One lucky Hannukah, Max Satow got Guitar Hero. If his parents were trying to get rid of him, it worked, because he disappeared for hours, becoming obsessed with learning to play notes as fast as possible. Catch him & his band in New York at Nublu on June 2nd.
Mad: Hello, Max of Noshows.
Max: Hey, Madison.
Mad: Can you tell me a little bit about your musical history? When did your passion for music spark?
Max: When I was a kid, I went to a bunch of music camps with my friends, and we would play covers. I was also into Guitar Hero 3.
Mad: Do you remember who bought Guitar Hero 3 for you?
Max: I think it was a Hanukkah present from my parents. I wanted to play as fast as possible. I started practicing all the time, getting obsessed. Nobody else wanted to sing in my band, so I decided to do it myself. I started to get into the songwriting part of things. I wasn’t very good when I started – I was sort of just the only one that would do it. I wanted to make the band thing happen. I really liked playing with bands.
Mad: Did you start to see music as an art?
Max: Yeah, yeah, exactly. I saw it as a game in the beginning. Then I got introduced to other music. I got into hip hop in high school, and that opened me up to lyrics, to more direct styles of writing. I studied jazz, kept writing and making things that were fun to make. From there, “Noshows” happened and transformed into what it is now.
Mad: How would you describe the music that you’re making now? You’ve mentioned your style and perspective has changed over the years.
Max: Currently, the music I make is a mix of indie, rock, pop punk, synth pop, a little disco, and a little hip hop, and a little bit of new wave. Which is a lot of stuff. Earlier on, it was different. I was a bedroom producer, and I was into perfecting loops and stacking sounds on top of each other. I used more hip hop-adjacent sounds in the beginning, when I dropped my first couple of songs and first album out of college. Over time, I started to get more into live performance being the element of the music, shifting away from bedroom producing to try capturing a moment in time.
Mad: It’s a great learning experience to incorporate audience reaction. I think that helps you focus more on catchy bass lines or moments where you see the crowd come together. If you’re only doing bedroom producing, you’re not getting that audience reaction.
Max: I love when a record feels like that.
Mad: So far, what is your personal favorite project that you’ve done?
Max: There’s a recency bias. But I think my EP from earlier this year, “Tightrope,” is probably my favorite piece of work that I’ve done. There’s a lot of different sounds on it, which I love for an EP or record to have. On this, I was able to have every song be a unique feeling, which I don’t think I specifically got on any other projects I did. I kept a focus on themes of heartbreak, mental health, and addiction.
Mad: I was listening to “What’s My Name” (EP’s 2nd track). It’s an upbeat tune. The lyrics, though, are about being lost to the point of almost being broken. It’s an interesting interplay, because what you’re saying is heavy, but you’ve got a lightness with the harmony behind it.
Max: I like doing that. The music masks the heaviness of the lyrics in a way that you might mask your feelings.
Mad: Harbinger Magazine and David Bixby will get emails from people that write that his music has strongly affected them. Bixby discusses themes of addiction, sadness and disconnect in “Drug Song.” I think we all experience these feelings at some point. We don’t live in a world where it’s easy to know who you are, to be who you are all the time.
Max: Agreed, and it’s good when artists can provide something to relate to.
Mad: What are some of your musical influences?
Max: I love a lot. I’m a huge music nerd. In terms of music that actually influences what I write, I’m on the classic side: the Beatles, Nirvana, Led Zeppelin, Metallica. Mac Miller, I dig his stuff and his lyrical directness and his willingness to be completely honest and vulnerable, while empowering at the same time. I’m also into The Strokes and Tame Impala and MGMT. They had this one compilation album called “Late Night Tales.”
Mad: I love that album.
Max: You know? I heard David Bixby’s “Drug Song” on that album. The title popped out to me.
Mad: Yeah, most people don’t directly address their shame. But I think that song is so
much about the shame of feeling like you’ve ruined yourself, that you’ve made choices in your life of which you aren’t proud, that you can’t take back, but being at that point where you’re reckoning with this. So I feel very moved by that song, and I also love that we’re talking about MGMT’s “Late Night Tales.” There’s so many artists that I found from that album. I think Cat Power was on that too.
