performing in and around Austin, Texas since he was in grade school, but it wasn’t until he was in college that labels came knocking. Before that hip hop artists were knocking at his door. Though the rocker had long been a fan of hip hop, he never dabbled in its creation. His roots were in classic rock, folk, and the blues. Nevertheless, Frost jumped in head first, collaborating with local underground hip hop artists. The experimentation led to Frost finding himself, his sound, and creating the internet sensation “White Lies.” The single gained Frost plenty of new fans and a commercial for Beats by Dre. He hit the road to promote his debut EP Low High Low (Atlantic Records), touring with Fitz and the Tantrums and Gary Clark Jr. Now Max Frost is back with EP number two: Intoxication. Best New Bands spoke with Max Frost about Intoxication, being labeled as a “blue-eyed soul” artist, and Star Wars.
You’ve been making music since you were eight. Throughout the years, your style has changed dramatically. How did you come to the sound you have now?
It really was a journey… As a guitar player, I started really with the blues and rock. Then when I started learning other instruments, like bass, that led me more into funk. That’s where it really flourished. By the time I was playing drums and recording my own records, I got more into folk and being a song writer. When I started I started working with hip hop artists in Austin, that’s when I started mixing everything together to make a vocal style that sounded like a sample. That created the whole sound I have now.
Some people lump you into the genre of “blue-eyed soul,” but I read you’re not about that; it really isn’t your thing. How do you feel about people categorizing you as a blue-eyed soul artist?
I understand what they mean. It’s a pretty niche style, which to me, really has more to do with an ethnic comment on the fact that I’m white and sing soul music, based on blues and a lot of historically black music, but there are so many other influences to what I do. When I think about blue-eyed soul, I think about Robin Thicke or something like that, which is more of a guy singing a serenade to a chick under a hard Timbaland beat. I just don’t identify as this sport coat wearing crooner, that’ll pull a rose out of his pocket and hand it to some girl. That’s just not who I am. I’m way more of a rock and roll guy. I see myself more of a punk than a suave lounge singer.
I agree. Listening to your music there are so many different genres that you can hear, whether it be rock, blues, or pop. It’s evident on your new EP. Will you talk about the making of Intoxication?
Yeah, basically it’s just the best songs I thought I made the last few years. Intoxication, in a lot of ways, is similar to what I’ve been doing in the past, but in a lot of ways it’s new. I had never worked with an outside producer or writer before, which is something I always thought strengthened what I was doing and created an identity, but it was also a learning process because of that, understanding how I needed to create the boundaries of my sound, let people in…
I read an interview which talked about “Withdrawal.” You said it “compares the loss of love to withdraw of a drug.” Once I read that, I wondered if you really did experience a heartbreak and if that was also what influenced “Blind Fool.” Is “Blind Fool” about you looking back on that particular relationship and thinking, “Man, I was such a fool!”?
Yeah, no doubt! I think everyone’s demons and difficulties in relationships all eventually stem from something within themselves. I guess those songs are both similar in tone, but they rotate around a different space of time in breaking up with someone. “Withdrawal” is more the immediate, in the moment, and “Blind Fool” is two weeks later feeling, when those withdrawals are over and you go on living.
I love “Paranoia.” Is that an organ being played?
Yeah, there are a couple different organs in there.
You mix so many different sounds and genres in this song. What inspired your writing of “Paranoia”?
Honestly, it started as a riff. I had been listening to this song “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley, and I wanted to do something in that vein. There’s something really cool to me about their space, the production and the way he’s singing those lyrics… It’s really influenced by finding sample sounds, the way they change rhythms a lot in songs, vocal concepts, and I guess the breakdown of the song is the rhythm change in the chorus, going from Motown four and a four, to a rock beat. I guess the song was an experiment in a way. It’s a rock ’n roll hip hop song or something. [laughs]
“$Dreams” also pulls from a lot of genres, and at times it reminds me of Michael Jackson. Are you a big Jackson fan?
Oh yeah! Anyone who says they aren’t a fan of Michael Jackson should probably, I don’t know, stay in the car. [laughs] You can’t really have an opinion about that… It’s some of the best music that Western culture has ever produced.
I agree. Stay in the car or better yet, stay at home! [laughs] What other artists are you a fan of?
I’m a huge Hendrix fan. I’m a huge Beck fan, huge Kanye fan. I listen to a lot of music from the sixties, Vietnam era. I grew up on the Woodstock documentary. It’s a long list.
When I searched you on YouTube, you know how on the right there’s recommendations of what to watch, there was this random Napoleon Dynamite clip; the one where he dances in front of everyone. I thought that was so funny, so I thought I’d ask if you like Napoleon Dynamite. [laughs]
Actually, it’s funny you say that because just today I was thinking that I want to make a video emulating that scene from Napoleon Dynamite! It’s such a classic! There’s something that’s so captivating about a person you don’t expect to be a good dancer. I want to make a music video about that.
That would be excellent! Do you have a favorite movie with a music or dance scene?
What’s funny is the first thing that pops into my head for a music scene that’s hilarious to me, is in the first Star Wars when they walk into that jazz club. [Max then mimics the jazz music they play and talks Star Wars for a few minutes.]
You’ve toured with some pretty amazing people, especially Fitz and the Tantrums and Gary Clark Jr., who is from your hometown. What have those guys, being on tour with them, and watching their performances taught you about touring and the art of performance?
What I learned from Gary was to become comfortable with the lifestyle of touring as quickly as you can because it’s not going to end for a long, long time. It’s a beautiful thing, but it’s also a lot of money, a lot of driving, it’s a lot of things. Gary is an artist who has totally created an amazing career from just basically touring. I learned from watching the insane amount of touring his does. What I learned from Fitz is whether you’re the front guy of a band or the main guitarist or whatever, be the hardest working motherf***er on tour! He is the boss. He is the hardest working one there. He could have easily checked out. Like alright cool, I got to number one. I’m gonna chill. I got the mansion now. It’s all good. But he didn’t. I mean, the man’s in his forties. He’s been doing this six years straight, touring, touring, touring. Every show he’s there, out in front, with the same people that who are in the front of house every night, running lights, and he’s making adjustments. He’s a tireless perfectionist, and he’s never satisfied, which I think is both a sad thing being a perfectionist – I consider myself one – because you never really get to enjoy what you’re doing from the outside but at the same time it’s a good thing because you never stop getting better at what you do.
Max Frost is definitely good at what he does! You can follow Max Frost on Facebook and Twitter. Intoxication is available for purchase on iTunes.
Sarah Hess
After attending The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Sarah went on to study education at Dominican University, earning a degree in history. When not teaching, writing, or taking in a show, she is most likely to be found with a camera to her eye or hanging out in a darkroom.
You can follow Sarah Hess on twitter at @Sarahhasanh and view her music photography on her website: smhimaging.com.
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