It’s not too often that you get to hear thoughts from the likes of Susan Sontag coming from contemporary music. With his song “Politburo Technocrats,” Max Vernon does just that, capturing heavy considerations of politics and authority in a way that compels engagement with the music.

“I don’t ever want to make breathy, airy, background music. My style will never be that way – you have to engage with it. This is our challenge culturally,” he says.

There is a consistent political element to many of Max’s songs (“Dear Democracy” is another title), but he avoids the all too common “Fuck Bush” mentality to prompt real questions to his listeners. A student at the Gallatin School here at NYU, Max studies the politics of performance; and the smart insights from academic work play through in his compositions and lyrics.

While living in New York and LA throughout his life, Max has developed his creative passions both through visual and performance art, but for him, music trumps all because of its ability to immediately connect with others.

He takes inspiration from artists such as Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder, Laura Nyro, Joanna Newsom, and David Bowie (for aesthetic purposes) to create an innovative sound of his own. For Max, the process begins more abstractly – he hears a certain melody intuitively, but the lyrics come slowly with much work.

“When I write for piano, I hear an orchestra in my head. But I’m still searching for the experience to tell the stories I want my lyrics to convey,” Max comments.

Many of his songs reflect on relationships or take influence from childhood struggles as an outsider. “I was the most made fun of kid in middle school,” Max says, “While everybody else dressed preppy I was wearing kimonos and bondage boots. So I suppose the self-deprecating humor in some of the songs comes from an ‘I’m going to criticize me before you can criticize me’ perspective.”

Max doesn’t worry about it, though, because he says it adds humor to his work, which would be too serious otherwise. He articulates that there is an inherent need for the political songs right now, but wants to make sure that he doesn’t box himself in, that he stays open to definition.

The best thing for me – and I hope Max forgives me for this – is that I get the feel of “Rent” minus the Broadway when I listen to his music. The sound has the essence of being in New York, moments of lonely isolation and moments of complete camaraderie, themes of identity, relationships, and politics, but with a playful resonance that doesn’t get under your skin like show tunes can. His current seven-track demo album plays like a feature-release CD, and I can feel the sensation of an artist about to make a name for himself.

Max was lucky enough to get recording time for his album at the famous Westlake Studios, which has witnessed the production of hits like Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and Alanis Morissette’s “Jagged Little Pill.”

Last summer, Max played nine shows and soon thereafter, he gained blogosphere notoriety when New York Magazine and the Toronto Star picked up on his “I Kissed A Girl” Katy Perry cover (video below). Through the publicity, Max met New York DJ JonJon Battles who helped him book a successful show at Ars Nova last week. Now that he’s got his New York headlining debut under his belt, he is planning his first college tour and getting his demo album out to the radio stations. With the upcoming plans, Max has an interesting dilemma because his listeners have favored different songs, so he hasn’t decided which track to feature as his single yet.

The biggest thing for him right now, though, is to make his voice heard. He says he does not want to feel like he has no voice, that he would rather sing and shout at fifty people than a computer screen all day. Max wants music to take on the issues that society should be questioning, and he won’t be held back from expressing his own opinions.

I asked Max if he had any additional comments to close with when we were wrapping up the interview. He offered some shout-outs to other New York artists that he has collaborated with or been inspired by (Caitlin Pasko, Stephanie Nilles), and then he looked up to me and said, “Oh, yea… and I like The Mamas & The Papas.”

Max will be playing his next New York show at Pianos on October 28.

Photo by Angelica Marshall