AVA Max, currently ranks as the 50th most listened to artist on Spotify, after releasing only seven singles that will be on her debut album Heaven & Hell out on September 18. Even if you can’t recognize this powerhouse by name, her tracks Kings & Queens, Sweet but Psycho, and Who’s Laughing Now, frequent the pop stations on the radio.
Prior to professionally starting a music career in 2013, Max grew up in an Albanian home filled with music as her mother, she states as one of her main musical influences, is an Opera singer and father a pianist. Although she was born in Wisconsin, Max stated that she only spoke Albanian at home, and after she told Glass her story of forcing her kindergarten teachers to keep her in school all day just to master the English language, Max’s determination to succeed in her craft is obvious.
From her musical process to her everyday styling processes – she leans toward platforms because of the height, and loves trench coats and bodysuits – not to mention her bold unequal bob, Max effortlessly exudes both meticulousness and spontaneity. Max has since worked with Vice, Alan Walker and Jason Derulo and shockingly this singer whose sound can be described as anthemic sometimes shies away from the genre to keep her motivated.
Reggaeton music, instead, makes her feel “like you’re on a beach, even though you’re not.” Max dissects parts of her new album with Glass and she cannot contain her excitement for her latest project.
Your debut album Heaven & Hell has an A side and B side with those names, respectively. Can you talk about the concept of the album and how you chose that to be your first cohesive project?
I really wanted it to show the emotions we go through in relationships and in our career. How we feel happy one day and then like really down another day. I wanted people to feel the excitement and the moodiness and everything in between. There are some songs on there like Torn, it’s Purgatory, it’s like a middle ground.
Both [sides] are empowering. But, side A, is actually more of a happy sound, lighter. Side B is darker, a little bit more psycho. I wanted [Psycho] to be the finale, because it started it all. [Heaven] is like the introductory track. It’s also a song in itself. I did it with Cirkut alone and we actually did that in quarantine in March. We ended up swapping a song. So I wanted an introductory track [and] that’s how that came about. By that point, we were kind of done, and [the song I swapped] is going to be in the deluxe. I made a couple changes.
Photograph: Charlotte Rutherford
Photograph: Charlotte Rutherford
A track of the album, Naked, is not a ballad but is slower in general when compared to the rest of the album and is lyrically vulnerable. How did it feel to write something like that and also why was it important to shy away from making it a ballad?
You know, it started off as a ballad, but I couldn’t leave it like that. You know Cirkut got on the production and he really brought it to life. It’s definitely the lyrics in that song “You can take off all my clothes, but you will never see me naked.” It’s not all about the physical look, at the end of the day when you’re in a relationship, it’s about what the person is like in their mind, in their soul, and how you feel next to that person. It’s about connection.
Born to the Night can be found on the A Side: Heaven, but when one thinks of Heaven they may think of the light that surrounds them. The song instead elaborates on how night brings comfort. Can you please speak to the connection between those two themes?
I really think this album is more so about feeling an emotion I get with the song. So for instance Born to the Night, the feeling I got from that song after it was done, it was a really happy feeling. [All] the songs on Heaven make me feel happy. [The album is] more so happy and sad. It’s more duality.
Charlie Puth was one of the writers for two of the tracks on the album, Tattoo and So Am I. How was the experience working with him?
[I wrote Tattoo with some friends] in Sweden, on my first camp after doing Psycho. After we got to the states a few months later, Charlie hopped on it, and collaborated and we changed the song again. My songs really have different lives. But let me tell you something.
I started the chorus in Sweden and it was so different and it was called Black Shoes at first and it was like: “I wear my black shoes. I don’t take them off, cause if I do I become somebody I’m not.” I do wear Black Shoes a lot, so. I guess not a lot of people relate to that.
Photograph: Charlotte Rutherford
Are there any specific tracks on the album that you would be excited or interested in seeing the response to?
Belladonna. I’m very curious as to what people are going to think. Because I’d been wanting to write Belladonna for a few years so it’s about a poisonous plant and women a.k.a men thinking we’re poisonous plants but we’re not, we’re great. It’s very different from what I’ve done.
The music that you write creatively extends to a visual form through your music videos and particularly the colours, dance moves, and outfits we see through that. Can you speak to the importance of those visuals?
The thematic colors [of this album] are blue and orange, not that I stick to [them] the entire time, but it’s in the booklet when you buy the album. To me, blue symbolises sky and light and orange symbolises more fiery but also vibrant. My songs are very pop and they punch so orange felt right.
In music videos I love to collaborate. Joseph Kahn for Torn. Isaac Rentz did So Am I and Kings and Queens. I just shot two with Hannah Lux Davis for OMG What’s Happening and Naked and we did it all in one weekend. One, Naked very vulnerable video and OMG What’s Happening is a bit of a more dangerous video with fast cars. The OMG video, you think it’s on Hell but there’s a lot of blue sky. It’s a mixture of Heaven and Hell.
Photograph: Charlotte Rutherford
You have collaborated with multiple artists including Thomas Rhett and Kane Brown on the country track On Me for SCOOB! the album. Can you speak about those experiences and how it was to delve into genres of music that differ from your own?
When I heard On [Me] it was different because of this music. I never thought I would do a country record this year. Kane Brown and Thomas Rhett were incredible and we did it through a green screen so the director wasn’t there and they just set up this green screen with masks in the house. It was at the peak [of the lockdown] so we couldn’t see anybody, we couldn’t touch anyone. It was just a green screen and I had the director on zoom. It was just a different experience.
What advice do you have for women who are trying to obtain excellence in their own way, either in the music industry or across several different industries?
Don’t compare yourself to other females. It’s very hard obviously because it’s easy for your brain to start comparing but I think this most important thing is to focus on your lane and what you want to do. [What I started] doing a year ago is [focusing] on conquering each day. What’s the most you can do in one 24 hours. I think that really helped me accomplish what I wanted to accomplish.
What has been the highpoint of your career so far?
There were so many last year. Performing at the European Music Awards and Wembley. Shooting a music video with Joseph Kahn.
Photograph: Charlotte Rutherford
How are you feeling and what do you think you’ll be doing the week leading up to it or even the day before your debut release?
I don’t think I’ll be able to relax. I just can’t wait to see people’s reactions and [I] would love to see people’s favorites.
by Chandana Kamaraj