Max Daniel

Max Daniel
Meant to Be

Release date: 8/29/2020

Hello, World!

Slow & Steady Records announces the release of singer-songwriter Max Daniel’s debut Meant To Be, which takes this common phrase and flips it upside down, ruminating on one’s sense of self, and existential dilemmas. “It’s liberating to use music to externalize the intense cognitive dissonance I experienced while writing these songs,” shares trumpeter, keyboardist and producer Max Miller-Loran (Daniel is his middle name). “I like that ‘meant to be’ is a well-known phrase, often containing a romantic connotation, that can be interpreted in a completely different way, which happens to fit this album perfectly.” An ambitious and methodical work of songcraft, texture and color, all with a fine-tuned edge, Meant To Be is a sound world entirely its own, rooted in Miller-Loran’s upbringing on jazz and improvised music, as well as his love of indie-rock and what he calls “pretty noise.”

Max Daniel started as a bedroom project in 2017, inspired by Miller-Loran’s participation in an online community called “Song a Day for a Month.” “It helped me grow as a songwriter,” writes Miller-Loran, “but writing an entirely new song a day tended to yield half-baked ideas. So in January 2019, I took a break from the daily format, and composed a number of fully realized songs that would become the foundation of this project.” Miller-Loran also moved away from the limitations of his usual DIY approach to recording and production – Meant To Be marks his “first attempt at a truly polished record.”

Although a deeply introspective and personal project, Max Daniel welcomes a number of Miller-Loran’s close collaborators, “to help me actualize my ideas, and fill in the blanks when my creativity failed me.” Guitarist Adam Nash is heard all over the album, as is his twin brother, Alex Nash, on drums, as well as Miller-Loran’s Blind Willies bandmates and close friends Alexei Wajchman (guitar), Misha Khalikulov (cello) and Daniel Riera (EWI/flutes). An album of seemingly endless color and timbre, Meant To Be also includes multi-reedist Steven Lugerner, violinist Matthew Szemela, Junior Reggae bandmates Jason Levis (drums) and Rob Ewing (trombone), San Francisco School of the Arts (SOTA) classmate Michelle Pliner (background vocals), with arranging contributions from film composer and Watsky bandmate Kush Mody (strings) and the prodigious Bay Area keyboardist Matt Wong (horns).

“Every musician who performed on this album is someone I genuinely trust, as a human,” Miller-Loran reflects. “That’s why I collected these people together, and why I had so much faith that they would know exactly what to do.”

Max Daniel: Keyboards, Trumpet, Vocals, Arrangement, Production
Adam Nash: Guitar, Bass, Arrangement, Production
Alex Nash: Drums, Percussion
Alexei Wajchman: Guitar (Track 2, Track 4, Track 7)
Misha Khalikulov: Cello, Viola
Matthew Szemela: Violin
Daniel Riera: Flute, EWI (Track 5, Track 6)
Steven Lugerner: Alto Sax, Tenor Sax, Bass Clarinet (Track 2, Track 4, Track 6)
Jason Levis: Drums, Percussion (Track 3, Track 5, Track 6)
Rob Ewing: Trombone (Track 6)
Michelle Pliner: Vocals (Track 3, Track 4, Track 5, Track 7, Track 12, Track 14)
Kush Mody: String Arrangement (Track 7, Track 8, Track 12)
Matthew Wong: Horn Arrangement (Track 6)
Amelia Romano: Harp (Track 13)

all songs written and produced by Max Daniel
(tracks 1, 2, 7 and 13 co-produced by Adam Nash)

drums and grand piano recorded by Nino Moschella at Bird and Egg
Mixed by Scott McDowell
Mastered by Piper Payne at Infrasonic Sound

Pixel art by Romain Courtois