Max: It’s an awesome series of tracks. Totally, really cool.
Mad: What are some of your goals for the future with the Noshows? Could it be
performing with MGMT?
Max: Oh, I would love to perform with MGMT. I’d love to perform with Tame Impala. That’s the dream, playing with bands that I love, touring more, building. Bigger shows, more fans, trying to get the music to the next level. Refine the art. A lot of new music to come this year.
Mad: I also noticed on your profile that you facilitate conversation about mental health. I wanted to take this moment to ask you about the Jed Foundation and the “Magnify the Mind Movement” and if you feel a personal responsibility to advocate for discussion about mental health.
Max: I promote mental health. My music has themes of personal struggle. I hope to build a community around that. The Jed Foundation is a foundation started by my family. It started after my uncle took his life at the age of 20. That devastated my family. They didn’t see it coming, of course. There wasn’t enough awareness around mental health, depression, and if there were more resources, maybe he would still be alive today. I’ve always seen mental health awareness as something that’s really important for young people. In those formative years, it’s easy to feel lost, to feel nervous,
to feel alone. You can be irrational at that time. I know from my own experience. Kids have to know they’re not alone.
Mad: A lot of the time what people think and feel about despair is masked. I think you offer a nice landing place in your songs; the comfort of a sunny tune while confronting lyrics about feeling lost and alone. It’s a process. The lowering of the mask is gradual. It’s difficult in a society that often relies on performance to know what you really think and feel sometimes. Do you feel like music is what usually allows you to do that?
Max: Yeah. Music is an escape, a good outlet and something that can heal. It can alleviate significantly. You hear the right baseline, you hear the right set of lyrics, and something clicks.
Mad: Do you feel that falling in love was a part of your experience creating music?
Max: I think it’s important to talk about in songs because many people go through good love, bad love, bad breakup, bad heartbreak or being happy, really being happy.
Mad: Have you been in love? Oh, not to cut you off.
Max: No, no, I’m sorry, what were you- what are you saying?
Mad: Have you ever been in love?
Max: Yeah, yeah, totally, of course.
Mad: Were you writing songs during that time?
Max: Yeah, yeah, totally. I had a couple past relationships, and the girl I was with at the time definitely inspired what I would write about. You learn about yourself through others that you’re dating. It’s always been a part of my music and it always will be for as long as I’m a human, I guess.
Mad: Who else outfits the band?
Max: Some members are more permanent now. Keyboard player / backup vocalist is named Amedeo Corey. He’s been in the band since we started getting into the New York scene. Jon Loree is our drummer. Bassists… gone through a couple different ones. I tend to have a revolving door of bassists that I think are awesome.
Mad: How’d you pick the name the Noshows?
Max: It’s about what you feel inside; what’s not shown.
Mad: At first I thought it might mean the slackers.
Max: People assume that. They’re like, “Oh, they actually showed up,” or whatever. I’ve heard that so many times.
Mad: Who drew the logo?
Max: The logo was drawn by my boy Connor Curnin. He has a clothing brand called Wavyland.
Mad: If someone wants to come see you in a show, when would their next opportunity to do that be?
Max: Soon. Our next show in New York is June 2nd at Nublu! We have a song dropping April 17th called “Fall Apart.” We went to Chicago recently and a whole bunch of people came through and said they were big fans. That was cool to see. On my Spotify, it says Chicago is one of our top cities. To see the stats actually mean something…I love that. I could be anywhere in the world and maybe there’s somebody that is a fan and listens.
A Midwest tour sounds like a big success. Go give all the Chicago people what they
want. Maybe we will go back out there.
Mad: I’ll catch you in New York. Bye, Max. Have a great day.
Max: See you, Madison. Thanks.
By Madison McLean
The Noshows will be in New York at Nublu on June 2nd.
Find them on NoShowsBand.com, Facebook, Instagram, and Spotify!
Dave Bixby 