Producer and songwriter Max Frost developed his eclectic style of music playing in various projects throughout his teen years. Max became a musician when he was eight, learning guitar simply because music was always around him and he loved it. He started playing shows at 12 and collaborated with a diverse array of artists like Austin icon Bob Schneider and hip-hop MC/producer Kydd. After hearing musicians like Erykah Badu and D’Angelo in his late teens, Max began incorporating hip-hop elements into his blues-inspired stylings, interested in the idea of combining modern rhythms with classic vintage tones in his music. In September 2012 Frost decided to leave the University of Texas-Austin, where he was studying English, to pursue his solo career. The musician released a single, “White Lies,” a boisterous number that expresses the feeling of paranoia one finds in a relationship and reflects that aching fear of betrayal, in April 2013. The track hit No. 1 on The Hype Machine’s “Most Popular Tracks on Blogs Now” in April and May, and Max suddenly found himself with a far greater audience than Austin, TX. Max channeled the song’s success into the creation of his debut EP, Low High Low, out in October. For the musician, the EP is an opportunity to showcase the way he pulls in aspects of various styles, from blues to funk to electro to hip-hop to pop, and fuses them together in a new way.
Max Frost – White Lies
“The songs all connect to polar emotional states in life – highs and lows – giving the EP its name,” Max says. “This basic pattern is reflected in the content of the songs and the moods of the melodies. The theme continues in the production aesthetics of low-fi and high-fi, which will continue as the basic concept in my music into my upcoming LP. I hope the songs give a rounded representation of the music I’ve made in the past as well as a window into what I plan to create for the future. I’m influenced by many genres so I wanted to create an introduction that displayed diversity but also had coherence.” The music itself, as heard on Low High Low, is dynamic and innovative, a new way of capturing classic sonic ideas. It’s also a way for Max to find peace and meaning in the world, and to channel his own experiences into some relatable. There is distinct sense that the listeners can insert themselves into Max’s songs, which is perhaps the most important thing you should know about him. “A good song is 95 percent of complete thought,” Max says. “A small part of it should be left vague and incomplete because that’s where a listener projects in their own life and their understanding of how it fits as a whole for them. I want to leave space in my music for the other person to project what they’ve lived. That’s true of my new EP and it will be true of my forthcoming album.”
White Lies [Official Video]
Max Frost – White Lies Lyrics:
I’m picking up really sketch vibes
My woman’s been telling me lies
About other men. About where she’s been hanging
Suspicious thoughts in my mind
Been brewing up over time
“He’s just a friend,”
When to me he’s a stranger
I can hold no evidence
But I can’t think emotionless
And something in your choice of dress
Tonight can lead to just one guess
White Lies
You try
Can’t blind my eyes
You got your red dress on
And you want to play
Like I can’t know things that I’ve never seen
Its been keeping me up every night
Most of the time
I toss and turn in bed and I try
Not to explode
When you arrive
sneaking through
like it ain’t 5
like this house ain’t mine
Yes I been picking up really sketch vibes
And I keep looking over at your side
Wondering where you been
Thinking that he ain’t a friend
Knowing that thoughts are a sin
And so I’ll say it again.
