Production + writing

Max’s work as a music producer spans well over a decade, encompassing countless genres, from dance and electronic, to jazz, funk/soul, experimental and virtually everything in between. Releases he has produced, engineered or composed now culminate in many 10s of millions of streams, and his work has seen him nominated for multiple ARIA awards in Australia, where he originates from.

Here’s a Spotify playlist featuring music I’ve produced, written, co-written, performed on and collaborated on.

Dance music

Over the past three years, I’ve worked extensively with Juicy Romance in a production and co-writing role, and together we have enhanced and developed her sound and songwriting. Her tracks Drink The Juice, Summer Smash and Rapapum were all co-write + co-prod. I have production or ad-prod credits on Ladies’ Night and her EP Scandalizer.

TOTEK is my collaborative project with Allysha Joy. All of our releases are entirely collaborative at the creative stage. Our debut EP ttk.1 was released on Darker Than Wax, and our first single Missing You is nearing 1 million Spotify streams.

I have worked with Partiboi69 as a mix/mastering engineer on the majority of his releases, and for many of these I have ad-prod credits as well.

Some other dance music that I’ve written and/or produced:

Pop + alternative

I worked closely with Eilish Gilligan for many years co-writing and producing, including on her singles Patterns, Someone Else, Creature of Habit and The Feeling.

For 8 years I was a member of the cult Melbourne act NO ZU, and collaborated and performed on their releases Heat Beat, Talking To a Stranger and Last Words.

I was a founder, co-writer and sole producer for the band Tetrahedra. We released 3 EPs across 4 years, and our unique balance of musical sophistication with pop aesthetic gained us a strong following in Melbourne as well as critical acclaim.

Yelderbert is my solo music moniker under which I have released two EPs, two singles and one avant-garde percussion album. I will discuss the more abstract music later; but the poppier side of the music, similar to Tetrahedra, boasts a coming together of musical sophistication and experimentation typically not found in pop music, whilst still retaining song structures.

Some other pop + alt music that I’ve written and/or produced:

Other genres

I co-wrote and produced the debut album Sa for Indian-Australian artist Parvyn; which was released to critical acclaim and received an ARIA nomination for Best World Album. The album fuses traditional Indian music with modern electronic and pop.

I have collaborated with Allysha Joy for many years, co-producing + mixing her album Torn:Tonic, as well as being the recording producer for most recent LP Lift:Love.

The Lalibelas were an Ethio-Jazz outfit in Melbourne that I played sax in. Our debut EP featured Harry James Angus (The Cat Empire) and was a collaborative writing process.

Avant-garde music + contemporary dance collaboration

In 2019 I composed a work for unpitched percussion titled Omnitemporal, which was presented at the Melbourne Fringe Festival in 8 sold-out shows.

“Omnitemporal creates a unique environment that is both comfortable and disorienting. The work is purely built on un-pitched rhythms, creating textures that feel stable yet also unfixed to a permanent state.”

In 2023 I released an avant-garde instrumental EP titled Eikasia, under my alias Yelderbert. It features a striking interpolation of intricate rhythms, rich electronic sounds, baritone saxophone improvisations and ambient textures.

For many years I’ve been collaborating with contemporary dancers on live performances and dance films; none more so than Harrison-Ritchie Jones. I composed music for his recent works Banshee Cried Silver, Jungle Fever and Cuddle; which have received immense critical acclaim and been performed at many of Australia’s top arts festivals.

Other credits:

Study

In 2021 I undertook a Bachelor of Music Composition (Honours) at the University of Melbourne; arguably Australia’s most prestigious music composition course. I received distinctions in both practical and theoretical outcomes.

In 2014 I completed my Bachelor of Fine Arts (Contemporary Music) in Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation as a saxophonist, at the Victorian College of the Arts.

Mixing + mastering

As a mix and mastering engineer the releases I’ve worked on now culminate in many 10s of millions of streams, been nominated for several ARIA + other awards, and artists I work with perform across the globe. I’ve worked with artists including Kettama, X CLUB, Marlon Hoffstadt, Surprise Chef and countless others, plus many of those that I’ve produced/written with. You can see a longer list of my mix/master credits on the homepage of my website.

Off the record

Outside of composition and production, I have a great deal of experience as a performer, improviser and collaborator. I have performed at dozens of music festivals, including most of Australia’s largest. I have toured extensively within the UK, Australia and internationally, with projects spanning from abstract improvisation, to pop, jazz and many other genres.

As a performer, I’ve worked with Client Liaison, City Calm Down, 30/70, Allysha Joy, Surprise Chef, Bär Mckinnon (Mr. Bungle) and many more.