Max Graham has produced trance hits that will make you want to cry. The beautiful beat, melody, and vocals heard in “Sun in the Winter” and “Nothing Else Matters” represent a joyful sound that Max has mastered in his musical career. His hits are strongly supported by international successful DJ’s such as Armin Van Buuren and Markus Schulz. 2013 turned out to be quite the successful year for Max Graham. He released his 4th edition of Cycles Radio, meanwhile landing on Beatport’s top 10 chart with his single “Where Are You”.
Max begun Cycles Radio as a way to say to his fans that, although labeled a trance DJ, Max is capable of seeking out amazing tracks from all sorts of dance music genres including trance, techno, house, deep house and tech house. Max always follows a path of his own to discover great tracks. These tracks have landed on Cycles Radio again and again.
The Cycles 5 compilation enters a journey by taking the listener through a tranquil opening. Half hour into the compilation a theme of deep house takes over the journey, followed by uplifting house and closing out the compilation with the tranquil vibe it started on. The adventure that Max takes you on is very peaceful. If you let yourself go and allow him to take your ears on a cruise, you’ll be nothing short of amazed.
Guest Mix
Max Graham put together a 30 minute guest mix for WhiteRaverRafting that offers some of the records on his Cycles 5 Compilation. Stream it below as you dive into our exclusive interview.
Interview
In our interview Max shared his thoughts on Cycles 5 radio, his inspiration of tracks for Cycles 5, future tour dates and artists he would like to collaborate with in the future.
Key: Bold = Interviewer (Dee) | Unbold = Max Graham
When creating the Cycles compilations, generally, what type of journey do you aim to send your listeners on?
Pretty much the same one I have for years. I find the format that works best as a journey from my perspective is a slow build into a driving peak, with a euphoric plateau coming down into some more emotional melody at the end. I called it Cycles as it has to have a cycle for me. It can’t end with the fastest track; it has to come full circle.
Cycles 5 starts off as a very tranquil compilation, and it seems that most of your work follows that path. What kind of sound are you going for when you choose tracks like these for your Cycles mixes?
Well I think it needs to be a tranquil start. When you arrive at a club or event you’re not ready right away to be sweaty in the middle of the dancefloor, you have to warm up to it. I think the payoff at the end is that much better if there’s a slow build towards it.
What inspirations helped you put together the Cycles 5 compilation?
I’m constantly inspired by the producers who make this amazing music, young guys and veterans alike are always coming up with lovely melodies and sounds that inspire me to combine them into a story. Cycles Radio this year has been incredible too as I broadened the spectrum of music that I play, so that’s helped me feel like I have more freedom with Cycles 5 also.
Which artist(s) on the Cycles 5 compilation do you think is going to be up and coming in 2014? Why?
Well the one for me is Solid Stone. He’s signed to my label (Rebrand Records) so I might be a bit biased, but with two tracks on the album out of eighteen I think that’s a pretty strong sign of how I feel about his music and his potential. Also Silence Groove is coming out with some amazing new stuff.
Which DJ/Producer on the Cycles 5 compilation do you hope to work closer with in 2014?
That’s a tough one… Mark Sherry did the remix of my track The Evil ID and I would love to do a collab with him going forward.
I saw that you have released Cycles 5 2014 tour dates; do you plan on expanding the tour? And if so, to which cities?
We just added Portland, Seattle, Vancouver and Dallas, and there are a few more cities in the works. We see as more cities sign on, more cities suddenly become interested, which is just par for the course in the business I guess.
Do you plan on playing any large-scale music festivals in 2014?
Yes, I have ASOT in Utrecht coming up in Feb and some big summer ones, but I can’t announce them just yet 🙂
Which city (cities) do you enjoy performing the most?
I think Buenos Aires is my favorite as they just dance to anything they like regardless of Genre. It’s a true music culture. New York is a city I’ve fallen in love within the last year playing two six hour sets, and it’s now in my top 3 places to play for sure. But at the end of the day there’s so many places I love to play for different reasons it’s very hard to pick just one or two.
If you could collaborate with any producer in the industry, who would you choose and why?
That’s a really tough one, but probably Sasha as I really like his approach to music. Also I would love to work with Bjork, but I’m not sure you can consider her in our industry.
Do you see yourself releasing another full-length album over the next few years?
I really hope so, but the singles seem to be doing it for now so I’m just going with the flow.
Before this interview comes to an end, are there any comments you would like to leave for your fans?
Well I hope they can join me weekly for Cycles Radio and see where I am musically these days. Say hi on Twitter using the hashtag #CyclesRadio and we’ll take it from there :))
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This article was written by:Follow @edeem_
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