The Maxes
Encyclopedia
The Maxes are a Manhattan-based musical duo headed by Josh Max and Julie James
. Max is the guitarist, singer, songwriter and arranger of music for the group and James is vocalist. Live, the act usually has four pieces; standup bass, drums, guitar and vocals, but piano and brass are occasionally added. Josh Max, the band's songwriter, is currently signed to a contract with MPL Communications, the publishing company owned by Sir Paul McCartney, for pre-cleared licensing of his original songs as recorded with The Maxes and as a solo artist.
, and generally skitters like a pinball over country, lounge and the Sun Records catalogue. If you examine the band's recordings and know where and what to look for, you'll find nods to American music of the first 2/3 of the 20th century as well as the music of Hanna-Barbera, Warner Brothers cartoons of the 40s, the Monkees and the music in the first five movies The Marx Brothers made for Paramount Pictures
.
, and signed a publishing deal with Music Sales Group to promote the songs on TV, Radio, in movies and elsewhere throughout the United States, Europe and parts of Asia.
The band performed their first shows at CB's Gallery, The Duplex
, Arlene's Grocery
and branched out to Fez Under Time Cafe, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, B.B. King's, Joe's Pub
and other noted New York City venues. Through word of mouth and without a booking agent, the band was invited to perform at colleges like Yale
, Princeton
and Stonybrook universities as well at numerous weddings and private parties where it was requested they perform their own music.
In 1999 the band was invited to perform at the Sports Arena in Kazakhstan
as personal guests of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbaev.
The band performed three songs, "Cuban Pete", Del Shannon's "Runaway" and their own "Diva With a Fever". The show was televised and seen by over 7,000,000 people and the band subsequently had a hit in that country with their song, "Silent Movie".
, New York Times, Newsweek
, Salon.com
and other publications, though The Maxes still performed a few shows a year in the NYC area. In the meantime, Max formed a series of one-shot cover bands to keep a foot in the business and for fun. During this period, he was the Elvis Costello
in a band called "Elvis Prestello and the Distractions". During shows, Max wore an Elvis Presley Las Vegas '75 costume complete with cape. The band performed Costello albums in their entirety such as My Aim Is True
, This Year's Model
and King of America
. The band opened for legendary DJ "Doctor Demento" at B.B. King's in Times Square, and also headlined shows at Arlene's Grocery
to capacity crowds.
Max was also the John Lennon in a Beatle band he hand-picked called "Big Bang". The band performed With the Beatles
, Rubber Soul
, Beatles for Sale
, Help!
, Let It Be... Naked and their own set, Beatles at the Movies, featuring a selection of the music of the British quartet's soundtrack songs for A Hard Day's Night
, Help!
, Yellow Submarine
, Magical Mystery Tour
and Let It Be at the Cutting Room and Arlene's Grocery, again to capacity crowds.
Max also put together a one-night only performance of Led Zeppelin's Led Zeppelin II, this time assuming bass and keyboard duties. Instead of employing a Robert Plant soundalike, Max recruited acclaimed Broadway, television and movie actress Mary Birdsong
for lead vocals.
In 2005, Josh Max and Julie James headlined a show at Central Park's Summerstage program, performing the music of late British orchestral folk musician Nick Drake
. The show featured an 18-piece orchestra conducted by Drake collaborator and arranger Robert Kirby
, and was attended by over 3,000 people. In order to accurately represent the complexity of Drake's music, Max played 6 different Gibson acoustic guitars during the show, each tuned differently, and learned a completely new way of playing, without a pick. James sang each Drake song in the original key, an octave higher, while Kirby played trumpet on "Hazey Jane II".
Following the performance in Central Park, Max concluded this period of interesting cover bands formed and dismantled, and threw his entire life back into his own music. Renamed The Maxes in 2004, Max and Julie James began work on their followup CD, The Maxes. The disc was released April 12, 2007 on their own label, Swipecat Records, and is now represented by MPL Communications.
Julie James
Julie James AM is a Welsh Labour politician, who has represented the constituency of Swansea West since the National Assembly for Wales election of 2011.-Offices held:...
. Max is the guitarist, singer, songwriter and arranger of music for the group and James is vocalist. Live, the act usually has four pieces; standup bass, drums, guitar and vocals, but piano and brass are occasionally added. Josh Max, the band's songwriter, is currently signed to a contract with MPL Communications, the publishing company owned by Sir Paul McCartney, for pre-cleared licensing of his original songs as recorded with The Maxes and as a solo artist.
