Down to Nothing with Max Graham

Hello Max and a very warm welcome to TIE . It is a huge honor to be doing this interview with you .

Thank you for having me :)

How are you doing and what was the highlight from the last gig you played at?

The last gig was New Years Eve in Goa, India with your man Protoculture. It was pretty incredible seeing all the fireworks for miles down the beach. I’m pretty lucky in this job for sure.

1. This is a staple TIE questions, we know you have not yet visited our beautiful country South Africa. What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear South Africa?

Table Mountain and Great Whites :)

2. Max Graham is a well-known name, you have been in the Electronic Music Industry for +21 years what keeps you motivated and driven to continue in the industry?

21!? It’s been 15, but who’s counting right? :) - I think the beauty of music is that it’s always evolving. DJing music I love for others never gets old as long as I keep finding new gems to surprise them with.

3. Have you ever had moments where you thought to yourself I’ve had enough or do you ever think about quitting the scene?

I did quit in 2009 when I was frustrated with my direction and production, but the year off really helped and I came back so strong in 2010 very motivated and feeling great. It’s been full steam ahead since, so I don’t regret stepping away.

4. You have been very successful in your career and like any other careers change is needed to grow and develop yourself. However, change isn’t very welcomed in this industry how do you deal with the negativity that surrounds this?

It’s a bit like dating. You date your audience through an emotional connection, but inevitably tastes change, people change and people get upset when they feel broken up with. It’s funny though, I see as many music fans changing their tastes greatly over even a short period, which is totally normal and natural as you discover new things, but when an artist does it there’s hell to pay. I’ll never really understand the not accepting that an artist is evolving, but I do get the emotional connection to an artist’s music can be pretty strong and change can threaten that and lead to negativity as you say. At the end of the day as an artist you can only follow your own taste and hope enough people share that taste to keep you working.

5. Music technology is advancing at a rapid rate, its more accessible to budding producers do you think that it is advancing the Electric Music scene or slowly killing it (quality vs quantity of music)?

Well the cream will always rise to the top, so even though there’s a lot more music to sift through there’s an equal amount of amazing artists who may have never made music if they didn’t have easy access to the gear and software.

6. Cycles 5 is a representation of your radio show, how do you select tracks for your a radio show?

Every week I go through new releases in Trance, Techno, Tech House and more. I pick what moves me and what I can see fitting into my overall story. A great Tech House track might work early and a lovely trance track might work at the end of the set, so I’m always thinking in those terms. I spend a full day a week just searching for music for the show and that in turn helps my DJ sets.

7. Your Radio show Cycles Radio is extremely popular what is your favorite part of doing a radio show; making it or listening to it streaming live, reading feedback from fans and interacting with all your fans?

A bit of everything! I love finding those gems and knowing my crowd is going to like them, then playing them live and interacting with the community we have is incredible. Not only are they a very nice awesome bunch to chat with, they are also very music knowledgeable and are quick to tell me when they don’t like something too. I look so forward to those two hours every Tuesday.

8. Cycles 5 is the latest compilation release, take us through your process of mixing Cycles 5 from track selection, mixing to the final product and what it means to you?

Well I’m in a rhythm now after all these years, I’ve learned not to overthink it and really just to trust my feeling about a song, how it fits and where it goes. It’s better if I think less and just go with my natural flow.

9. Which track of Cycles 5 causes absolute dancefloor destruction?

I think Mark Sherry’s remix of my track The Evil ID is just a monster. He really took it to the next level.

(Link to the Mark Sherry Remix: https://soundcloud.com/maxgraham/the-evil-id-mark-sherry)

10. You are also doing an album tour, currently just the USA can we expect some worldwide tour dates? What can fans expect from your Cycles tour?

For the first leg it’s more than just the US, it’s Canada also, so basically a North American Tour. I have new visuals, loads of new music and I’m really excited to get out there and show it all off. We also have bracelets for each stop that are only for this tour so it’s a nice little memory for people. Overall though I just want people to enjoy the music. I have a few 6 hour open to close sets so I’m really working hard to make sure the music is as good as it can be for this one, and that includes old and new tracks.

You can view the #CyclesTour2014 dates here: bit.ly/MaxGrahamOnTour

11. We all know a lot of the big names make use of ghost producers what are your thoughts on the use of ghost producers?

Well it’s virtually impossible to tour non-stop and become a wizard in the studio so I have no problem with people teaming up. I think the DJ should have as much input as he can though. I’m not comfortable with people just purchasing finished tracks but getting help making an idea sound amazing isn’t a problem at all. Everyone has different skill sets so it’s unreasonable to expect every artist to have all of them.

12. If you had a time machine what year would you go back to and why?

Probably 2001 when I was making trancey stuff but playing more techy sounds. There was some confusion in my sound and it made it tough for me to be successful. I would go back and be more focused on a specific sound. I would also start Cycles Radio much sooner :)

13. You are very active on social media, as a DJ/ producer how important is fan interaction and social media in ones career?

I don’t think it’s important for everyone. Sometimes being a mysterious recluse can work in your favor, like Daft Punk, but for me personally I relish the interaction and love meeting people at gigs that I’ve interacted with on twitter.

14. We have dubbed 2013 ‘s sound as farty farty same same, What are your predictions for 2014’s sound?

I found loads of amazing tracks in 2013 and I expect the same in 2014. I’m really enjoying Techno at the moment, which is nothing new for me but it goes in Cycles and I’m def feeling what’s out right now.

15. Lastly, Do you have any hobbies and what your favorite thing to do to unwind?

I watch a lot of TV shows, not just random TV but specific shows to relax. Making music for me feels like a fun hobby so I’m doing that mostly at home also.

Do you have any last messages for your fans?

Find me on Twitter at @MaxGraham and say hello :)

Thank you again for doing this interview with us we look forward to hopefully seeing you play sometime soon around the globe somewhere :)

Thank you and see you soon!

Pre-order Cycles 5 on iTunes: bit.ly/Cycles5_iT
Cycles5 YouTube Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZw7GUoTa-8
Cycles5 Minimix on Soundcloud: Armadamusic – Max-graham-cycles-5

Connect with Max Graham

NEW WEBSITE - http://maxgraham.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/maxgraham

Facebook: https://facebook.com/djmaxgraham

Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/maxgraham

Tour Dates: http://bit.ly/MaxGrahamOnTour

YouTube: http://youtube.com/maxgraham