After stints at Berklee School of Music, Max Jury signed a publishing deal and set out to record his first album. He then took his soulful full band setup around the world performing festivals and gigs with Lana Del Ray. He has headed out to the West Coast to record his second album. We caught up with him for an update.

What brought you out to LA?

I started doing preliminary work last spring and found this producer Robin Hanabel (Kendrick Lamar, Little Dragon) I really meshed well with. We’ve been splitting time between his house in the Hollywood hills where I do vocals and The Ship in Eagle Rock recording full band. We’re doing some strings & horns but will probably be done by the beginning of February

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Can you write while on tour and what’s your writing process normally like? Do you present full demos to a band and create in studio as well?

I did write on tour. When I was in different parts of the world I’d hop into studios and do writing sessions. Normally I’ll do a mock-up demo of keyboards and vocals and mess with that until I feel the structure is right and then present it to the musicians and producer. The session musicians that I’ve been working with for the past six months feel like a band, they know what I’m looking for and we’re all friends. I’ve done a lot of writing in the studio which wasn’t the case with the last album. I’ve had the luxury of being in a studio everyday and have that be the work space as opposed to my bedroom. The Record’s going to be 10 or 12 songs but I think I wrote nearly 100.

Your first record had a distinct 70’s songwriter influence, what can we expect on the second album?

It’s rooted more in music that’s currently happening. Meeting with Robin changed how I approached songwriting. Its much more groove oriented and rhythmic. That era of 70s music whether its Randy Newman or Marvin Gaye still is present in my music but its updated. I wanted to put my stamp on more modern music.

How do you feel about the so called ‘death of Rock n’ Roll’?

I think the simplest thing is that good songs will always be good songs. That is timeless and undeniable. Even if it’s a song that sounds like it was written in the 60’s it will still work if it resonates with people. Seeing some stuff while I’ve been in Los Angeles can be disheartening because so much music is made on a laptop so quickly. I don’t know if its pressure from labels or Spotify’s significance. There’s a demand for music that is ‘playlistable’ that sits nicely alongside other kinds of music. However there are a lot of artists like Anderson Paak who does a lot of live band, real drum-kit kind of thing. I think there’s more emotion in human performance. I hope it’s not dying out. From a live perspective you see artists with a MacBook and tracks and it doesn’t resonate with me much. I try to tour with a full band.

Buy Max Jurys Debut LP via Marathon Artists HERE