“They were like, ‘really, you’re going to come this far and give up?’” Max confesses that she often felt like she wanted to give up, particularly while she spent time in Los Angeles during her first difficult year, but that her “strong family” pushed her to succeed. Watching them do that sometimes I think, wow, I feel so lucky to be doing what I am doing.” It was very hard for them and I remember watching them as I grew up, struggling, working three jobs each. “They went to America with nothing, no money, no language. “They met a lady in Paris that gave them passports and they ended up in Wisconsin - that’s where I was born. It was very hard for them, but it was beautiful because they were in Paris. They ended up in Paris and they lived in a church for a whole year. “In 1990, 1991, they left Albania and went to Paris for a year. He took her under his wing, and they started writing and recording music together before putting a song on audio platform SoundCloud.īorn Amanda Ava Koci to Albanian parents, the singer-songwriter said she understands what it was to struggle in her own career, having watched her parents face battles following their move to America from war-torn Albania. “It’s been a chase my whole life,” Max explains.Īfter years of moving around and honing her craft she finally met Cirkut, a Canadian record producer who has worked with the likes of Rihanna, The Weeknd, and Katy Perry. To some it may seem the 24-year-old’s success has happened overnight with that one great song, but Max insists that was simply not the case. She then released another single, ‘Slippin’, and featured on David Guetta’s album as a vocalist, before ‘Sweet But Psycho’ put her firmly on the map. In early 2018, she dropped her debut single My Way followed by viral hit ‘Not Your Barbie Girl’, a playful reimagining and ode to Aqua’s 1990s hit ‘Barbie Girl’. She was first introduced to listeners as a featured artist on American electronic musician DJ Le Youth’s ‘Clap Your Hands’ last year. Her style is unashamedly pop, a bold move at a time where it’s still sometimes considered a weaker genre, and she cites her musical inspirations as The Beatles, Whitney Houston, Christina Aguilera and The Fugees. Max is all peroxide blonde hair and bold outfits the track infectiously catchy, earworm-friendly dance-pop, with a heavy dose of sass. In case you haven’t heard ‘Sweet But Psycho’ or seen the video, think Just Dance-era Lady Gaga. “It’s exciting for sure, but I want to achieve more, I want to release more songs, I want to release an album.” “For me, it’s disbelief,” Max admits, reflecting on the past few months of her life. Not a bad start for anyone, let alone a newcomer. She narrowly lost out on the festive chart accolade in the UK to YouTube star LadBaby’s novelty charity single about sausage rolls, but the American pop star top the chart the following week, and she’s also just done it again, nabbing the first number one single of 2019. Although you may not be familiar with her yet, there’s a strong chance you’ve heard her breakout single ‘Sweet But Psycho’, which was the Christmas number one in Ireland, and is still topping the charts here.
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