Max Goes To Hollywood | FReeZA Artist of the Month | Youth Central

If the stage shows of Melbourne's three-piece acoustic party pop-punk trio Max Goes To Hollywood are anything to go by, it's safe to say the only thing they take seriously is not taking themselves too seriously. Since forming in 2011 they have released a couple of EP's, toured around the country and shared the stage with an array talented acts including The Smith Street Band, Guttermouth (US), The Bennies, Luca Brasi, The Hard Aches, and many more. Amidst it all, frontman Zig Dog The Big Dog Ziggy Britten took a few spare moments to have a chat with us about their love of touring, maturing (as musicians, but not too much), and what's next for the guys.

Hi Max Goes To Hollywood! Just over six months ago you released your second EP Real Talk. How has it been received by fans?

Hi The Push! Thanks for asking us to chat! We are stoked about it! As far as we can tell the fans have been enjoying the EP. The only feedback we have had has been good feedback so I guess people are getting behind it. Were stoked with how it all turned out.

Between this one and your first EP How To Drop Knowledge in 2012, how did your sound and writing evolve?

I know this might sound hard to believe but I think we have matured a lot as musician between the two EPs. Basically when we decided to record How To Drop Knowledge we were pretty much just starting out. All the songs were songs that I had been playing solo for a while and the boys just came in and played along to what I had whereas with REALTALK we spent a lot more time together as a band jamming the songs and changing things up. Also our previous bassist left the band between the two EPs and Jerome jumped on board. I was stoked to have Jerome join the band because we had played together in a few other bands and he is a super talented musician in his own right.

For those of us who haven't yet been to one, what's a typical Max Goes To Hollywood show like?

INSANITY!!! Is that a long enough answer? We are actually pretty selfish when it comes to performing. We like to have fun and we do anything we can to make sure we are enjoying ourselves. If you haven't been to one of our shows then come expecting a lot of jokes and maybe costumes? Maybe ridiculous banners? Maybe a jockey? Maybe even a laugh track for our jokes? Like I said its INSANITY!!! COME TO A SHOW!!!!!!!!

Last month you had a house party! What made you decide to throw a gig in your own house, and how did it go? What did your neighbours say?! Do you think this is a growing trend?

House shows are our all time favorite kind of shows to play so we decided to organize one for ourselves as part of our last tour. We were super skeptical about it because we live way out west and we didn't think people would come out here but it ended up being a riot. We had a bunch of our friends bands play and a whole crew of people ended up making the trek out here. It was the sickest! Surprisingly none of the neighbours had anything to say about it but they did tell the police that we had kidnapped someone a few weeks before that (which we obviously hadn't) so there's that. I hope house shows are a growing trend because we friggen love playing them!

You guys look like you have a lot of fun out on the road touring. What's the best and worst thing about touring? Do you have any tours coming up?

The best thing about touring would have to be the constant party! We treat all our tours like a holiday so it's all party all the time. The worst part is probably knowing it's going to end eventually. We would tour for the rest of our lives if we could. It's all we want to do. We are looking at hopefully organizing a few interstate shows in the new year but nothing is set in stone just yet. WE WILL TOUR AGAIN! KEEP YOUR EAR TO THE STREET!

What has been your favourite place to play around Australia so far?

ADELAIDE! FOR SURE ADELAIDE WITHOUT QUESTION! We went to Adelaide on our first tour and had people dancing and singing the songs and it was a Wednesday night! The people over there are so lovely and we will never get sick of playing shows there. When we toured the REALTALK EP we managed to organize a house show over there and it was one of the best things we have ever done as a band. (shoutout to the Thornhills! You guy rock!) WE LOVE ADELAIDE 4EVA! Jerome even met his girlfriend over there.

You had an amazing video for getting 700 likes. What do you plan to do for the next milestone?

Thanks The Push! We had a lot of fun making that video! We had no idea people were going to get around it as much as they did so we were stoked. There has been some pretty insane talk of a celebration of sorts when we hit the 1000 likes milestone but I can't really go into too much detail. Let's just say expect some insanity if we ever get 1000 likes.

Who has been your favourite band to share the stage with thus far? Are there any bands or gigs you dream of getting to play on one day?

The boys in The Smith Street band recently asked us to play one of their sold out album release shows at the corner hotel which just so happened to be with 3 of our favorite bands in the whole world (Smith Street included) so that probably was our dream gig. Our favorite bands to play with would have to be all our friends bands FOLEY!, Shadow League, The Hard Aches, Foxtrot, King's Cup we met all these guys playing shows and now they are some of our legit best friends in the whole world. Our friends will always be our favorite bands to play with.

What's the most profound thing you've learnt over the past few years? Anything you wish you knew sooner?

I dunno really? We learnt pretty early on that the best way to enjoy yourself is to not take yourself or the band too seriously. Also make as many friends as possible. Pretty much everything we have done as a band has been with the aid of friends we have made playing shows.

What's coming up for you guys in 2015?

We have big plans for 2015! We are hoping to put out a single before February and then tour it. Then hopefully we will knuckle down and finish writing and record our debut album. Then we will tour again and tour again and then hopefully tour again. After the touring stops we will probably just head home to our solid gold mansions and go swimming in our cash filled pools.

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