Max Frost – White Lies

Q) What inspired your song “White Lies?”

A) That is actually 100% mine. It wasn’t really inspired by any particular event. It was just a general paranoia in relationships, but it was just one of those songs that just came out. I was living in Venice, California at the time and writing a lot of tracks. It was one of the songs I did towards the end of the summer, maybe one of the last four or five songs that I made out there before I drove back home. It was a lot of built up frustration from a lot of songs I had written before that I felt hadn’t quite broken through to something. That was sort of a last attempt and push at it.

Q) How was the song created? Did you do beat before lyrics?

A) I made the beats first and that is kind of how I make my tracks. I made the beats first and then kind of rode my bike around listening to the track. I think I sort of pieced the chorus together and then kind of had the concept, writing the verses from there. I kind of thought of it as more of a hip-hop song when I was writing it, even though it was pretty melodic.

Q) Talk about how the video pairs with the song.

A) I kind of wanted the video to sort of progress the way the bad relationship did. It started smoother and gets more jostled, fast and uncomfortable as the video goes on. I wanted it to kind of represent the emotion of the song and not be caught up in a storyline with details. It was more a song about the emotions rather than any particular event like walking home and finding something or getting a weird text. That wasn’t what the song was about. It was more about the suspicion and not about having anything concrete to hold on to.

Q) You have been hard at work on a new album. What is the feel and vibe for it?

A) It’s definitely a lot of up-tempo and a very upbeat group of songs that kind of contain personality production wise. There is a song on there called “Paranoia” that I have been doing live a lot. It’s been going over great. It’s a very bizarre blend again, kind of a soul and hip-hop thing. There is another track on there called “Breakdown,” which is much more of a dance record. It has a really cool tempo transition loop to it. There is another song on there called “Blind Fool,” which is a bluesy song with a pop edge to the chorus. It’s a very danceable record.

Q) You are headed out on tour with Fitz and the Tantrums. What will fans get to see at a live Max Frost performance?

A) I’m playing at least eight or nine songs off the new album. I am working on integrating a few more. I’m waiting on certain things to be finished in time to jam more stuff in there. The new stuff is going over great and it’s been a great way to get an idea of what songs are kind of working and those that are really working.

Q) What has been the fan reaction to your tour performances?

A) During the show, I announce that I’ll be at the merchandise table right after the show. I’ll run over there and hang out until Fitz’s set is over. I’ve seen a pretty massive difference from the past as far as how many people are in line and want to meet me, take a picture or have something signed. In some cities it maybe twenty or forty people, but there have been some states where there are hundreds of people there in line to want to meet me. It’s an amazing thing! I meet people one by one and interact with him. I show them that I’m a real person and this is what I love doing.

Q) What have you learned from being on this tour?

A) I guess the thing that I paid a lot of attention to was watching the way that Fitz runs his whole thing. He is really a guy who is involved on every level with what he is doing. I’ve seen big artists out there touring who are there when it is time for the show, but other than that you won’t see them until show time and then they are gone. Fitz is a guy who, literally, from when the buses arrive he is hanging around and projecting an energy on people. It cultivates a culture of people who are working on the show that is way more positive and with a clear mission in mind. He is there in every sense. He will walk out into the venue and take a look. He has a lot of input and is very particular. He talks to his lighting guy with every show and wants little things to be changed. He is just the kind of guy who doesn’t sleep on the details. He has been grinding on this for at least six years on the road straight and he still has the energy to do it every night and put the details in every night to make sure everything is perfect because he has a vision. That’s been a really cool thing to see. What I’m taking away from the show is that no matter how big I get to just stay involved in every level to just kind of keep the enthusiasm about what you are doing.

Q) How has social media been an asset to your music?

A) It’s been pretty key. I’ve learned that it represents a small position. When “White Lies” took off online, it almost happened so fast. I’m on this tour where people are finally finding out because they came and saw the show and now follow me on Twitter. Social media is a great tool to reaching people once you have reached them in a way. You can’t just expect that because you have a song out there that they are all just going to come follow you on Twitter. Really, a tiny majority immediately go find you online. You really have to go out there and work for it. The living, breathing thing is what really pushes people out there to follow you because my social numbers have never been driven as much as when I’m out on the road. There is just nothing close.

Q) Is there anything else you would like to be sure to share with fans?

A) I’m working with a company called AudioCommon to develop some ways that I can start collaborating with fans out there who might be songwriters or producers. It is in going to be in an easy platform where I can post songs or something like that and people can directly online respond to it and interact in a way that is in a way that we’re writing songs together. I’m developing that and should be launching it on my website in the next couple months. I encourage anyone who is interested in being creative or being involved with that to come find me on the website.