After a 25+ year old successful career as a producer and record label owner of United Beat Records, Mad Maxx decides to share some insight on his journey as a musician and on his love for India, reminiscing his experiences in the country, as well as telling us about his future plans for it.
By Catalina Sainz
Mad Maxx, also known as Max Peterson, was born in San Diego, California in 1979. When he was a teenager, he and his family moved to France, due to his parents’ occupation, and it was in 1998 when he discovered electronic music. In 2020, Max launched his own record label for psychedelic trance, United Beats Records. In this article, the owner of United Beats Records will be taking us on a trip down memory lane, with stories ranging from his early musical years up to his experiences in India.
What was the origin of your career as a music producer?
“In 2000, after attending a New Year party in California, I teamed up with Nicolas Oesch of “Mekkanikka” and Samy Guediche of “CPU” to form the San Francisco trance project “BIODEGRADABLE”. One of our albums, Phaser, which was published in 2001, was a huge hit in the psychedelic scene at the time and served as a platform for each of our subsequent successful solo endeavors.”
How did Mad Maxx get in the scene?
“I think we all had to work on our individual careers. In 2007 I launched my solo project, MAD MAXX, which was the culmination of years of hard work, establishing a distinct sound and incorporating all the travels, adventures, and parties that I had attended of the previous 20 years. My first internationally famous track was “Ganesha Namaha”, which I produced with an Indian friend of mine, known as “Tron”” .
Why is it that many of your tracks have either Indian mantras or even titles, as you mentioned? What does it mean to you and how did you come across incorporating them?
“Well, actually, in 2001, after launching the BIODEGRADABLE project, I went to India and stayed there for around 3 years, backpacking mostly and playing in whatever parties I could find. I remember the first ever party that I played in Goa, we had to carry the speakers with us to the beach and set up the decks, along with many other people, from India, Israel, Russia, etc. I remember when a lot of my Indian friends used to play music, they would stop to say different mantras in Hindi and I found that really interesting. So much so, that I decided that some specific mantras could be used in harmony with many tracks.”
Are you still close to the people you know there? Do you still visit?
“I visit India every year, yes. I love the weather and the people and in fact whenever I come to India I have a ‘family’ there that always welcomes me. They are people I have kept in touch with throughout the years and have helped me as well as inspired me in my life and work.”
Do you think India is going to be your inspiration for another track or perhaps even album?
“I will not say much for now so that I do not spoil it, but there are definitely some great collaborations coming, some with Indian artists, such as “Protonix”, also known as Rahul Davis. I like mixing different cultures, and different sounds so I always try to work with people that know about all those things!”
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