Max Styler on 1001Tracklists, Solomun, and Launching New Moda

Transcript

Bobby: What is going on? You are listening to Bobby on BPM, straight from the SiriusXM Miami studio. It is Art Basel week here in Miami, it is madness here. But we have a bunch of artists coming through joining us, and this is actually the first artist we're having of the week for me personally, and I'm happy to have him here. Max Styler.

Max: How's it going?

Bobby: What's up, brother? How are you?

Max: I'm doing good, man. Happy to be here in Miami. My first label party tonight. It's going to be a good week.

Bobby: It's unreal. Before we get into that, I just want to say, dude, you look healthy, you look happy. I can tell you're happy to be here, bro.

Max: I'm very happy to be here.

Bobby: Yeah, you look good here, man. Maybe you ditch Vegas and come move here.

Max: You know, it's time to get out of Vegas. I think I've been there long enough.

Bobby: You think it's time?

Max: I think it's time.

Bobby: Yeah, this is the spot, man, this is the spot. Miami, love it.

Max: I love it in Miami, dude.

Bobby: So, we were talking a little bit off air about how crazy of a year you've had, man, and just watching it from the sidelines is unreal. Congratulations on everything you've got going on, for real. How does that feel right now?

Max: I mean, yeah, it's definitely been a crazy year. The shows have been incredible this year, the music has been hitting and translating in such a cool way, and, you know, super grateful for everything going on. It's been a wild ride the last twelve months or so.

Bobby: Dude, I can list out so many dope tracks you've played. I've seen quite a few of your shows, obviously we've run into each other at a few festivals, killed a few of those, actually got rained out, which is nuts.

Max: I think both breakaways that we've done.

Bobby: Yeah, I thought the second one was going to get cancelled, and then it didn't. I still got my set time, which was actually kind of nice.

Max: But dude, that's right, you had two rainouts, like midway through the set they had to stop your set.

Bobby: Yeah.

Max: Dang, dude, you might be the bad luck charm there, bro.

Bobby: Doing rain dances before, brother.

Max: I know, I know, I know.

The Number One Spot on 1001Tracklists

Bobby: Oh, man. Yo, something that recently came out, by the way, is you were just announced as the number one producer on 1001Tracklists. We actually have some people in the room, can we just clap it up for them real quick? Let's go, dude, congratulations.

Max: Thank you. That was, you know, I knew this year was going well. I think I was around fifteen, sixteen last year, and just breaking top ten would have been cool, that would have been such an amazing thing. But getting the number one was really, really crazy to see.

Bobby: You surpassed the top ten spot, you're the number one, that's the number one spot.

Max: It's wild.

Bobby: I know, dude.

Max: I mean, just off of those rankings alone, because it's off of legit statistics and data, based off of how many DJs play out your music. So it's legit data.

Bobby: So, seeing you climb the ranks to these top spots now, and you've been producing and making music for a long time, do you feel like you were low key slept on for a minute?

Max: No, I think that I was figuring out what I wanted to do, which took a lot of years. It takes some people less time than that, but it took me a lot longer to figure out what I wanted to do. I felt confident in the music I've made for a long time, but only over the past four or five years have I really figured out what I want to do, and I think that's when it started to work a bit more.

Bobby: What was the transition from sound to what you decided to create now? Technically, dude, I feel like the type of sound you're making right now, correct me on the specific subgenre, indie dance, or electro, is that.

Max: It's just like a cocktail, you know, it's basically indie dance, tech house, some tribal influence. I don't know, I just kind of make what excites me.

Bobby: A lot of dude, for sure. But also what I'm getting at is, dude, I feel like you were low key a trend setter in this specific style of sound that you started making, and then a lot of other artists kind of started hopping on the sound you started making.

Max: Yeah, it's been kind of crazy to see, the sound I've been doing has definitely been growing a lot, but yeah, man, it's wild.

Bobby: It's wild, and it's fire. It's fire, it's all fire, man. Fire all around.

Max: Thank you.

Bobby: Yo, so you launched a label recently, right?

Max: Yes, yes.

Bobby: And the name of the label is.

Max: New Moda.

Bobby: That's right, first party tonight at Floyd. We're going from, what is it, eleven to five or so? Yeah.

Max: Eleven p.m. to five a.m.

Bobby: That's early in Miami.

Max: Yeah, this is child's play for Miami, for sure.

Bobby: I'm just messing around.

Max: But yeah, it weirdly is. I mean, that's insane.

Bobby: I know, first label party, man, how does that feel?

Max: It feels incredible. This has been a long time coming for me. I've always wanted to have my own label, a place to put out my own music, but also put out other music that inspires me and pushes the boundaries a bit. I'll be able to do that with New Moda now. I'm just super happy that this is the year it's starting, and it's only going up from here. We have a lot of really exciting stuff coming, with events, releases coming up soon. It's going to be really good.

