Q&A: Max McNown Celebrates His New Album And Looks Ahead After His Austin City Limits Set
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY ISABELLA APPELL ☆
HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS for 25-year-old country singer Max McNown. His new album, Leave On A Light, came out Sept. 25 and features 17 tracks, cut down from more than 40 songs. Though his career has moved fast, McNown has taught himself to balance his priorities, and family remains at the forefront. The son of a big family, McNown cherishes the life he’s now building with his wife, and much of his music reflects that.
Luna caught up with McNown after his Austin City Limits set to talk about the intention behind his music, what he’s learned over the last few years and his goals moving forward.
LUNA: Congratulations on Leave On A Light. What went into creating it? What does it mean to you personally?
MCNOWN: It was all created in between some rigorous touring, so there was a lot of burnout involved. I had to be introspective and dig deeper because I had been living a touring life, which is a very different life than a lot of people may relate to. The most unique thing about this album is we wrote 40 plus songs and we cut it down to 17, which is not something I’ve ever done before. We wanted to make it a point to have a project that is cohesive and has a congruent theme throughout; that theme is love and gratitude for where I am in life and for my family. There’s a song for my little sister, for my friends back home that were listening to me sing before anyone, and there’s quite a few love songs for my wife.
It’s a weird thing releasing an album because you spend months and months writing and producing, and then release night comes and it’s a night like any other. You just have to let it go and let it impact whoever it’s going to find. You have so much control over every detail of every song and then once it’s out, it’s out. It’s a strange feeling.
LUNA: Would you say it’s lived up to what you were hoping for?
MCNOWN: I keep my hopes pretty level. My team knows I’m notorious for some imposter syndrome. I kind of constantly feel like, “when is this going to end?” and so I was definitely not expecting it to do as well as it’s doing.
LUNA: You’ve talked a lot about appreciating the smaller blessings in life. What are some of those little things that keep you grounded, especially on days like today?
MCNOWN: First and foremost, my crew, the people that I travel with. This life would be a lot more difficult if I didn’t surround myself with people that love me for who I am and support me, not just the music or what the music can do for them. It really feels like a family on the road and it takes such a village – everybody doing their part to the best of their ability. It doesn’t feel like things have changed that much on the inside as everything is changing on the outside.
LUNA: The last few years have been a real season of growth for you, leading up to who you are for your family now. What have you learned about yourself through that process?
MCNOWN: When home starts feeling more and more like home, it gets harder to leave. I’ve had to learn the art of saying no. When I was living in the apartment and I was single, I might as well have been on the road for 250 days a year. Now, I crave every bit of home time, so that’s been something that’s changed a lot with the developments in my life.
LUNA: A lot of people first found you through social media. What’s next for you as an artist, and how do you want people to see you moving forward?
MCNOWN: I want people to know that I’m in it for the long run; I’m not going to quit. I think the fan base will either stay the same and I’ll have a bunch of loyal people, or it’ll keep growing, and I’ll keep on impacting lives, which has been my goal from the start.
LUNA: Is there anything else you want fans to know?
MCNOWN: My new album came out September 25th. I put my heart and soul into it; if people listen to it, I hope they listen to “The Room”, the last track on the album.
