Artist Spotlight: Maxi Millz

Maxi Millz is cool. There’s no other word for it really. 

With a childhood blessed with experiences on either side of the Atlantic, the transatlantic crooner seems to slot seamlessly into any environment or musical scene he sets his eye on. His artistry is acutely focused yet diverse and chameleonic; taking influence from his surroundings and the music he grew up listening to, Maxi sounds like no one else. With incredibly unique vocality, colour-laden production and quixotic lyricism, listening to Millz is palm trees and convertible car rides in the summer, candy floss and apricot sunsets. 

Having grabbed the ear of R&B fans last year with his iridescent debut EP Captions, a project that was creamy and dreamy in equal measures, Maxi has lurked out of the listener’s reach for the past 12 months; plotting, planning and perfecting. Now finally Maxi has returned with the news of an upcoming EP, alongside the first offering from the tape, Young & Stupid. Typically vivid and love-struck, the singer breezily sits atop a sparse but vibrant instrumental, spilling romanticised tenets onto his canvas. 

I sat down with Maxi to discuss the cordiality of the UK R&B scene, writing from experiences and the influence of film on his art. 

Who are you listening to?

I’m listening to a lot of Brent Faiyaz, Lucky Daye, Sainté, Kendrick and Baby Keem. 

Where does your drive to create come from? 

Everyday situations. It’s a way of venting and figuring things out rather than having to speak about it. It’s like an internal conversation. Observing other people in everyday life too. It’s more like my journal than making music. 

You’ve had a diverse upbringing, how did having so much variety in your life shape you as a creative? 

At first I didn’t know what sound I wanted to make because there was so many routes I could take. It’s definitely helped in a way because I like the American R&B sound because it was on the radio when I was younger, but I’ve always been in touch with London scene like grime and jungle. In my head I make American R&B but people say it sounds UK, I think it’s my accent. It offers different ways to approach a song rather than just doing the same thing every time. I think I have a British pocket but use American influenced melodies, so it’s like a medium. 

How would you define your style? 

Maxi-R&B. I think there needs to be a name for the recent wave of R&B, post Frank Ocean R&B. Maybe Neo-R&B. 

The UK R&B scene is popping right now, making it a really competitive space. How do you think you stand out amongst the masses? 

I think music and performing is in my blood. I make music because I love the music but also because I was surrounded by it. At the same time, I don’t think I stand out. The good thing about R&B is that it’s really friendly compared to other genres. I feel like we are all going to end up working with each other. 

Why do you think it is a more friendly genre? 

I think there’s so many more things that singers can do compared to rappers, it’s more musically versatile which makes sessions more fun. Most R&B artists aren’t really on road like that so you aren’t going to have as many awkward encounters. It’s more like I’m going to go write a song, probably about love, with someone else who writes songs about love. I think there is less egos. 

One of the first things I think about when I think about your music is your use of colour. It flows through the soundscapes, the videos and the vocal. Talk me through the meaning behind that?

For every song, I have a colour in my head. For example, the reason the sky changes colour in the Danny Ocean video is because that’s what the song made me feel. Young & Stupid feels to me like the colours we used in the video. I feel like creating a video is easier if you have something like a colour to immediately attach it to and then you can build the narrative from there. 

You tend to write about love and relationships, why is that? 

I’ve heard it written about by my idols so automatically I honed in on it when I started writing. Also, it’s a good vessel to be able to talk about other things. You can talk about anything and make it seem like you’re talking about love. For me, the easiest way of conveying emotional is framing it as if I’m talking about a significant other, it’s relatable. Also, I fall in love like every week, it is so bad. 

Do you often write from experience?

When I first started writing it was, but now I will take other people’s experience that I’ve heard, or even from conversations on the train or the bus. At first, it was all my experiences. On Captions it was all my own pain, but then I found myself writing about the same shit, so I started looking around and taking inspiration from other places, whether film or real life, and writing songs about them.  

You’ve been quiet on the release front since last year’s EP, why is that? 

I’ve been trying to find the right home for me as an artist, as well as trying to build the right team around me so that everything runs smoothly. Mainly just making music. I wanted the direction that I go in to be one that I’m happy and comfortable with for the rest of my life. I wanted to have a development phase for myself to improve as a producer and everything else. I also throw parties and do merch so I was getting that stuff going again after Covid. Spinning multiple plates always takes longer but the end product will be there. 

How was your style progressed since Captions?

Captions was super acoustic, very guitar led. I want to make sure every song is perfect now. Even the interludes, the beginning and end of all the songs need to make sense. I want everything I do to be as coherent as the people that I am truly inspired by. I wanted to progress and everything to match and make sense as one. London’s in a state of fast food music at the moment, it’s lazy and over celebrated.  

Young & Stupid is a big tune! Love the video, what’s the concept behind it? 

We wanted to do a Bonnie & Clyde ting, but instead stealing a human heart. It was inspired by ‘In Time’ the film with Justin Timberlake. I wanted to do it like that but rather than stealing Rolex’s, we are stealing human hearts. I wanted to make it a bit grotesque and dark, especially because the song is quite light.  

Film seems like a big influence on your music, where does that stem from? 

I love film, everyone in my family does. My brother was an actor, my cousin’s an actor, my dad’s an actor. We have bare DVD’s. Me and my dad love heist films, that’s why I made Danny Ocean. Everyone in my family is obsessed with comics or vinyls or boxsets. We are a very creative family. It’s what I know so it’s easier to write about. 

If you were introducing yourself to a new listener, what track would you play them? 

 It depends on the type of person they are. If it’s someone who enjoys melodies and instrumentation then it’d probably be Painted Face, whereas if it was someone who loves music but doesn’t care about the nuances of it then probably Danny Ocean. 

What’s to come from you? 

I want to perform as much as I can. I obviously dropped during Covid and then by the time it was over I didn’t want to just start performing a tape that had been out for months. The moment I start dropping the new stuff, I want to start performing as much as possible, finding my own venues, turning them into little experiences. Proper vibes, popcorn machines and sofas. Then just to release all the music I’ve been working on. For the next two years I want to release at least every two months.