Originally from Los Angeles, Max Huggins is a current sophomore at University of Puget Sound in Washington studying History and Music. He plays the guitar and piano, and is an avid golfer (fun fact: he was one of the best high school golfers a few years ago). He is also a member of Puget Sound’s jazz orchestra. At the beginning of this year, Max released 12 original songs on his debut album Evergreen. I’m very glad I got the chance to chat with him about these pieces of music and what he has planned for the future.
What first got you into music?
It all kinda started by accident really. I was 4 or 5 years old and I would get out of school relatively early in the day, so my dad would come pick me up and work from home to make sure I wasn’t home alone. He used to be really into a band called U2, so he would put on a live concert video to have on in the background as he worked and I played or whatnot. I just got hooked. I fell in love with the guitar and later on started to take guitar lessons when I turned 6.
How would you describe the music you typically create?
I have had a lot of trouble trying to answer that question as of late. If I had to break it down, it comes mainly from the folk side of things, but also dabbling in film score/instrumental music. I’m also heavily inspired by the aesthetic touches of indie and the improvisatory elements of jazz so it’s honestly a toss up.
Who and/or what was your inspiration for your debut album, Evergreen?
A lot of the inspiration for Evergreen came from my personal experiences with moving to the Pacific Northwest for the first time. I had never moved prior to moving up to the University of Puget Sound, so that entire process was extremely unique and powerful. It was a great experience overall, but it came with all the classic parts of moving somewhere (mainly missing people, the trouble of calling a new place home etc). I just tried to feed off some of the things I was feeling/seeing in the people around me.
What is your creative process like when writing new music?
I wish I had a more definitive process to it, but the honest truth is that it’s an utter mess’ a lot of trial and error. Many of the ideas that later came on to be a part of the album started as simple voice memos on my phone of just brief licks or motifs that came to mind at the time. The second part, and often the hardest part, is trying to iron out song forms and the details of how the song will flow as a cohesive unit. Usually, it all starts with a feeling or certain vibe I’m trying to capture, then trying to build off of a certain song title to make a tune out of it.
What is your favorite song from the album?
My personal favorite off of the album has to be “The Sky was Purple on August 22nd.” I went into that tune with the definitive intention of trying to capture how I felt watching the sun go down in LA the night before I left for college, and I came out of it feeling like I did what I wanted to with the song. Although I had the feeling for it, writing the second half of the tune wasn’t necessarily planned until I sat down to record it. When I recorded it, the second part all flowed out within a 20 minute period. Probably the most organic my writing process has ever been, and it’s something I’ll always look back fondly on.
What is the best advice you’ve been given?
The best advice I was ever told is that there’s always going to be someone out there who will be more technically proficient than you or have a better understanding of music theory than you, but no one who will be able to listen to music the same way you do. I should write the music that makes me feel something rather than what I think I should be writing. It came right at the perfect time, because at that point I was stuck on where I should go with the tunes I had written/recorded.
What’s next for you?
I’m super fortunate to be in the midst of some really, really cool projects right now. At the University of Puget Sound, the jazz orchestra is recording a 4-song album that will be featuring one of my original compositions and arrangements, which has been a dream come true in its own right. I’m also super lucky to be working with some students at NYU right now on some short film film scores and some more original compositions for an upcoming album or two over the next calendar year or so!
You can listen to Max Huggins’s Evergreen on Spotify, iTunes, and other music streaming platforms.