Influences
The Maxes' material covers pop, bluesBlues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, and generally skitters like a pinball over country, lounge and the Sun Records catalogue. If you examine the band's recordings and know where and what to look for, you'll find nods to American music of the first 2/3 of the 20th century as well as the music of Hanna-Barbera, Warner Brothers cartoons of the 40s, the Monkees and the music in the first five movies The Marx Brothers made for Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
.
Recordings
The band has released two albums, 1999's Make It Snappy (under their former name Josh Max's Outfit) and 2007's "The Maxes". "Snappy" has sold over 12,000 copies independently. In August 2008, The Maxes completed a 12-song CD of the music of Songwriter Hall Of Famer Al HoffmanAl Hoffman
Al Hoffman , a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame since 1984, was a hit songwriter active in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, usually co-writing with others and responsible for number one hits through each decade, many of which are still sung and recorded today...
, and signed a publishing deal with Music Sales Group to promote the songs on TV, Radio, in movies and elsewhere throughout the United States, Europe and parts of Asia.
Band history
The act, originally called Josh Max's Outfit, was formed on the tail end of the new Swing movement in the late 90s made popular by the Brian Setzer Orchestra and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. Unlike those acts, Josh Max's Outfit performed their jumpy, at times kitschy but heartfelt music with a power trio of standup bass, acoustic guitar through a slapback echo delay, doing without traditional horns, saxes or keyboards. From the start, the band decided to dress in loud clothing.The band performed their first shows at CB's Gallery, The Duplex
The Duplex
The Duplex is a comic strip by Glenn McCoy, published by Universal Press from 1993. The Duplex has been published in numerous newspapers as daily comic strips and on the Internet. A collection of strips is also available in the form of a comic album...
, Arlene's Grocery
Arlene's Grocery
Arlene's Grocery is a bar and music venue in the Lower East Side, Manhattan. It is located at 95 Stanton Street, and has been a bar/venue since 1996....
and branched out to Fez Under Time Cafe, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, B.B. King's, Joe's Pub
Joe's Pub
Joe's Pub at Public Theater is a nightclub that hosts live performances regularly. The venue, which is a non-profit operation, is located at 425 Lafayette Street near Astor Place in Manhattan, New York City...
and other noted New York City venues. Through word of mouth and without a booking agent, the band was invited to perform at colleges like Yale
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, Princeton
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
and Stonybrook universities as well at numerous weddings and private parties where it was requested they perform their own music.
In 1999 the band was invited to perform at the Sports Arena in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
as personal guests of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbaev.
The band performed three songs, "Cuban Pete", Del Shannon's "Runaway" and their own "Diva With a Fever". The show was televised and seen by over 7,000,000 people and the band subsequently had a hit in that country with their song, "Silent Movie".
A break, a cover band blizzard, and a resurgence
The band took a break from live touring in the early 00's as Max focused on a new career as a writer for the New York Daily NewsNew York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
, New York Times, Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
, Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
and other publications, though The Maxes still performed a few shows a year in the NYC area. In the meantime, Max formed a series of one-shot cover bands to keep a foot in the business and for fun. During this period, he was the Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
in a band called "Elvis Prestello and the Distractions". During shows, Max wore an Elvis Presley Las Vegas '75 costume complete with cape. The band performed Costello albums in their entirety such as My Aim Is True
My Aim Is True
My Aim Is True is the debut album by Elvis Costello.The album was recorded at Pathway Studios in Holloway, London Borough of Islington, over the course of 1976 during late-night studio sessions, in a total of twenty-four hours...
, This Year's Model
This Year's Model
This Year's Model is Elvis Costello's second album and his first with The Attractions, released in 1978 . It was recorded mainly at Eden Studios in West London....
and King of America
King of America
King of America is the tenth studio album by the British rock singer and songwriter Elvis Costello, released in 1986 in the United Kingdom as F-Beat ZL 70946, and in the United States as Columbia JC 40173. It was billed as by "The Costello Show featuring the Attractions and Confederates" in the UK...
. The band opened for legendary DJ "Doctor Demento" at B.B. King's in Times Square, and also headlined shows at Arlene's Grocery
Arlene's Grocery
Arlene's Grocery is a bar and music venue in the Lower East Side, Manhattan. It is located at 95 Stanton Street, and has been a bar/venue since 1996....
to capacity crowds.
