We caught up with Maxi Curnow following the release of his debut album ‘Transition’.
During the day, Maxi Curnow can be found working as a firefighter. At night, Maxi turns to music.
Taking inspiration from the likes of Jeff Buckley and John Mayer, Maxi has just released his debut album featuring tracks in relation to his daily work experiences from loss of life to human resilience.
We spoke to Maxi to find out more about his new album and his plans for 2016.
Can you tell us more about how you first got into music?
I started guitar when I was 9 because my friend played, and it came very naturally to me. My guitar teacher taught me ‘Stairway to Heaven’ and I was hooked, but early on I always improvised and didn’t learn other people’s songs so much, which is still the case now, I’ve always preferred doing my own thing due to a lack of patience!
How do you find balancing a musical career with your day job?
I work as a firefighter and oddly the two balance out very well. When I am on call I have a pager so I can work from home in my studio, so unless we get a shout it’s actually quite a flexible way to make time for music! It’s a tough balance between income and passion though, you could always do with more time.
Why did you decide to write your songs in relation to your career?
I suppose some of the incidents I’ve attended have had an impact on me. It’s a very intense thing to experience sometimes, as you are closer to trauma than you would be in most jobs. I suppose writing about some of these things helps, although I try to be subtle and sometimes make the song sound like it’s about something else.
What can we expect from your debut LP release?
A mixture of musical styles and textures! I think it’s quite diverse, every song has its own style and hopefully there’s something in there for everyone. It’s quite filmic, proggy, jazzy, rocky, bluesy in places.
Are there any tracks in particular we should check out first?
Probably ‘Shape of you’ if you like bluesy/groovy stuff, ‘Transition’ if you like very musical/proggy music and ‘If I Ever/This Mist’ for a heavier rock kinda vibe.
What are your plans for 2016?
It would be great to get a live line-up together and gig/tour, potentially some shows with some of my fave bands, more on this soon…
Anything else you wish to add?
Hope you enjoy the album and be sure to skip through, it’s very diverse so hopefully if you don’t like the first track, you’ll like another!