Bobby: Speaking of releases, I heard that you have a Vintage Culture remix.

Max: Yep, that comes out, I think it might be next Friday.

Bobby: Nice, really excited about that one. He smashed it.

Max: I mean, Vintage got to smash it.

Bobby: Of course, every time.

Max: Dude's, he plays mad fun shows too, big fan of him.

On Tour With Solomun, and the Experts Only Story

Bobby: Shout out, dude. So, you've been on tour with Solomun, right?

Max: No, not on tour. We just did the show together in LA last weekend, and then I'm playing with him again on Friday at Diynamic, at Factory Town.

Bobby: Okay.

Max: But not on tour with.

Bobby: Okay, I wasn't sure if that was officially like you guys were going on tour.

Max: We're just doing a few shows together. He's been super supportive, honestly the last year, he's been playing a bunch of my tunes, and I think it just made sense to start doing a few shows together around the world. We're doing Tulum coming up in January, and then LA, and now Diynamic at Factory Town on Friday.

Bobby: That's amazing. Solomun is one of my goats, and I think most people's goats. The guy's a legend and an OG.

Max: He never doesn't smash it. He's a wizard up there.

Bobby: I've seen like three or four of his sets, and every time I'm like, yo.

Max: Yeah, I was actually just talking with him after the LA show. He was telling me his longest set, at Space, was twenty seven hours. I was like, how? How does he do that?

Bobby: Be a real sicko, man, you've got to be a real sicko and built different.

Max: Yeah, it's built different.

Bobby: I know. But that's why he is where he is, you know what I mean?

Max: Yeah, yeah.

Bobby: What's he like as a dude? I could see him being really relaxed and chill.

Max: No, he's very chill and relaxed.

Bobby: Yeah, that makes sense. And you've actually released music, EPs, on his label, right?

Max: Yeah, I've done two EPs now, and a single on one of his compilations.

Bobby: Nice.

Max: Yeah, man, his label's incredible, super tasteful, everything's always good. I'm always playing a bunch of Diynamic tracks.

Bobby: Yeah, fire. So I guess you guys have been in talks, and he's been supporting you for the last year or a little bit more. That's really cool, dude. So, not really native, actually, he just lives here, John Summit. I've seen quite a few of his shows in the last year and a half or so, and he supports a lot of your tracks as well. And you released on Experts Only before.

Max: Yeah.

Bobby: How did that come about, you syncing up with John, releasing tracks on his label?

Max: Our relationship started a while ago, and he's been such a huge supporter of me, very grateful for that. The first one he really supported in a big way was Resist, I think that was 2022. I remember sending him that track on a flight. I bought the ten dollar, he had literally just announced Off the Grid on Experts Only, and I was like, I need to get this track to him, it felt like something that would fit in his sets. So I bought the ten dollar Wi-Fi on the flight.

Bobby: Let's go.

Max: And he got back within like fifteen, twenty minutes. The track was basically signed, like that. That was the best money ever spent.

Bobby: Wow.

Max: But yeah, since then he's put me on a bunch of shows through Experts Only, supported a ton of my records. Shout out John.

Bobby: Shout out John. Dude, I was actually on a JetBlue flight the other day and they didn't have Wi-Fi on the plane. So if that was you that one time, in my position, that would have been a different scenario.

Max: I think they have the free Starlink Wi-Fi, or something.

Bobby: Oh, dude, it was supposed to work.

Max: It was supposed to work, bro, it wasn't. I was trying to do work, and I was forced to sit in my thoughts.

Bobby: Might have been a good thing, dude.

Max: Yeah, the worst is when you're going to South America or overseas and you don't get Wi-Fi.

Bobby: That's a thing.

Max: Oh, yeah.

Bobby: I've never been on a flight going to another country with no Wi-Fi, I don't know what I'd do. This sounds like first world problems, but.

Max: I'd start doing push ups in the aisle or something, just to occupy my time and my mind.

Bobby: Dude, you're just fully raw dogging it, staring at the back of the seat.

Max: No, for real, dude.

The Unreleased Track With Dom Dolla

Bobby: So, I've got to ask you something. Back in June, Dom Dolla came to your LA show, and I saw a clip of you guys playing a track together. You guys have an unreleased track together, that.

Max: We do. I don't think it's probably ever going to come out. It's just been something for our sets. We made it years ago, he came over to my place in Vegas, and we were just messing around in the studio and made that. We kind of just kept it for our sets, we didn't really plan on releasing it, but never say never, you never know.

Bobby: Come on, boys, don't be selfish, share the track.

Max: There's a pretty big sampled record in it, from Marie Davidson and Soulwax. So, not always easy to get samples.