Max was also the John Lennon in a Beatle band he hand-picked called "Big Bang". The band performed With the Beatles
With the Beatles
With The Beatles is the second studio album by the English rock group The Beatles. It was released on 22 November 1963 on Parlophone, and was recorded four months after the band's debut Please Please Me...
, Rubber Soul
Rubber Soul
Rubber Soul is the sixth studio album by the English rock group The Beatles, released in December 1965. Produced by George Martin, Rubber Soul had been recorded in just over four weeks to make the Christmas market...
, Beatles for Sale
Beatles for Sale
Beatles for Sale is the fourth studio album by the English rock band The Beatles, released in late 1964 and produced by George Martin for Parlophone. The album marked a minor turning point in the evolution of Lennon and McCartney as lyricists, John Lennon particularly now showing interest in...
, Help!
Help! (album)
Help! is the title of the fifth British and ninth American album by The Beatles, and the soundtrack from their film of the same name. Produced by George Martin for EMI's Parlophone Records, it contains fourteen songs in its original British form, of which seven appeared in the film...
, Let It Be... Naked and their own set, Beatles at the Movies, featuring a selection of the music of the British quartet's soundtrack songs for A Hard Day's Night
A Hard Day's Night (album)
A Hard Day's Night is the third studio album by The Beatles, released on 10 July 1964 as the soundtrack to their film A Hard Day's Night. The American version of the album was released two weeks earlier, on 26 June 1964 by United Artists Records, with a different track listing...
, Help!
Help! (album)
Help! is the title of the fifth British and ninth American album by The Beatles, and the soundtrack from their film of the same name. Produced by George Martin for EMI's Parlophone Records, it contains fourteen songs in its original British form, of which seven appeared in the film...
, Yellow Submarine
Yellow Submarine (album)
Yellow Submarine is the tenth studio album by The Beatles in the United Kingdom, released on Apple Records. It was issued as the soundtrack to the film of the same name, which premiered in the United Kingdom seven months prior to the album's release....
, Magical Mystery Tour
Magical Mystery Tour (album)
The soundtrack was far more favourably received than the film. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for best album in 1968 and reached number 1 in the US for eight weeks...
and Let It Be at the Cutting Room and Arlene's Grocery, again to capacity crowds.
Max also put together a one-night only performance of Led Zeppelin's Led Zeppelin II, this time assuming bass and keyboard duties. Instead of employing a Robert Plant soundalike, Max recruited acclaimed Broadway, television and movie actress Mary Birdsong
Mary Birdsong
Mary Birdsong is an American actress, comedian, writer, and singer.Birdsong was born on Long Beach Island, New Jersey, one of five sisters. She may be best-known for her role as Deputy Cherisha Kimball on the Comedy Central series Reno 911!. She is a former correspondent on The Daily Show and...
for lead vocals.
In 2005, Josh Max and Julie James headlined a show at Central Park's Summerstage program, performing the music of late British orchestral folk musician Nick Drake
Nick Drake
Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...
. The show featured an 18-piece orchestra conducted by Drake collaborator and arranger Robert Kirby
Robert Kirby
Robert Kirby was a British born arranger of string sections for rock and folk music. He is best known for his work on the Nick Drake albums, Five Leaves Left and Bryter Layter, but has also worked with Elton John, Ralph McTell, Strawbs, Paul Weller and Elvis Costello.-At Cambridge:Patrick...
, and was attended by over 3,000 people. In order to accurately represent the complexity of Drake's music, Max played 6 different Gibson acoustic guitars during the show, each tuned differently, and learned a completely new way of playing, without a pick. James sang each Drake song in the original key, an octave higher, while Kirby played trumpet on "Hazey Jane II".
Following the performance in Central Park, Max concluded this period of interesting cover bands formed and dismantled, and threw his entire life back into his own music. Renamed The Maxes in 2004, Max and Julie James began work on their followup CD, The Maxes. The disc was released April 12, 2007 on their own label, Swipecat Records, and is now represented by MPL Communications.
Trivia
- Josh is the grand nephew of Songwriter's Hall of Fame member Al HoffmanAl HoffmanAl Hoffman , a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame since 1984, was a hit songwriter active in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, usually co-writing with others and responsible for number one hits through each decade, many of which are still sung and recorded today...
.
- Julie sang the national anthem a capella at Fenway Park in 1995 to an audience of 34,000.