BY LESLEY HASTINGS
I think it is safe to say that Australia’s Max Jackson won a ton of new fans after her engaging and energetic sets at C2C recently. She was already on my radar after the recent release of her latest album “Dangerous In Denim” and it was great to get the chance to chat to her before her London performances.
I started with a belated welcome to the capital as I’d seen via her socials she’d been here for a few days already…and that it looked as if she’s been having fun both here and in Berlin where she also played C2C.
Could she sum up her visit so far in three words?
“Honestly it’s never too late, it’s lovely to be welcomed!
Oh, I would say ….exciting. I would say… electric. And I would say… discovery. Each morning I wake up and I’m like, cool, we get to do fun things like every day.”
I noticed she’d been exploring London with fellow Aussie Fanny Lumsden….who has been over several times now and building her fan base …
“She’s been one of the main people who’s just been telling me for such a long time that I really need to get to the UK and Europe. That the fans are so excited and so dedicated and so fun. Fanny and I are very, very different artists, obviously, but I would say that we equally bring the fun and the crowd participation to our performance. You know, her telling me about it, but now being able to be on the ground and experience it myself is awesome”.
And there’s another Australian artist here too, Tyla Rodriguez ….do their paths cross back home much?
“The Australian Country music industry is pretty small in the sense that most everyone knows everyone pretty much. And Tyler and I are signed to the same label as well. Yeah, but it’s really exciting. I’ve been going over to CMA Fest in Nashville every year since 2022, and I remember the first year I went it was just me and Kaylee Bell, who’s another amazing artist. She’s actually from New Zealand (and she is coming here later this year to open up for the Shires) ….anyway it was just Kaylee and I, and now at CMA Fest there’s, like, 40 or 50 Australian artists going every year, and I really feel like it will be similar here”.
My next question was about how country music’s popularity has really exploded in the UK recently, especially amongst the younger generation. Has Max seen a similar explosion in Australia?
“It is massive in Australia. We have probably somewhere close to 10 festivals of this size and bigger. Country music has always been big, but it’s really moved over the last couple of years I think, it’s really exciting. We’ve got a lot of international acts coming out, doing festivals similar to this as well”.
Are the any differences in the audiences back home and over here?
“I think the biggest difference I’ve noticed here is everyone puts way more effort into their outfit! That’s what I think is really cool. Australia is much more laid back, people dress a little bit more casual.
And people have really looked up my music, you know, people who are coming to see me for the 1st time, they’re singing along. The song that really surprised me in my set yesterday was ‘1990 Something’, a lot of people singing to that, more than the rest of the songs. I sort of presumed that maybe ‘Little More Country’ would be the one that people would know, because Baylen Leonard has been playing it on Absolute Country Radio”.
Having already mentioned frequent visits to Nashville, where she’s not only performed but collaborated with songwriters, what has she learned from those experiences?
“Nashville songwriters work every day, writing songs as if it’s a 9 to 5 job. So it’s, like, very dedicated, you’ll come into a session and either they’ve already got a track made that you could write to, or they’ve got 50 ideas saved up that could be great! And they listen to your music, they’ve really researched into what you’re doing. So it definitely inspires you to write a lot! Back home you write sporadically, it’s not as regimented. When I go to Nashville, over a two week period I can walk away with 30 songs. And I think definitely the collaboration side of things is like pulling in people who specialise in certain things, whether it be like making the track or someone who’s really amazing with melody. Allowing people to have their strong suits and not trying to constantly be good at everything”.
Does Max have a bucket list Nashville co-writer?
“Oh Yeah, Liz Rose is at the very top of my list. I’m very good friends with Phil Barton, an Australian songwriter who writes at Liz Rose’s office”.
I seemed to recall they co-wrote a couple on her last album?
“Yes, we did! He’s actually here, I just saw him yesterday”
Hopefully Phil can put in a good word for her with Liz then!
I said how the timing of her visit was so good, coming on the back of her album release. Apart from “1990 Something” which she’d already mentioned, which other tracks in particular were resonating with fans?
“ We’re opening the set with ‘Red Dirt Rock And Roll’ and I can definitely see people connecting with that,so that’s really exciting. I feel like ‘Hold My Horses’ is always a really popular song, we get people singing along. And ‘Little More Country’. They would be the ones that I’m noticing”.
I commented that the album seems to show different sides to her throughout the tracks….
“I really try to make my music a really uplifting and positive space. Because that’s what I love about music, how it can really connect with you, be a little positive boost. A lot of the time you’re releasing song by song, single by single.
So you’re trying to think, it’s, like, going to go to radio, and is it gonna do well at the live shows. So, with the album, I really wanted to be able to not think about that so much, if that makes sense, and just really put together a collection of music that really had some highs and lows, and showed a lot of different sides of me and talked about a lot of different things. So that was really important to me “.
I mentioned that the feeling of gratitude comes across strongly in several tracks, including “Grass” that has a cute accompanying video too…
“Oh, thank you. I like making videos…..my husband makes them all and that one was filmed at his Nana’s farm. Such a simple video, but we just thought it was the perfect way to represent it”.
I next asked about the award winning album track “Little More Country”, and whether Max knew they had come up with something special the day it was written….
“You know what’s so funny is that song was so easy to write, but I actually almost forgot about it. I always put all my new songs to Dropbox and then send it off to my team and say, what ones does everyone love the most? And my manager said to me, Oh, it’s got to be ‘ Little More Country’. That’s the one I can’t get out of my head. And I was like, Oh, yeah, that is a cool song, I went back to it, and I’m so glad we did, because it’s really been massive…
I said that with everything that’s going on in the world, it just sends such a lovely message…..
“Yeah, exactly about country people and country values, and being down to earth and kind and helping out a neighbour and all of that stuff. It’s a special song. I do love it“.
It also inspired a great EP where Max “countrified” songs from different genres…is she planning on doing more of these?
“I would love to. Absolutely. I really want to do, like, some collabs, invite some of my friends onto it. People love requesting songs and everything too. So we definitely want to do more“.
I needed to wrap things up but wanted to know if her trip over here had inspired any new song ideas?
“Well, actually, a lot, yeah. We went to the Indigo Songwriters Night, with Keith Urban, Emily Ann Roberts, Ashley Cook and Kristian Bush. I wrote so many ideas down in my phone. I really find listening to music a massive inspiration, in particular, watching it live and seeing the way people connect with certain songs, certain energies. So, yeah, I’ve written them all down in my phone. And I’m gonna start basically writing the next album when I get home, so I’m excited”.
And does she have any plans to come back to the UK?
“Yeah, we’ve already got some festivals locked in that are unannounced, so we’ll definitely be back, and I’ll be bringing my whole band as well. I’m actually a very strong guitar player, that’s always been my thing, but sometimes it’s nice to be able to put it down and get around the stage a little bit more, whereas I can’t do that so much while I’m here this time. But this is really nice, this feels like when I first went over to CMA and I played some acoustic sets, and it really connects with people. But I can’t wait to come back with the band as well”
I can’t wait for that, too!
Thanks for your time today Max. Enjoy the rest of your visit!
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