"I got really noticed by record labels, and that's how I got signed," says Max.īorn Amanda Ava Koci to Albanian parents, the singer-songwriter understands what it is to struggle in her own career, having watched her parents face battles following their move to America from war-torn Albania. He took her under his wing and they started writing and recording music together, before putting a song on audio platform SoundCloud.
The right person, in Max's case, was Cirkut, a Canadian record producer who has worked with modern music icons such as Rihanna, The Weeknd, Katy Perry and Jessie J, among a host of others. Then I finally met the right people after years of struggling." So, it's been this whole chase with singing and writing songs. I lived there for two years, in South Carolina, before I moved back out when I was 17 with my brother. "Then, when I was 15 years old, we moved back to the East coast. "That year didn't go so well because LA wasn't exactly what we thought it would be. "Then my mum sold her house and we came to Los Angeles from Virginia. "When I was 14, I moved to California with my mum for music because I ended up doing some competitions when I was 10, 11, 12. "It's been a chase my whole life," she explains. To some it may seem the 24-year-old's success has happened overnight with that one great song, but Max insists that was simply not the case. She then released another single, Slippin', and featured on David Guetta's album as a vocalist, before Sweet But Psycho put her firmly on the map. In early 2018, she dropped her debut single, My Way, followed by viral hit Not Your Barbie Girl, a playful reimagining of and ode to Aqua's 1990s hit Barbie Girl. She was first introduced to listeners as a featured artist on American electronic musician DJ Le Youth's Clap Your Hands last year. Her style is unashamedly pop, a bold move at a time when it's still sometimes considered a weaker genre, and she cites her musical inspirations as the Beatles, Whitney Houston, Christina Aguilera and The Fugees. The track is infectiously catchy, earworm-friendly dance-pop with a heavy dose of sass. Max is all peroxide blonde hair and bold outfits. In case you haven't heard Sweet But Psycho, or seen the video, think Just Dance-era Lady Gaga. I want to release more songs and I want to release an album." "It's exciting, for sure, but I want to achieve more.
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