Slade, Maxwell

Beginning in early high school as the primary songwriter of San Jose indie-rock band The Cautious (alongside now roster mate Ritwik Krishnan of crush2dust), Max Slade over time released a slew of solo tape demos, projects and ballads under various pseudonyms and reorganizations of his name.

Unadulterated recountings of first experiences with love and loss in suburban sprawl over dark guitar chords tie the similarly sprawling catalog together. On ‘Achey’, an early demo now only available through online pirate sites or in precious text message chains, Slade chants,

“platonically I embody all that you hope i’m not // overdose on the same curb where you begged me to stop.”

Though varying in genre, (see Slater’s SoundCloud project) a strong underlying lyrical quality built on melancholy and the indie-folk he had modeled himself on (Pinegrove, Field Medic) comes through.

Upon his singing to Orange Label, Max Slade is Slade Maxwell: a clean slate to reimagine these early demos and continue developing his unique take on the beloved modern-folk sound.