CULTURE CLUB
ON THE SCENE
MIRIAM BALANESCU HEADS BACKSTAGE AT TALL TREES TO MEET UP-AND-COMING ARTIST MAX POPE Songs of the Divine
14 July
or many musicians, chopping and changing between multiple jobs is a given. In a notoriously low-paying industry, it can be a
struggle to keep the cash topped up. Less common is for artists to flit between types of work and equally enjoy each. Brit School graduate Max Pope is as much a gardener as a musician. Scattered in among sowing seeds, weeding and pruning, the young artist plays guitar, teaches music and, all-importantly, writes songs. “Music had lost the therapy aspect,” he says. “I started doing gardening randomly and didn’t expect to love it as much as I do. It brought my creativity back. This has now turned into something I can’t really live without. “When you’re making music, it’s so much in your head,” Max continues. “Gardening is the opposite. There’s something about the process of creativity mirrored in nature and its changes. Things never stop growing and the job is never done. They both come back to learning not to obsess about an outcome.” A breezy, charming nonchalance is identifiable in Max’s trickling, dulcet soundscapes, cruising between psychedelia, soul, punk and the blues. An easy-going attitude also pervades his gardening work, although his early days in the music business weren’t quite so laid-back. Plucked out of school at 16, Max was thrown into the deep-end of the music industry, so decided to take a break after a couple of years – which is when he became green-fingered. “I realised I wasn’t sure what sort of music I wanted to make. In hindsight, it would have been better to keep writing songs and exploring.” This hiatus gave Max the headspace to discover his style. “You realise a lot about yourself when you’re pushed into a place that you don’t enjoy being in,” he says. “I certainly knew what I wasn’t when I came out of that situation.”
SOUND WAVES Max’s LP Counting Sheep arrives 1 July – catch these latest tunes and some older classics on July 14
even his nan. “Collaborations have been about me wanting to step out of my comfort zone,” he says. Soon to be making his Cambridge debut at Tall Trees, Max says: “None of us take playing live for granted any more. There’s a different energy.” He is among the first national artists to visit this eclectic venue, founded by Jonathan Czerwik, set to become a go-to destination for performers. First opening its doors in 2021, with high-calibre musicians and leafy interiors, Tall Trees has fast become a favourite with locals. “It’s about community and togetherness through music – bringing new experiences to Cambridge,” says Jonathan. “We’re working to make this a destination for touring acts from around the UK, to see this as the place for more quirky gigs. “We’re mainly trying to put on nights we would like to go to ourselves,” Jonathan insists. There is a treasure-trove of loved artists and future stars on the bill over the coming months: catch Max on 14 July.
More ‘on the Radio 6 side of things’, despite Max’s old-school, nostalgic sound, he has picked up a steady stream of followers on a platform which has been making or breaking musicians, TikTok. “Even during my time, things have completely changed,” Max says. “I’m certainly no expert – I feel like a granddad mostly – but I’m realising that if something’s not coming out naturally, then it’s not worth doing. I’m never going to be a slave to algorithms.” For Max, writing has often been a solitary pursuit, a form of introversion and escapism, although he has recently teamed up with Conor Albert, Hohnen Ford and
A breezy, charming nonchalance is identifiable in Max’s soundscapes
CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK JULY 2022 23
Powered by FlippingBook