If you’ve heard Modern World by now, it’s highly likely that it’s because you know Max Kuehn as the drummer from FIDLAR and were curious to see what it’s all about. Kuehn made up a fake label and put up the songs on streaming services — without really giving it too much thought beyond the fact that this is what he felt like he wanted to do at this particular moment in time — and posted a link to r/Fidlar, where he casually interacted with listeners upon release. FIDLAR is written in the title here to get you all to click, but the music itself needs no props to stand up on its own, and you definitely don’t need to have any kind of history with Max’s past to connect with this music.
The album is full of optimism in its sound, and that feeling is embedded into the often grim lyrical content. From “Another Day,” where he talks about putting off getting better, to assuring you he’s actually doing better now on “Twizted,” to then immediately turning around again and saying, “I like it better when I’m passed out on the floor” in “Talk is Cheap,” Modern World as a whole is very much self-aware as it treads lightly on the aforementioned sunny outlook. During a time when a lot of us are running super low on look-on-the-bright-side juice, listening through is like a bolt of energy. Not because it’s overly sweet, but because it’s satisfyingly balanced with the bitterness of breakups, being lonely, and the kinetic built-up energy of feeling lost while you grow.
It moves forward fervently, propelled by catchy melodies and carefully textured arrangements, all of which are 100% written, performed, and produced by Max in his own home studio. While there’s no immediate or far-flung intention to get this set up for a live rendition for a multitude of reasons, these songs are an awesome showcase of Kuehn’s talent as a songwriter and producer. This is truly one of my favorites of the year so far. So, I reached out to learn more about what went into making Modern World.
photo courtesy @maxwellatom, edited by Grace Eire
This is for the pic: Blue or green? Do you feel more anxious or content? Do you feel more reckless or subdued? UFOs or giant squid?
Green, anxious, subdued, UFO.
How are you?? LA is especially crazy right now. Has life changed for you at all since March/beginning of quarantine? How so?
I’m doing well! Life has been pretty weird for sure. I am super lucky that I have my music studio in my apartment, so my process of making music hasn’t really changed that much. The weirdest thing is just not playing any shows or live music. I’ve been touring pretty much since high school ended so it’s a little bizarre to not any shows.
Did you work totally alone through the whole process or were there other people involved at any step of the way (writing/recording etc)?
Yea for this project it’s only me. I just realized a couple days ago that it’s kind of weird because there isn’t a single other person that did anything on this record. Moving forward I’d love to collaborate on production or even just mixing/mastering.
This was a self-release totally, yeah? Did you shop it around at all or was this something you wanted to just do it to do it for you?
Yea it was just put up through a label I made up haha. I’ve been sitting on some of these songs for a while, so I felt like I just needed to release them to be able to write some new songs. I felt like I wanted a timestamp for my life and these songs. It gets easy to put things on hold when looking for a perfect situation. With being stuck at home, I had all this time to finish up the recordings and I just felt like I wanted to put it out and not wait around for anyone else.
Is this project your focus at the moment? How long have you been working on these songs?
Yea it’s been my focus for the past few months. It’s really hard with bands right now because so much of what we do revolves around playing live and touring. This is the easiest thing for me because no one else is involved so I don’t have to coordinate or spend any money. I can just get up and make some coffee and record.
Do you prefer working alone to working with a band or is it more like two sides of two whole different coins? What about each kind of making music gets you most stoked?
I think they are definitely two different animals. I can’t say I like one more than the other. This project has no expectations so it’s fun to be able to come in with a clean slate every day and not have to get anyone else on board with my ideas.
I played this in the car with my mom and she was super into it – it’s got mass appeal in its textures and some nostalgic rock/almost Beatles-pop-sounding melodies (thinking specifically of “Evil Eye” rn). Was that specifically intentional?
Thanks! Yea I think so. I really love brit-pop a lot so there’s definitely Beatles influence, but also a lot of Beta Band, Stone Roses, and Oasis in there too. I like being able to throw a couple songs like that on a record and not have to feel like every song has to be a certain way.
The overall feeling of the record is largely optimistic to me, often in spite of the actual lyrical context; there’s tension between the sound and the lyrics. Would you agree, and was that intentional or just how it turned out?
I think it’s pretty optimistic. The majority of the songs were written in a period of transition for me so it’s a lot about learning and growing. I seem to write a lot of sad songs, but I’m actually a pretty happy guy!
Do you find yourself writing lyrics about/dwelling on the same instances or people over again, or are you more of a move on once you’ve sussed one thing out kind of thinker? Or does it depend case by case?
I think with lyrics it’s a lot of things all wrapped together. There are some songs that kind of dwell on similar subjects. It’s interesting to explore different ideas and people within the same song, and how other people interpret that is also fascinating. That’s kind of the magic of music. As a listener, you put your own slant onto someone else’s lyrics, and you can twist and shift things to how you’re feeling.
Why’s it so hard to figure out if you want to remember or forget about someone once you’ve been sleeping alone?
[“Remember”] is pretty much a straight break up song haha. I always found it kind of strange that you spend all this time with someone, but years down the road you couldn’t recall what their voice sounded like. I think it was a way for me to get over a sudden shift in being alone.Been thinking a lot about how our identities and worth are all wrapped up in what we “do” or what gets us a paycheck. In your own mind – are you a musician first, or a creator, Max from FIDLAR, Max from LA, cat dad Max, or just Max? Or are you not sure/does it change? How much of your identity is wrapped up in being one thing or another? Sorry, this one is a little loco haha I’ve been down a lot of existential rabbit holes lately.
I think I’m just me. It’s taken a while to come to that conclusion but it’s easy to get wrapped up in identities that you feel defined by. I just want to make cool stuff and play cool music and be able to get my cat some food.
Do you think that when we get live music back we’ll treat it differently? Appreciate it more maybe? Do you plan to play this record live ever?
I definitely will appreciate live music more. I don’t know with this project what a live situation would look like or if it will ever happen. I’m still pretty insecure when it comes to singing so maybe I can build up the courage to do it one day.
What’s next?
I’m just gunna be hanging at home with my dog, cat, and girlfriend trying to write songs and drinking way too much coffee.
Follow Max on Instagram if you wanna know when he might release something new, and stream Modern World here.
