Where are you currently based?
Hi!! Thanks for having me on your platform. My name’s Jesse Maxwell and I’m based in Toronto, Canada.
How did you first start playing music?
When I was six years old, all I wanted to do was learn to play classical piano. My parents found this flyer in our front yard of someone advertising piano lessons, his name was Roussi Tarmakov and he taught me piano and music theory for the next ten years. I fell in love with music and it became one of the most important parts of my life ever since.
What’s been happening recently?
Recently I’ve been doing a lot of writing, we’re almost halfway through another album which is so exciting. I’ve also been producing music for other artists, which has been an incredible experience, getting the chance to work with so many talented people, with different styles and different approaches to creation.
Your latest single ‘nosedive’ will be out on February 11, what influenced the sound and songwriting?
nosedive was influenced by personal experience. The song for me is catching the feeling of a high before the comedown. We wanted the song to sound chill, sexy and definitely cruise-y. Influenced by certain artists like D’angelo, Erykah Badu, also specifically Nightrider by Tom Misch was a big inspiration to the overall feel of the song.
How did you go about writing nosedive?
The songwriting was approached in a very freeform manner. I rarely plan what I’m going to write about, it just seems to come out, and I start understanding as I am writing. What I love about my approach is I start all over the place and bring out different imagery and then I can tie it all together with a certain direction.
Where and when did you record/produce/master and who with?
This song is the leading single off my upcoming album, LP2. All these songs were written and recorded over a year ago. As much as I release lots of music, it’s very calculated and I take my time figuring out when and how to release everything. I wrote the lyrics alone, the instrumental was produced by Andrés Alzate and I, mixed by Josh Bowman, and mastered by Phil Demetro.
You have also been busy creating a music video for nosedive, please tell us about it!
Yes! There is a music video, and I’m so looking forward to having that out there for people to experience and connect with. This is my first music video, I had initially come up with the concept for it and I worked closely with directors, Eric Kingsbury & Adrian Altobelli, to bring it to life. Planning a video takes a lot of work, and all of that was done by us three. For the actual filming they brought on an incredible crew of talented people, and being on set was one of the most exciting things I’ve experienced. Everyone’s exhausted and moving all the time, but there is this strong collected energy that’s focused on bringing it to life and that’s a beautiful thing.
Who are you listening to at the moment?
This week I’ve been listening to a lot of Hiatus Kaiyote and Nai Palm. Some of my favourite artists that are usually on rotation are Nick Hakim, Willow, Frank Ocean, Sevdaliza, FKA Twigs, James Blake, and Daniel Caesar.
What do you like to do away from music?
On my time off, which I don’t get a lot from music, I like to go to restaurants, I’m very active and go to the gym many times a week, I also do gymnastics, love to travel, but haven’t done much of that in the past couple years, I go snowboarding, I went rock climbing last week. I’m also somewhat of a film buff so I love watching films, mostly indie films, some arthouse, anything weird.
What’s planned for 2022?
For 2022, I’m releasing my album, pressing vinyl, more music videos will be released, more concerts will be played, and whatever else happens, happens. I hope this year and these releases will connect with people on a deeper level.
Favourite food and place to hangout?
My favourite food is probably sushi or mexican food. Toronto has such a great food scene. For anyone ever in Toronto, check out Playa Cabana for your Mexican food fix, the braised beef Tacos are to die for. For sushi, nothing beats Toro Toro, the sushi is so fresh, I’m a spicy tuna kinda guy.
Facebook: @jessemvxwell
Instagram: @jessemvxwell
Website: www.jessemaxwellmusic.com