Interview with Max Macready

I really like the dark and futuristic atmosphere of Max Macready’s “The Hunt.” The mix of synthwave, darkwave and post-punk gives the track a cold and cinematic feel, while the bass, synths and guitars sound like a natural fit for this retro sci-fi world. I also enjoy exploring mixed signals and the space between real connection and fantasy, because it suits the slightly uneasy mood of the music. To be played during a late-night drive through a neon-lit city.

(•)> What first inspired “The Hunt,” and what made the idea of pursuit and mixed signals feel like the right emotional subject for this particular song?

The Hunt became fully arranged quite quickly. Guitars and lyrics were added much later as a pursuit and patience kind of vibe started to emerge from the mix.

Mixed signals are a universal experience - perhaps across universes even. It was an interesting idea to visualise what we might be talking to might be a big computer terminal - like an antagonist machine from an 80s scifi movie. We read about people falling in love with their AI bots that are simply trained to do and say what they want to hear with no particular outcome or goal even. The track explores that and rings out with a defiant guitar and synth section to imply that things continue either way.

(•)> The song explores the uneasy space between genuine connection and fantasy. How did you approach writing a narrator who isn't necessarily certain whether what they're pursuing is real?

It’s interesting you refer to it as a narrator. The lyrics alternate between needs, wants and intuition.

In this case - we infer that after communicating with someone/something there is a need to go and meet them, see them and bridge the virtual with the physical. That there is often a time limit on expectations, as well as projections. That confiding in someone does not necessarily mean that they will reciprocate and that if the connection is good (even if it's with a big computer terminal) does that mean it's harmless? Reality and what is real is a common thread in scifi.

(•)> There is something inherently cinematic about a chase, yet the song seems just as interested in uncertainty as it is in movement. How did you balance those two ideas musically?

The bass pattern feels like an unrelenting pursuit. The search for what or who might be at the end of a message or transmission. There are lots of sounds that move around beneath it and the song breathes for a moment half way with sadness and anticipation. Making the music video simultaneously certainly influenced the structure of the music as we knew what we might have on screen at certain moments. It's like watching a movie with the score - but the score still works just fine without the movie.

(•)> The track combines darkwave, synthwave, electronic and post-punk influences. Which sound became the foundation for “The Hunt,” and how did the rest of the arrangement develop around it?

Max is a bass player - and so every song we have developed so far has begun around a bass hook/pattern. The guitar and bass guitar all join in eventually, which is a signature sound we want to inject into our music. Neither the guitar or the synth takes over or leads - they interact and flow together. Everything playing together at the end feels like the chorus rather than a standard vocal chorus layout to the song.

(•)> You describe Max Macready as a transmission from a lost future. Why does that retro-futuristic idea resonate so strongly with you, particularly when you're writing about very human emotions?

Our connection to technology itself has altered drastically over the past few decades. The kind of tech that was suggested in scifi/retro futuristic movies was viewed with awe and wonder - but we now have much of that tech in our pockets and can communicate with anybody, anywhere and at any time. We don't have to sit at a specific terminal to have a video call. We can call them from our surf board on christmas day and even make a meme or sticker out of it. Or paste our face onto someone else surfing and deceive everyone - for no particular reason. Communication has become a pastime that is simultaneously addictive and dull. The retro futuristic angle makes it feel special to travel all the way to that terminal again to send a message.

(•)> John Carpenter is an obvious influence on the project's cinematic atmosphere, while Yes and Rush bring a much more progressive sensibility. How do those different influences coexist inside the same song?

Cinematic sounds are more patient but often dramatic when they appear. The amazing arrangements of Rush and Yes contain precision and unison. Those bands also had unusual song structures and approached things technically as well as creatively. Alex Lifeson in particular could make amazing harmonic sounds and textures with the guitar that just sat within the music and became a character.

(•)> How does Max's role with bass and synthesisers interact with Kurt's guitar textures when you're building these dense, otherworldly soundscapes?

‘Not every track will have guitars’ - is how we start each track - but so far we end up adding guitars each time as it develops. It's interesting to jam and write some parts for guitar to understand the vibe of the track more. Lyrics come more easily when you are playing along to the track and adding specific moments or pings. Kurt is very interested in making tremolo sounds and harmonics to sound like their own synth sound.

(•)> Your music often feels like it could have been discovered on an old cassette inside a forgotten spacecraft. How deliberately do you construct that sense of fictional history around the songs?

World building and portraying ourselves as characters from within this possible distant or alternate future was a big part of the presence we wanted to create. Music that might be listened to on a long haul space flight or picked up on a slightly muffled deep space transmission.

Despite the alternate future, technology and space helmets - subjects such as connection, confusion and longing are still a universal truth.

(•)> Do you imagine the characters who might be listening to a Max Macready song inside this imagined universe, or does the music come first and create the world around itself afterward?

The music comes first and it evolves into its own place or story. We like to visualise a music video or short film whilst we are developing a track. Chances are that the video may never materialise (so far so good) but it influences the structure and layout of the track by approaching a chorus whilst having an image in mind.

(•)> “The Hunt” is followed by a cinematic music video. How important is visual storytelling to the project, and what can the video reveal about the song that the audio alone can't?

Our first video was made to look like a fuzzy hologram transmission that could have been accidentally witnessed. For the upcoming video - we wanted to show the characters present, performing and real - which was important against the theme of the song and particularly as AI content continues to swamp everyone. The video reveals who might be on the other end of a connection, that it might not be real at all and does it even matter?

(•)> Your music draws heavily on analogue technology, neon-lit spaceports and obsolete media. What attracts you to the idea of a futuristic world built from technology that already feels old?

There is an intriguing premise to the kinds of technology that might have or even could exist in an alternate timeline. The scifi movies we grew up with always presented technology as best it could - such as video phone booths with big CRT screens or that computer terminals had to be huge to represent power and complexity. It’s the aesthetics that help to tell a story or moment by just sitting there with a flickering light.

(•)> If Max Macready really were broadcasting into deep space, what would you most want the unknown listener on the other end to understand about the people who made the transmission?

Its a fascinating thing to think about. What if you heard a track one day by a couple guys in space helmets from another universe? Perhaps they might identify with the themes and sounds and add us to their mix tape.

Also that the vinyl is out now - but it may take a few thousand years to be delivered by space freight.

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(•)> That's all, Folks! Check out MaxMacready on the Pigeon Opinion Playlist