Local musician Harold Maxwell has been working on his self titled debut album for year. OUTinPerth spoke to Maxwell just a week before the release of his album, which is a collaborative effort between himself and Adam Lunn and Stewart Branden. As can be expected, the singer was a bundle of nerves and excitement. He shared his hopes for the album.
“I’m hoping that people can relate to the songs, and enjoy them, and share them with friends. But the main reason that I did the album is because I love music. I suppose everyone does. But when I listen to a song sometimes I feel a connection to the song and the lyrics and it helps me go through a certain point in my life.”
Maxwell has been making music since his teenage years. “I was in high school. I used to be so bad. I was listening to my old demos the other day and I thought ‘I hope no one ever hears these!’ I wanted to throw it out because it did make me cringe so bad. But I thought, no, I’ll keep it for nostalgia, just put it on the shelf where no one can see it.” He laughed.
“When I was 15 I used to write songs with my classmate and he used to play guitar and I would write lyrics. I used to record it on my home computer, and this was back in the nineties. I used to record it with my web came microphone and it sounded so bad. But for me back then it was kind of cool, I suppose. I tried to get my friends to hear it but none of them would be interested it was that bad. But over the years if you just keep on trying, keep on doing it, eventually you’ll improve.”
As well as building his skill level, Maxwell’s musical style is also in a constant state of evolution. “. It changes with my personality and my life, I suppose. Like the older I get, I discover new things and learn a lot of things in life and that adds to the music lyrically as well. My music tastes change over the years, I used to listen to pop and now I’m more into R n’ B and dance, who knows, I might be doing trance next year!”
Harold Maxwell’s album is available through iTunes.
Sophie Joske