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Max Embers Dishes On His Debut Single, “Lying” – Exclusive

Singer-songwriter Max Embers‘ approach to music is really something special. The artist packs so much genuine feeling into his lyrics and sound that it’s hard not to instantly feel transported by his work. Now, he is making his official debut with his heartfelt first single, “Lying.” To celebrate the new track’s release, Celeb Secrets caught up with Max to hear the story behind the song, and how he hopes to introduce himself to listeners through this work. Be sure to check out our exclusive Q & A below.

There’s so much pain in the world and such a disconnect on a human level, so all I really want is simply to bring all different kinds of people together.

Celeb Secrets: Can you tell us about your first single, and how you feel about it officially being out there in the world?

Max Embers:“Lying” is really special to me. When I wrote it last year, I knew immediately that it had to be my first single. It just makes the most sense to me because it tells the story of my very first love from start to finish; a relationship that started as an innocent, juvenile teenage dream at the age of 16 and ultimately transformed into something much more complicated. Even though we had been in and out of each others’ lives for 8 years by the time I wrote the song, our paths never aligned in a way that allowed us to really be together.

I think “Lying” plays with the back and forth within this relationship and it lives in the moment where I realize that no matter how hard I try to stay away from the other person, I will always be drawn to them. It’s also is a commentary on love in general. Love can come in so many different shapes and forms. It can take you through all of the different stages… Love, fear, desire, sadness, joy, anger, apathy. It can seem like the biggest romance of the century at some point and then completely fall apart the next. Or vice versa — you may think you’ve given up on something for good, and the next moment it catches you by surprise and you feel like you’re that 16 year old teenager again, so struck by the beauty and innocence of your affection for each other. In my eyes, that’s really the beauty of love, you really never know where it’s going to take you.

I’m thrilled to finally share my music with the world. I’ve been holding off on releasing my songs until I felt like I was really ready, and it just fills me with so much excitement to tell my story through my songs. I’ll be releasing a lot of music throughout this next year (my next single “The Way I See You Now” is on the way!). This is just the beginning!

Celeb Secrets: How do you hope this track introduces you as you make your debut for listeners?

Max Embers: “Lying” tells a love story that is far from perfect. I have clearly made tons of mistakes in this relationship. I wasn’t able to make up my mind about what I really wanted. I certainly cause a bunch of pain in the process. But nevertheless, there was so much beauty in the relationship, so many wonderful, magical moments and so much love. With that being said, I hope the song introduces me as an artist who wants to make real, organic, genuine, heartfelt music. Music that makes my audience feel something, that’ll make them feel a little less lonely and a little more understood.

One of the biggest elements of my artistry is to show that everything in life has countless different layers, and that everything is about perspective. There’s so much pain in the world and such a disconnect on a human level, so all I really want is simply to bring all different kinds of people together. I want to share my unique story in an intimate, genuine way (even if that means to admit how imperfect I am!) and create a shared experience for my listeners, because in the end we are all the same, we all have goals, hopes, dreams, fears, flaws… we’re all just human.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BlLzynrnNqy/?taken-by=maxembersmusic

Celeb Secrets: How do you think your background has influenced your sound?

Max Embers: For as long as I can remember, I’ve always loved singing and listening to pop music. But I grew up in a town in Germany where that rather made me feel like an outsider. I think being so far away from the music scene and pop culture forced me to find my own style. Throughout my childhood and teenage years, I would lock myself up in my room and listen to the same albums over and over again, and try to learn how to play them on the piano by ear until finally I started writing my own songs. For a long time I didn’t really share those with anyone because I just felt like somehow I didn’t belong.

That’s probably what made me want to leave home, go out into the world and meet people who shared the same passion. Luckily I was able to go to music school in the US and to meet musicians from all over the world, which was everything I’d ever dreamed of and what made me the person and artist I am today. But I believe that coming from that musically secluded background is what really makes my music unique and special.

Celeb Secrets: What’s one important lesson you’ve learned from songwriting over the years?

