AMERICAN pop singer MAX (full name: Maxwell Schneider) arrived at a press conference Friday at UP Town Center in Quezon City with an extreme warmth that rivaled that of the sunny weather. His last time in the Philippines was back in 2016, and he intended to make his return just as fun and memorable.
“It will be passionate, delicious, and hot,” the singer told reporters, on how he would describe the Manila leg of his world tour.
MAX performed at the UP Town Center on April 5, at Ayala Malls Manila Bay on April 6, and at One Ayala on April 7.
The mall shows were held to promote his latest album, LOVE IN STEREO, released in February. It contains MAX’s hit collaborations with other artists, such as “Stupid In Love” with Huh Yunjin of K-pop girl group Le Sserafim and “It’s You” with Vietnamese-American singer-songwriter keshi.
“There’s nothing I love more than performing live. It’s amazing. I love to hear the Filipino fans sing along and connect through the music,” MAX said.
CRAZY FAN LOVENotably, the last time he was in the country in 2016, a fan broke into his hotel room and left a message.
“I walked in my room and on my mirror it said ‘Hey MAX, want to see how we party in the Philippines? Come to the 4th floor lobby! The first drink is on us,’ and I was like ‘oh my god, I’m gonna die’,” he said.
It turned out, the message was from someone who worked at the hotel and surprisingly got the blessing of his manager to do it. For MAX, while the experience was odd and a bit scary, he appreciated the fan’s enthusiasm.
On working with Filipino artists, he said that he met with the band Lola Amour and the pop group SB19 during his trip. “For me, any collaboration comes from just naturally connecting, so let’s see how it goes. I would love to [collaborate with them].”
He already regularly works with a Filipino musician — Los Angeles-based Chinese-Filipino saxophonist, pianist, and composer Cody Dear.
“He co-wrote ‘Stupid In Love,’ ‘It’s You,’ and nine other songs on my album,” MAX said. “[At our shows] I love to hear Cody rip the saxophone and the keyboard at the same time. It’s one of my favorite things. It gives me life.”
UNDERRATED SONGSMAX also spoke about underrated deep cuts from his album that he hopes more people will listen to: “Keep It Chill,” “Love Never Felt Like This,” and “Edie Celine.”
The first is his personal favorite: “I want people to hear it more. It’s like everything that I loved growing up with, like 2000s R&B and pop music.” The second is a track that Filipinos may love to song along to given its vocal range.
Meanwhile, “Edie Celine” is the closest to his heart, born out of love for his baby daughter after he held her in his arms at the hospital.
“It’s beautiful when music streams hundreds and millions and all these things, but that song will always be for her and that moment will be forever, and I think that milestone is not something you can see on a plaque,” he explained.
As for the possibility of coming back to the Philippines a third time, MAX said that it is definitely in the cards — except instead of mall shows he would love to do a big concert tour so that he could bring a full band and perform his anthem tracks.
“I want people to feel that they can love who they love,” he said. — Brontë H. Lacsamana