Today we’d like to introduce you to Max Taylor.
Hi Max, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
I’m Max Taylor Caci, an NYC-raised and Nashville-based Filipino/Italian singer-songwriter. I grew up in the Bronx, New York, to eclectic parents. Music was always playing throughout the home. My dad is a songwriter and was the frontman for a few NYC punk bands back in the early 2000s. My mom was born in the Philippines, is the oldest of four, and naturally has a beautiful tone to her voice. Music runs deep for me, whether that was from the Clash, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, or Lauryn Hill, and I’ve been writing songs since 8th grade.
I recently moved from Brooklyn to Nashville to pursue more songwriting opportunities and to release music under my solo project, Max Taylor. I’ve released two singles since moving to Nashville (Baby Blue + to let an old thing die) and am working with producer Steven Cooper Stein + engineer Owen Beverly from the band “Indianola” on my next releases.
I just came back from a week-long songwriting retreat hosted by multi-platinum songwriter, Andrea Stolpe. I’ve met so many incredibly talented musicians, songwriters, and friends and am excited to take on the Nashville scene by storm.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Has anyone had a smooth road with music? I’m genuinely curious.
Every day, I struggle with the balance between music, work, and life. Do I need to make music my full-time career, or can I pursue it on the side and keep it pure? What does a career in music even look like? Do I have the talent it takes to have a professional music career?
I’ve been working in technology sales for the past 7 years across San Francisco, NYC, and Nashville. I genuinely enjoy what I do, have incredible coworkers, and the job pays for my music, but always come back to, “Is this what I want to do forever?” When I’m in a room making music with other like-minded people, there’s nowhere else in the world I’d rather be. Andrea Stolpe’s writing retreat gave me the confidence I was looking for and allowed me to meet 30 other incredibly talented songwriters that feel the same way. I now have this incredible support system for music I haven’t always had before.
Another huge struggle for me as an artist is promotion. While I love making music, I hate promoting it. I’ve become more of an introvert over the years (especially after Covid) and don’t like putting myself out there as much as I used to when I was in college. After a long day behind the screen, the last thing I want to do is promote myself on TikTok.
If anyone has any advice for how to make content and promote yourself naturally, I’m all ears.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a Senior SMB Account Executive for an HR Software company. All fancy lingo for I’m a salesperson and sell software to businesses to help them hire better talent.
While I love sales and am typically pretty good at it, there’s an overwhelming amount of pressure on having a quota every quarter and comparing yourself to everyone else on a company-wide public leaderboard. The good months are great.
The bad months are confidence-shattering. What sets me apart from others is my dedication to balance. I’m known as one of our top performers and I am able to work smarter and not harder than most. I remember seeing that I had the highest win rate % with the shortest amount of call time.
I was quick and efficient and know how to separate work and life. Working remotely has given me an incredible advantage in music as I’m able to practice during the day during downtime.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Community. I moved to Nashville with my partner for the music scene and to build a community to help propel me toward a potential career in music/songwriting.
I’d say my superpower is crafting infectious melodies. I’ve mostly consumed pop music over my lifetime and have studied great pop producers and songwriters. I’d love to be a writer in a room for R&B + pop artists.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maxtaylorofficial/?hl=en
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUCJBp1Pf3rY75HIL4u5_ZQ?app=desktop
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/mr-fa-283826536
Image Credits
Natia Cinco and Parker West
