Chapter 6: A New Bio

Posted by admin on March 9th, 2010 | 1 Comment »

I’ve never been good at writing bio’s for myself.  I always feel slightly ridiculous doing them and never really know what to say or what’s relevent.  As part of this “real-time story” I am telling, my PR company had a pro bio writer come in and do a 45 min interview with me.  This is the bio that he drafted.  Thoughts anybody?

“Like the rest of life, music shouldn’t make you feel like you’re just punching the clock or spinning your wheels. It should be a journey. One in which the artist weaves together his or her experiences into impeccably performed songs that not only appeal to the ear with strong hooks and addictive melodies, but also resonate deeply on an emotional level. Tunes that have the power to directly move the listener to their very core, and perhaps even serve as reassuring beacons during difficult times. Such a skill is, of course, a rare gift for any artist, and one that takes most of them decades to attain, if at all. And yet it’s a skill that Zach Maxwell, still only in his mid twenties, already has—in abundance.

“I write songs to tell stories, about life, about humans and how interesting and unique they are,” says Zach, whose powerful, soul-infused, near four-octave voice and virtuosic guitar playing make his narratives impossible to ignore. “What moves people, and has always moved people, are good songs and good stories.”

Eight of those exceptionally moving story-songs make up Silent Bear, Zach’s newest release. There’s the fragile, acoustic “Unknown Roads,” a motivational reminder of the fleeting impermanence of life, and “All Over This Land,” an uplifting—but non-religious—gospel-toned celebration. And then there’s “Big Bear,” a playful, image-rich romp that the songwriter created as a humorous but sincere expression of pure, unbounded joy. His sophomore effort, the collection is a striking distillation of Zach’s mature and exquisitely crafted style, a sound that sets his woody, resonant baritone against a warm relief of modern folk guitar and contemporary pop rock.

“I started playing piano when I was three, but I didn’t become a professional singer until I was twenty-one,” says Zach, who was born and raised in New York City and began playing guitar in high school. The son of a Broadway producer, he grew up in a Fellini-esque setting of flamboyant theater folk, privileged Upper East Side well-to-dos, and colorful East Village alternative types—personalities that would do much to shape his own. He got a taste of the world beyond Gotham, however, when he attended Vermont’s Middlebury College, where he majored in composition, penning a piece that was performed by the prestigious Meridian Arts Ensemble, and performing for President Bill Clinton at his graduation. While at college, he began singing in an a capella group mentored by Grammy winner Francois Clemmons.

Zach made his first CD, On The Day I Leave The Battlefield, with acclaimed drummer Steven Wolf (Annie Lennox, Rufus Wainwright), appeared with a gospel choir on NBC’s “The Today Show,” toured Canada and played on Canadian TV, put together a kickin’ live band, and was even elected into the esteemed New York Songwriters Circle. But somehow things still weren’t quite right.

And so in the fall of 2008 he split for Colorado, where he lived the life of a ski bum, enjoying nature, gathering his thoughts, and going deep into soul-searching self-examination. When he returned to New York the following year, he was fully energized, hitting the city’s bars and clubs with a vengeance as a solo acoustic act and releasing Silent Bear to glowing accolades. What might’ve been career suicide for many artists for Zach was an enriching detour in his ever-unfolding creative quest.

“My music is a real-time story,” Zach says. “I want to give people a spiritual experience, one of cleansing awe. Writing great songs is my personal challenge to myself.” A challenge lovers of profound, heartfelt music and great, emotive singing will enjoy taking again and again.”

Stay tuned…

Moab Utah, Oceans in Colorado, and Aliens from Zuron

Posted by admin on May 1st, 2009 | 7 Comments »

Last saturday my girlfriend, my dog and I ventured into the Moab desert in Utah to check out some of the sweet sandstone formations.  Apparently, according to the information that we received upon entering the “Arches National Park” these incredible rock formations were formed when an ocean used to live on top of Colorado and Utah, and as a result of the ocean evaporating, and fault lines merging, rain and snow carving, and sand and salt not getting along so well, these amazing sandstone formations were formed and are continuing to be molded, shaped and carved over the years.  

Personally, I think that every night, when the national park closes, and the park rangers go home, a select breed of sandstone carving aliens from the planet “Zuron” arrive in their space ships and set up for their daily art class…using the sandstone as clay for their artistic endeavors.  

I know I sound sarcastic, but this is actually how the Moab Desert was REALLY formed.  

I mean…come on…an OCEAN on top of COLORADO?

In all seriousness, most likely an ocean did live on top of Colorado and begin the chain of events that led to these amazing rock formations, but my point is not about geology…or archiology…(whatever field studies rocks.) 

Human beings are the only species, (that we know of) that give two shits about understanding “Why”.  Only humans ask the question “why” or “how” did that rock fall on top of that rock and look like only God could have placed it so mysteriously and purposely.  And I know that some of the reason is because of the fact that we are “conscious” and have “brains” we want to “know” and “understand” things…and that’s great.  I mean if it wasn’t for our desire to understand “why” or “how” then we would most likely be WAY behind as a society in regards to most of the luxuries we experience today…i.e., medicine, science, technology, entertainment, internet, blogs, home cooking appliances etc. etc. etc. 

But I also think that this impulse to want to know “why” and want to understand everything comes from the fact that we are terrified of dying…

We are so terrified of not understanding something, of being awed in mystery, that our immediate desire when we see something we don’t understand is to try to figure out how to understand it.  The first thing I said while driving through the Moab desert was “how the fuck did this stuff happen?”  To sit in mystery is so foreign and uncomfortable to most because it either subconsciously or consciously reminds us of the fact that we are going to die and that life itself is an utter and complete mystery, whether we want to believe it or not.  

What is responsible for beating my heart right now?  A doctor could tell me how my heart beats and why it beats and the muscles that make it beat but a doctor can NEVER tell me the ultimate mystery of what Life Force, and why that Life Force is beating my heart.

Human beings will never really “know” anything actually.  And it is our height of folly and arrogance to think that we ever will.  All we can know, and all we think we can understand is only through the eyes of our human window, our patterned experience and our narrow interpretation of the world.  We will never see the world through a Grizzly Bears eyes and nor should we ever pretend that we can.  

There is ONLY mystery…always and forever.  It’s the primal reality. There is only the free fall of this unknown moment…everything arising spontaneously and without volition even when we think that we know exactly what’s going to happen, or exactly what’s we’re going to say.  

We have no choice but to be driven to understand “why” or “how”…it’s a human habit and a human disposition that results in the furtherment and betterment of society (or sometimes the destruction of our natural world) but let us NEVER, for one minute, EVER believe that we ACTUALLY understand anything…or even come close to understanding…the incomprehensible, the unfathomable, the inexplainable, massive vastness that is this inherent mystery called Life.  

…And that is why I believe Aliens built the Moab Desert.