Maximal Music Sync is delighted to welcome Seattle-based indie folk band March to May to our family of artists and songwriters!

From their first encounter around a roaring bonfire on the Washington coast to headlining sold-out shows at Seattle’s most prominent venues and touring throughout the U.S. and Europe, March to May has quietly become a group to watch in today’s modern folk landscape. They released their debut album Through the Night in late 2017, earning rave reviews from publications such as Glide Magazine, The Revue, and Surviving the Golden Age, and drawing comparisons to acts like Damien Rice, the Swell Season, and Florence & the Machine. Their 2nd full-length album, released on September 1st, 2020, premiered on American Songwriter. Both of their albums have aired on dozens of community and AAA radio stations across the United States, including PRI / NPR's Echoes program. 

The band layers mesmerizing harmonies and intimate lyrics over harp, acoustic guitar and piano, augmented by lush violin and cello, delicate drum patterns and electric bass. They continually push against genre boundaries to create a sound that is simultaneously familiar and foreign, integrating folk instrumentation with chamber pop and indie rock influences to create a cohesive sound that’s rich in color and texture.

Maximal Music Sync is super excited to welcome Canadian indie duo In The City to our artist roster!

Ashley Jane and Timon Wientzek are In the City - a band and songwriting duo from Toronto, Canada. Their music has been showcased on television programs as well as award-winning films that have screened at TIFF, Hotdocs, WFF, and more. 

They were the first songwriting duo to be accepted into the prestigious Slaight Family Music Residency at Norman Jewison's Canadian Film Center where they studied with renowned musicians and creatives. Their songs have received airplay on CBC Radio and Sirius XM, graced Spotify editorial playlists and have earned recognition in national and international songwriting competitions. Together they create beautiful story driven music in a variety of genres and styles.

We here at Maximal Music Sync are absolutely thrilled to welcome Blanco Niño to our roster!

Blanco Niño is a versatile multi-instrumentalist, writer, and producer. With ties in both Chicago and Los Angeles, he draws influences from his roots in blues and jazz in combination with alternative, latin, electronic and pop. Blanco Niño has placed music in spots from Gillette to ABC’s Station 19, while collecting over 200,000 streams in his young career. The up-and-coming writer/producer continues to expand his musical horizon while perfecting his unique style and lyrical flair. 

Maximal Music Sync is thrilled to welcome our newest signing, Nick Africano! Nick is a creator: a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, solo performer, poet, and sherry lover.  

Born in Normal, Illinois to artist parents and baseball fields as his backyard, he now lives in Brooklyn, NY.  

 His style defies the confines of genre, combining the best of folk, storytelling, soul, and rock and roll. Lyrics often softly spoken, or soulfully crooned, Africano is at once powerful and subtle.  His live performances are captivating and spontaneous, moving between acoustic guitar, resonator guitar, and piano.

 Africano has toured the US and EU extensively, and performed or collaborated with artists such as Pokey Lafarge, Lera Lynn, Jeffrey Foucault, Sonya Kitchell, Misty Boyce, Will Hogue, and more.

 Over the past years he has recorded 3 independently produced LPs including I’ve Ever Desired (2008) The Butterfly Bull (2012), If Timing Were Of Different Course And Fire (2014), and has been included in independent film and television. 

 He is currently finishing a full-length LP with acclaimed singer-songwriter, Lera Lynn (True Detective, T-Bone Burnett, John Paul White) as producer - and Grammy winning engineer, Craig Alvin (Kacey Musgraves), recorded at The Sound Emporium in Nashville, TN. Release TBD. 

We’re so psyched to welcome Theresa to the Maximal Music Sync roster!

Advertising music executive by day, aspiring pop star by night - New York native Theresa is an undeniable new force on the pop scene. Taking cues from the ‘80s and ‘90s, she credits Blondie, Madonna, Duran Duran, Mariah Carey and Lady Gaga as major influences. Theresa's debut single, "Things About To Change" reached over 40K streams in its first month on Spotify, and there's no plans of slowing down as she plans to release new music well into the new year. Follow Theresa's #evolutionofalady @theresa_music_official to see why she will be one of the most buzzed about artists and songwriters of 2020.

We are thrilled to welcome Portland-based indie rocker Bootes Void to the Maximal Music Sync roster!

After graduating from an NYC music conservatory, drummer and multi-instrumentalist Joey Harmon moved back home to Portland, where he formed Bootes Void (the name of a supermassive region in outer space suspiciously devoid of galaxies). After writing his first full-length record, he headed to the studio to team up with producer Danny O’Hanlon at Bungalow 9 Recording, where the two created Cave Paintings. The ten-song album captures a vibe that is honest and ethereal. Watery vocals, shimmering guitars, punchy bass, and driving drums meld in an ambient wall of sound reminiscent of ‘60s and ‘70s psych rock, but refreshingly modern.

