On his forthcoming EP as MAX, singer and actor Max Schneider flirts with pop across all corners. From Mayer Hawthorne’s nod to soul stax to Sara Bareilles’ take on piano balladry, from the high-energy pop-rock of Fall Out Boy to the falsetto of — at its most striving — Justin Timberlake, The Say MAX EP has no shortage of variety for the modern pop fan. Nowhere is this more apparent in the EP’s first single, “Streets Of Gold,” which would sound at home in the Hot 100’s Top 40. But there are sonic quirks — namely, a haunting vocal loop and a syncopated percussion part — that make the song stand apart from other pop sing-alongs led by a charming male crooner. And so, Flavorwire is proud to premiere MAX’s stylish and subtle video for “Streets Of Gold,” filmed in Bushwick, Brooklyn near a neighborhood institution, Roberta’s.
“Filming the video for ‘Streets Of Gold’ was a wonderful challenge,” Schneider tells Flavorwire. “I had to learn the song at five times the original speed and then sing it at that speed so that we could get the slow-mo effect while still having everything be in sync. I really wanted to capture my home city, New York, in this song because the ‘Streets Of Gold’ to me are not only a metaphor for the afterlife but also the actual streets where I grew up in the city. Those streets have always held the most magic in my life and I wanted to capture that in this song and video.”
Schneider will release The Say MAX EP on May 13, and kicks off a national tour this June. A former Nickelodeon star, 21-year-old Schneider currently co-stars in NBC’s Crisis and plays Van Dyke Parks in the forthcoming Brian Wilson biopic, Love and Mercy.
(lead photo by David Urbanke)