Bobby: A hundred percent, get that. That can always be.

Max: Unfortunately.

Bobby: Well, I guess if you want to hear that track, the only thing you've got to do is go to Max's.

Max: Got to come to the show.

Bobby: Maximum. Yeah, tonight, dude, tonight.

Max: Well, this is going to get aired tomorrow, so you should have been there last night.

Bobby: I should have been there.

Max: Sucks to suck.

Bobby: Yo, so who would you say were your greatest artist inspirations?

Max: Man, I kind of get inspiration from a lot of places, it's hard to pinpoint one. A lot of time I'm just digging on Beatport, through different genres, hours at a time. Favorites as of late include a producer from Mexico, he's a really sick producer.

Bobby: Nice.

Max: Who else am I listening to right now?

Bobby: This is perfect, because I was going to ask you your top five artists you're listening to right now, too.

Max: You know what's funny, is whenever anyone asks me top five, my mind goes fully blank.

Bobby: All right, how about five artists you're listening to right now? Doesn't have to be top, we don't have to list them one or anything like that.

Max: Got to shout out Fleetwood Mac, love them, always.

Bobby: Let's go.

Max: I'll say Luclessie again, because I love what he's doing. I think Prospa is doing some really cool stuff.

Bobby: Oh, those boys are crushing it.

Max: Yep. Theas Mago making really cool stuff as well. Always love what DJ Tennis is doing. Is that five?

Bobby: He might have hit five. If you say six, it is what it is, that's what's up, people definitely want to know.

Max: We'll leave it at that.

Patience, and What Comes Next

Bobby: All right, we'll leave it at that. That's what's up. We've talked a lot about music, I have an actual question for you right now. Aside from producing and DJing in your career, what do you do in your free time? You got any hobbies?

Max: I golf like once a year, when I can.

Bobby: Once a year is not a hobby, my dude.

Max: I don't have time for hobbies right now. Unfortunately, my hobby is hoping the airplane has Wi-Fi.

Bobby: Me and you both, brother.

Max: Me and you both, dude. I'm starting to try to make time for just getting back into reading and books, you know.

Bobby: Amazing.

Max: I just need to make more time outside of just being locked in, fully music focused, making time for myself. So, not easy, though, really, really not easy.

Bobby: Yeah, man, to lock in like that, especially when you're used to producing and being on technology and computers and music.

Max: Well, yeah, so much of my time is dedicated to production and travel and everything, and when I'm not doing either one of those two, it's a lot of backend email stuff, and you're just constantly plugged in. So it's locked in, bro, it's hard to check out right now.

Bobby: Yeah, I mean, it's a good thing, because everything happening right now is really great. You're in the zone, baby, stay in the zone.

Max: We're in the zone.

Bobby: In the zone. All right, I'm going to leave you with one last question. You're obviously looked up to by a lot of producers and upcoming artists, or those that aspire to be. What's one piece of advice you'd give them?

Max: I think for me personally, I'd say patience is the biggest thing. I think in today's culture, you want stuff very quickly, and, you know, kind of how my journey was, it took a long time, but I think the best things come with time. You just have to put in the hours, and you have to do it for the love of the music. So I'd say learn to have some patience, and just let it ride. Enjoy the ride.

Bobby: Well said, professor slash shaman Styler over here. Appreciate you, man. I'm going to close this out over here. I appreciate you coming in and giving us the time.

Max: Yeah, thanks for having me.

Bobby: Welcome to Art Basel Miami, by the way, hope to catch you. Oh, wait, actually, I have one more question, I actually missed this one. You announced your tour.

Max: Yes.

Bobby: Yeah, we didn't talk about that. We've got to talk about your tour real quick.

Max: Yeah, really excited about that, obviously. Shows just went on sale, I think about a week ago or so. Some of the biggest rooms I've played, and they're selling out, it's so crazy to see. I was just in Chicago for ARC, and I played the ARC after party at Radius. I remember standing in that room and being like, this is such a massive room. I knew at the time we were going to go on sale in a month or so, or two months from then, and I was in my head about it, I'm like, I don't know if this is, this is such a massive room, I'm stressing out, I'm getting in my head about it. And we go on sale for Radius, sold out in, I think, less than a day.

Bobby: Whoa.

Max: I was like, this is crazy. So the shows are exceeding expectations for me. And I just can't wait for next year, it's going to be really, really fun. Let's go, Max Styler 2026, baby.

Bobby: 2026, baby, let's go. All right, man, I appreciate you coming on, by the way. All right, I'll close this out here. Thank you for listening. We just had Max Styler here, the man, go check him out. He's got his 2026 tour coming up, he's got his new label he launched, he's got new music in the cut he's talking about. Thanks again, brother. You are listening to Bobby on BPM, straight from the SiriusXM Miami studio.