Max Embers: Trust yourself. Trust that you have it in you to write a good song! Be it by yourself or in a co-writing session, when you go into it thinking, “I don’t think I can do this, I don’t even know if I have anything valuable to say today,” you most likely really won’t have anything to say. But if you force yourself to trust yourself and just choose not to give up before you’ve even really tried, something valuable will come from it. And even if you never end up releasing that song, it will help you write the next one, and that one will lead you to the next one and so forth until one of those might be your breakthrough song.

Celeb Secrets: Who have been some of your biggest influencers in the industry?

Max Embers: Besides iconic legends like Michael Jackson, The Beatles, Stevie Wonder and Prince, a lot of the artists I’ve fallen in love with throughout my life have been rather left of center, less well-known. Like Charlie Winston, Jamie Cullum, Bruno Major, and Kimbra.

Celeb Secrets: What’s the best advice you’ve ever gotten from either someone you worked with or look up to?

Max Embers: I think self-care is the number one most important thing if you’re trying to have a healthy, sustainable career in this business. To make sure that you keep good people around you who love you for who you are and genuinely want the best for you. This translates to anyone’s life, but I think it is particularly important in the entertainment industry, where it’s so easy to get lost in the pressure of success and paralyzing self-doubt.

Throughout my childhood and teenage years, I would lock myself up in my room and listen to the same albums over and over again, and try to learn how to play them on the piano by ear until finally I started writing my own songs.

Celeb Secrets: What has been the biggest hurdle you’ve had to overcome in your career so far?

Max Embers: The biggest hurdle to overcome in any artist’s career is probably their own insecurities. At least that’s mine. And I’ve come a long way but I’m definitely still working on it. There’s tens of thousands of people in the world who have the same dream as me, and even though there’s one voice in my head that tells me that there’s something truly special about my art and that I am telling stories and writing songs some people out there really have to hear, there’s another one at all times telling me I’m not good enough. It’s a constant battle and definitely not easy, but I do know deep inside me that this is what I’m meant to do.

That’s why it’s so special and amazing to finally share my music with the world. No one can foresee how it’s going to do, and even though it’s not in my power to make my songs huge hits, it is in my power to share them. To keep writing and keep sharing. And so that’s what I’ll do!

Celeb Secrets: Who are some dream artists you’d love to perform with or collaborate with one day?

Max Embers: If I could pick one producer to collaborate with I’d probably go with Mark Ronson. As far as performing goes, I would die to share the stage with Stevie Wonder. Wouldn’t say no to a duet with Beyoncé or Lady Gaga either though! Oh and Coldplay, that would be a dream.

Celeb Secrets: For Celeb Secrets, would you be able to share a fun secret about yourself that not too many people know about?

Max Embers: Alright – maybe my answer to “biggest influencers in the industry” was a bit of a cop-out. The guilty pleasure of my childhood (and therefore probably a big influence on my music) was “Stripped” by Christina Aguilera. I used to lock myself into my room and listen to it over and over again, trying to sing her runs. I am blushing as I am saying this but hey, honestly, when I listen to it today I still think it’s a masterpiece.

Make sure to give Max Embers’ new song “Lying” a stream on your favorite music services, and leave us your reactions below!

Author

  • Kristine Hope Kowalski

    Kristine is a writer and celebrity entertainment news journalist with a specific obsession with Nickelodeon + Disney Channel shows, boy bands, K-Pop, Broadway, and international series dramas. If she's not writing or tucked away in a good book, she is most likely traveling the world and spamming her friends' Instagram feeds with photos from her adventures. Kristine has a BA in Comparative Literature from Rutgers University (2011), and an MA in Interdisciplinary Humanities and Social Thought from NYU (2013). She is currently pursuing her second Master's in Journalism at Harvard.

Kristine is a writer and celebrity entertainment news journalist with a specific obsession with Nickelodeon + Disney Channel shows, boy bands, K-Pop, Broadway, and international series dramas. If she's not writing or tucked away in a good book, she…

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