Getcha Some Productions Podcast Episode 26

https://reverb.grsm.io/GetchaSome

A podcast covering all things related to music production: from the first note to the last fan and everything in between. Our mission is to create music and to inspire others to do the same.

Not your typical podcast, each episode is a live business meeting. We are figuring out how to build a music production company (a media empire) as we go and listeners come along for the ride. This is an archive of our progress or lack thereof.

This podcast is always candid and unrehearsed.

In this episode we discuss:

Special guest Max Christopher.

This is our first interview and out second guest ever.

Max is a fixture of the Music scene in the southern area of Brooklyn, NY.

This is a close knit community. If you live here and don’t know someone directly you usually have heard of them or know someone who knows them.

I praise Max for establishing the original Thursdays showcase and open mic which helped me get back into performing when I had fallen out of practice for many years. Max worked very hard to keep the original music showcase and open mic going for about five years which provided a wonderful environment for performers of all skill levels and styles to work on their craft. It was truly a labor of love and much appreciated.

Max begins to tell his story about how he got into music way way back in the olden days as he described it. Back when people used to listen to vinyl records. And, back when people used to listen to the radio and wait to hear their favorite song to record it on tape decks.

In those days you either had to like disco or rock. You had to pick a side, you couldn’t like both. Max’s brother Harry was in a rock ‘n’ roll band. Max was actually into disco at the time. He didn’t want to do what his brother was doing. He wanted to do his own thing.

That all changed in approximately 1979 or 1980 when Max went to see his brother perform at the Sheepshead Bay high school battle of the bands. His brother’s band won and of course Max was very proud. The name of the band at the time was The Illusions. A few weeks or months later they won the Madison high school battle of the bands as well. They were a very good band.

Max remembers that when the lead singer of that band came out on stage at that particular concert all the girls rushed to the front of the stage and threw roses at him. And it was that moment that Max stated that he wanted to be in that position. He wants people throwing roses at him.

Interesting fact, Max never took a formal lesson in his entire life.

Max and Harry have a middle brother who took piano lessons in the house. Amazingly, he actually saved up from working a job to buy a piano. Max learned some basic piano and theory from him. Max learned guitar from his brother Harry and from his best friend at the time.

It was at this time that Max started listening to progressive rock, and heavy-metal. ACDC was considered heavy-metal at the time though. His best friend was introducing him to bands like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden.

I asked him what the first song was that he learned on guitar. He actually says that he started on bass because he thought it would be easier because it only had four strings and you only play one string of a time. He initially wanted to play drums but his mother wouldn’t buy him a drum set. Harry had basses around the house so he picked up one of those.

His favorite band at the time we’re probably Yes and/or Rush. And he really wanted to play bass like that. He was a bass player through the 80s. But he did pick up acoustic guitar along the way.

When Max first started wanting to be a pop-star as he says, his favorite artists were Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson. So, I knew I was hearing a little bit of a funk and/or a little bit of soul in his voice at times on his record…even though it is more of a rock record.

Next, we talk about Max’s song writing process.

Max says that he doesn’t really have a process for songwriting. It’s more organic than that. He likes to spend long periods of time alone with his instrument working on chord progressions and riffs and things like that.

He says that he likes to let the songs write themselves. If he tries to take too much control of the process he’ll ruin it.

Since he’s been stuck at home during the quarantine, he’s been writing a lot of progressions on the guitar but he hasn’t been inspired to write many melodies or lyrics. Lyrics are a weak spot for Max. Or so he says. I think he does just fine.

Max tells a story about how he wrote a song which was partially written for many years and then, when he was on vacation in the woods, all the lyrics came spilling out in 10 minutes. I sympathized with a similar story where I had just one line of the song for a few years and then the whole song came spilling out when I was on the plane ride.

I guess the motto of the story is that, sometimes, you have to just let the song come. If you try to force it will not come out right. I’ll add that you have to set up a scenario (whatever that is) to maximize the possibility of creativity.

Max tells about how he wrote a song on this album called If I Could. The guitar motif is based on Mother Nature’s Son by the Beatles. But the melody and lyrics came to him in a dream which is funny because I think that’s the way song Yesterday was written by Paul McCartney.

Max has a lot going on right now with all the cover bands that he’s in plus running the original Thursdays showcase at the Greenhouse Café. He also loves tinkering with his gear so a dream of his would be to have a workshop to work on his instruments.

Max mentions his band, Max’s Wheelhouse. Shout out to Vinny La Russa. His other band Out of the Blue has been together for 20 years. Max also just joined his brother Harry’s band, Pushing 60s, which is all music from the 60s and early 70s.

Shout out to Greenhouse Café who have supported local music and original music in the neighborhood for many years.

Link to Max’s Good Buy Cell on reverb:

https://reverb.com/shop/maxs-gear-garage-67?utm_source=rev-ios-app&utm_medium=ios-share&utm_campaign=shop&utm_content=507756

Max Christopher on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/user/songbear7

Streaming Links to Max’s Album:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mrI3ubwZkwya20Seu8QTh88v36HZVtsjE

https://music.apple.com/us/album/fresh-chrome/197791470

https://open.spotify.com/album/4VTMVMmOmsVuwTrJZTU0ds?si=QXvZDu8UR8mfIcWxqJiEVQ

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