“On Cave Paintings, Harmon has found a balance between slightly unnerving instrumentation and comforting melodies that keeps me coming back to discover all of the intricacies built into every one of his songs.” — Matthew Casebeer, opbmusic DJ

The Oregonian praises “Do No Wrong” as one of the ten best songs of the year by any artist in the state of Oregon.

Opbmusic calls “Gravity” one of the best songs of the year written by an Oregon artist.

We’re so excited to welcome the multi-talented UK-born singer-songwriter James Walker to the Maximal Music Sync Roster!

Introspective songwriter James Walker was born in the UK, but has spent the past three years traveling across Europe and the United States honing his craft and performing as many shows as possible.

Initially a session musician, James played on extensive tours with Adam Barnes, by proxy befriending and supporting talents like Matt Simons, Chris Ayer, and Joseph & Maia. In 2014 he was diagnosed with a rare heart disorder and underwent major surgery. He realized during this time, importantly, that life is short, and just how much we take for granted. James writes with a sense of urgency and longing in his music, and record by record is finding his voice and resonance within Europe’s indie music community.

His debut record, English Bones (2017), gave James exposure to a global audience. The curation of teams such as Alexrainbird granted millions of streams on YouTube, while international press via BBC, The Huffington Post and Ear to the Ground culminated in being handpicked by Spotify and Universal to appear on their ‘Easy’ and ‘Lazy Sunday Morning’ playlists.

His sophomore record, produced by Sam Winfield (Amber Run, Bring Me The Horizon, Supergrass) will be released over the latter stages of 2019 and into 2020 under AWAL/Kobalt.

We’re so thrilled to welcome the multi-talented Colorado-based singer-songwriter Courtney Hartman to the Maximal Music Sync roster!

With her stunning new release, Ready Reckoner, out as of June 14th, Courtney Hartman provides the listener with a conduit for self-exploration—a factor that fulfills one of her greatest hopes in sharing the album with the world. “If you listen to any of these songs and step away feeling lifted or carried to a different place, that is a real and true honor,” she says. Born from purposeful self-examination, Ready Reckoner finds Hartman taking the helm as producer transforming her most private ruminations into songs both bracingly intimate and magnificently vast. In that process, the Loveland, Colorado-based artist worked in collaboration with co-producer Shahzad Ismaily (a multi-instrumentalist known for his work with Lou Reed and Tom Waits) and assembled a close-knit community of musicians, including guest appearances from Anais Mitchell and Bill Frisell. Recorded mainly at Figure8 in Brooklyn and mixed by Tucker Martine (Neko Case, My Morning Jacket), Ready Reckoner unfolds in extraordinarily detailed textures, a nuanced yet wholly unpredictable sound equally given to moments of hushed simplicity, improvisatory freedom, and flashes of symphonic splendor.

Hartman’s finely-honed musicality has firm roots in her upbringing, which included taking up violin at three, learning to play guitar at 11, and writing her first song at 12. She spent much of her childhood immersed in the bluegrass world, a factor that eventually led to her seven-year stint in Grammy-nominated band Della Mae. During her time with the band, Hartman also released a collaboration album with Robert Ellis (2017’s Dear John) and another with Taylor Ashton (2018’s Been on Your Side).

We’re absolutely thrilled to welcome songwriter and musician Chris Staples to the Maximal Music Sync roster!

Chris Staples is a Seattle based multi-instrumentalist and song maker. His songs are narratives that are plainspoken and universal, with simple, disarming arrangements and delicate melodies that seemed to float on air. His music has been featured on NPR Music, Paste Magazine, American Songwriter, and Apple Music. 

Maximal Music Sync is ecstatic to welcome Austin-based indie-pop outfit Shy Beast to our roster!

Shy Beast is undeniably Austin, with a strong following of fans, but the band is not bound by geography or genre—the appeal is universal, while all their own. This tight-knit group evolved organically, with deep connections to one another and to the local music scene. Shy Beast is made up of Mariclaire “MC” Glaeser (lead vocals, synth), David Tenczar (guitar, backing vocals, synth), Jay Cesak (bass), and Drew Silverman (drums). All have collaborated in different iterations before joining MC in Shy Beast. Newest member, Taylor Wilkins (lead guitar), joined the group after the band finished recording their forthcoming album, Shy ‘Til You Die, which is due out May 30th, 2019.

MC’s mature, feminine vocals belie the vulnerability she confronts in her honest, straightforward songwriting and the refreshingly playful charisma she exudes on stage. This demure beauty breaks free all insecurity—jiving behind the keyboard, breaking into Byrne-esque dance moves, miming her passions and pain, and belting out choruses in a swell of certain strength. With inspiration ranging from The Cardigans to Burt Bacharach, MC says her ultimate goal in writing songs is to “make people feel something similar to my experience, and also get them to move.”