Please welcome, Max.
What You Need To Know
- Raised in Guatemala and Houston
- Played various instruments since age 6
- Has tried out for American Idol, X Factor and The Voice.
Max and I met and grabbed time during the recent Pride photo shoot.
“I was born and raised in Houston – after high school I moved to Austin for college and received bachelor’s degree in psychology – but never really found my home in the corporate world” Max explains. “From there, I joined the service industry and have been bar tending for a few years to support my real passion.”
Tell us more!
“DJ’ing is my thing – my father was a DJ and he taught me everything about music from a young age. At one point in my life, I went through a bad breakup and turned to DJ’ing as a hobby – from there I sort of hit the ground running.”
Sometimes we need a negative experience to provide fuel to the flame for us to pursue something we know we want to do but may be slightly outside of our comfort zone – but having support from friends and family helps, a ton.
“People who know me told me to go after this – I also love to sing, so I like that I can combine both forms of musical expression.” Max describes with a smile.”
But that’s only half of what is driving Max.
“But I’m also passionate about providing a safe space for queer people of color. I’m inspired to play the type of music that would be welcoming and open for those in this group and would love to have a fun lounge with dancing and excitement – Austin really doesn’t have any Lesbian clubs like that, so I’d love nothing more than to find a way to build this space.” Max explains.
We close in typical fashion – what can we as a society be doing better?
“It’s hard when you live in a country where some people are trying to attack us. Being a young queer person is very hard – it took me a long time to get to the point where I said laws aren’t going to govern me. I grew up being scared of laws but I’m going to keep living my life regardless. I just want people to know that you should do whatever makes you happy even if it seems like people treat you like a villain – because you’re not.
It’s clear to see that Max has found her passion in music – and this musical passion inspires her to bring the world together in an open, connected way. It’s welcoming to see Max pursue her passion of music today, but using it as the foundation of the space she aspires to create for tomorrow – that’s a track we can all play over and over and dance to.