UNDER 18 WITH PARENT OR LEGAL GUARDIAN
MAXON BIO:
MAXON is a Singer-Songwriter, Artist Manager (Mathilde Anne), Event and Bookings Agent at Main Ridge’s The Shed Theatre (The Pig and Whistle), and Co-Founder of independent Peninsula record label Sandhill Records. As an artist, MAXON spent her early teen years running in and out of studios, writing and recording original music with her then vocal coach and release artist Cheryl Beattie (Warner Music, 1999).
Where others chose to study tertiary music, MAXON earned herself a degree in Entertainment Music Business, and forged ahead as a self-managed solo artist, pursuing her music education through experience and performance. With countless comparisons to her idols - Alanis Morrisette, Sara Barielles, and Jewel, she has earned adulation for her trademark dynamic and emotive vocals “...that’d make London Grammar quiver…” (Gemma Pike, Triple J, 2018).
In 2016, MAXON released her debut EP ‘New World’, featuring artist Jamie MacDowell on the fan-favourite ‘I Can’t Stay’. She has since released a stream of singles including ‘History’, which Pilerats stamped “...Meg Mac, but with a bit more juice in the tank”, the heartbreaker ‘December’, and an ode to introverted sensitives in ‘No Impersonator’. Most recently, MAXON has released ‘Best Shot’, produced by Jono Steer (Gretta Ray, Angie McMahon) - written in the confines of a small Brisbane apartment where she planned to begin-again, she nearly gave it all up after loved-ones patted her on the back and handed her the “you gave it your best shot” speech.
Amidst rebuilding her armour, MAXON joined the Keep the Circle Unbroken Tour, performing alongside Delsinki, Mick Thomas, Jeff Consi (The Badloves), Paul Waseen (The Screaming Jets) and many more Australian household names. She also featured in the tour’s performance at Port Fairy Folk Festival, 2022. Returning to Melbourne MAXON formed her 6-piece band and performed to a sold-out audience in her hometown (The Shed Theatre, The Pig and Whistle), sharing a handful of brand new songs earmarked for a debut album.
“The band gets my message across. As a singer-songwriter who has performed majoritively solo and on the piano, I get put into a category of the slow ballad-singer. And those songs are just not ballads. Audiences are really understanding the urgency of what I’m saying in my songs, and are often blown away by how heavy the band is, and I’m loving it.”
MAXON’s career has seen her perform alongside some of Australia's favourite artists including Alex Lahey, Angie McMahon, Kerryn Fields, Eilish Gilligan, Ella Hooper (at MOTH International Women's Day), Kylie Auldist and many more. She has also been involved in showcasing the Mornington Peninsula’s finest in the Music Victoria Music Crawl, St Kilda Festival (2018), LivenLocal with Hachiku, and two packed shows with the If You See Her Say Hello choir at The Toff in Town, presented by Melbourne Fringe Festival.
As an artist, MAXON’s true desire with her music is to spread the message of unconditional love, in an effort to help people work through their heartbreak around being let down in this way. She is an LGBTQIA+ woman, ready to be marrying her partner of 11 years this October (2022), and her story comes with a lifetime of struggle for acceptance notched into her belt. Despite a heavy heart and track lines rusted into her cheeks, MAXON has a light spirit that is begging to share the love.
MATHILDE ANNE:
When Melbourne x Mornington Peninsula artist Mathilde Anne tells her story, you know she’s speaking for you too. Whether in haunting beauty, or lyrically shooting from the hip, Mathilde speaks her mind. Wildly writing from personal experience and feeling, her sights are always set on offering a sense of understanding and representation.
Mathilde has amassed fierce inspiration from the likes of modern artists Lorde, Sir Chloe and Arctic Monkeys, as well as all-time legends Amy Whinehouse, Otis Redding, and The Rolling Stones. Growing up in a musical household means her limbs and soul are now deeply rooted in music of all genres and timelines.
Alongside Melbourne’s prolific producer James Seymour (Merpire, FEELDS), Mathilde released 'I've Had Enough' (March 2022) as her debut single under Mornington-based independent label Sandhill Records. The track was written in collaboration with Australian songstress MAXON, award-winning audio engineer and artist Nayomi Pattuwage (Like Bear) and Cheryl Beattie (The Music Industry School of Music). The single paints a picture with crooked lines of frustration; smearing red across relationships with the flaky and the non-committal.
More recently, Mathilde has released 'Dancing in the Living'; another James Seymour-produced masterpiece. DITLR was written after being selected to create a Covid-19 recovery song for the Mornington Peninsula Shire's ‘262 Project’. Mathilde opens up about her body dysmorphia and what Mathilde describes as “a very bitchy” eating disorder. It depicts a kaleidoscope of emotions that were only exacerbated by the Melbourne lockdowns. This track is special to Mathilde's story, and gave momentum to her desire to help those struggling with the same trials.