Rising Stars: Meet Greg Max

Today we’d like to introduce you to Greg Max.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
When I was a kid in North Carolina in the country, my home from the bus was all by myself and I didn’t have any siblings so I would make up songs in my head. So my goal as long as I can remember had been to make those sounds real. I love everything about music and sound, and my parents and family always recognized this as my passion. They didn’t have much but what they did they always invested in my music whether it was schooling or projects or instruments.

I spent years in the school band classically trained and playing sports and marching band and drum corps. I was in bands for years and producing on my own on the side, working in audio production and other things to get by. I would help others write songs but never released my own material on my own after a few little demos in high school.

During pandemic, I decided to venture out as a solo artist and move to Phoenix, just put all my stuff in a truck and drove across the country. Since then things have been expanding and happening at a rate I never expected, and I’ve spent more and more time making music and art happen in any way I can in and for this community.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It has been a struggle at times, no question. Getting noticed when there are so many great musicians in so many areas of the country is a difficult enough situation as it is, but grinding out the funding to do it yourself, making the long drives and flights for business and performances, losing time for relationships, friendships, real life. But at the end of the day, it’s always felt worth it.

It’s a struggle to stay strong mentally and on top of my life and mental health when the world is at times so difficult, and to balance that with being a full-time creative can add a whole other layer of difficulty. But at the end of the day, I am chasing my dream with my whole heart and more often than not taking steps forwards instead of back. I’m grateful for the struggles because they’ve taught me just as much if not more than my successes.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a singer and rapper, as well as a guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, and producer. I’m known for my voice and guitar playing particularly, and I’m most proud of them as well. Even with my classical training, it’s where my love for everything started. I’m set apart by others by how I really am adept in every field of the music process. I’m a performer, a writer, a producer, an instrumentalist, and a composer, and I know music theory.

My fans definitely set me apart from others as well. We are all Jimi’s – revolutionary creatives in our ways meant to do what we can we keep this world entertained and enjoyable for everybody. My fans embrace that and help me bring it to life at every show and every time I release music. I always seek positive energy and that’s not always the case these days.

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
In music especially you take risks constantly by staying true to yourself, and it’s hard to always completely be yourself when the easier option might be to mimic your favorite artist or another artist whose sound is seeing success. It’s a risk to take time and money to dig deep and figure out what sound is uniquely yours and capture that in the best way your can. I definitely take risks in this way all the time and go against the urge to be comfortable and make what really brings me joy, what’s really coming from deep within.

I think taking risks is extremely important to the creative process always – if you never try that random crazy idea you’ll never know if it’s actually good or not. My biggest risks have been moving to Phoenix so far from everything I’ve known with no support system and being embraced by the city and the culture has been a massive blessing. I also took a risk many times in saying that I just want to make what I want to make regardless of what’s going on outside of me, and that’s always somehow paid off in the end as well.

A lot of times music these days is very centered around negative energies as well, and with all respect to those my music tends to be more upbeat and positive, seeking the light. My music is cathartic and a drug for me, making it gets me out of my own dark places and breathed a lot of life into me when I need it most- that always radiates from me in a positive way.

Contact Info:

• Website: gregmax.online
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/gregmaxgregmax?igshid=ZjE2NGZiNDQ=
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/100063488440861/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/gregmaxgregmax
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@gregmax2971
• Other: https://linktr.ee/gregmax

Image Credits
Stephanie Roman & DRTYLAUNDRY