In this interview spotlight, we chat with Max Foxx and Nicky Renard aka Max & Nicky about influences, their latest project (Grovy Lane), challenges and more.

Full Q&A along with links and a stream for Grovy Lane below.

Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)

We are actually both of Swedish origin but live in the US. We have previously lived in several different places, including Florida, but have now settled down in Los Angeles for good.

The kind of music we create is the kind of music we love and want to listen to ourselves. When we write music, we don’t write what we expect a certain target group will like, we write songs which WE would buy if they came out on the market. By writing music like that, most of our songs have turned out to be of almost a new genre, which we often call ‘heavy soft-rock’.

What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to stay on the course?

It’s simply the kind of music which appeals to us. Max Foxx began playing it when he was young, living at home with his parents, and although he left his music dormant for many years after that, he’s liked and played the same kind of music his entire life. Nicky Renard liked rock ’n’ roll from an early age, and simply started playing that kind of music when she became interested in playing the guitar at the age of thirteen, honing a unique style of rock. We’re motivated to keep creating our music since we believe it’s good music.

How is your upcoming album different from other rock albums? Did you set out to accomplish anything specific?

Our album is different from other rock albums since what we play is completely genuine. We don’t try imitating any other artists or sounds, we simply play the kind of music we want to listen to and hope that other people also have the same taste in music. Hence we end up creating something which is our unique sound. Our songs generally fall into our ‘heavy soft-rock’ genre, which we define as soft rock songs which are made heavy by our guitars. Although the songs have a certain style, they vary a lot from song to song since both of us compose our material, and no two people write the same kind of music. The fact that some songs were initially composed on guitar while some were composed on piano also contribute to the songs sounding different.

Do you face challenges as a new musician in a digital age? How has technology helped you (assuming it helps)?

The main problem with being a musician in the digital age is that there is just so much music out there. It’s much easier nowadays to create and publish music, and for nearly no cost at all, so there’s extremely many low quality productions swamping the digital music stores and making it harder to find all the good music which is being released alongside it.

There are many benefits with the new technology as well. For instance, we record using ProTools instead of the old method, tape recording. Digital recording allows for much better recording accuracy and also makes editing easier and less expensive.

Using ProTools is the furthest extent of our use of technology. When it comes to recording, we still believe in going to a real studio to record and using real instruments, such as a drummer on a drum kit instead of a digital drum machine.

Where can we connect with you online and discover more music?

Grovy Lane is, for the moment, the only Max Foxx & Nicky Renard song available. The full album is going to be recorded at Southern Ground during three weeks in Nashville in September and will be released shortly thereafter. However, we will possibly release another single sometime in September.

You can connect with us on Instagram or Facebook. And sign up for our newsletter on our website.

Anything else before we sign off?

Our new album, which will be released in October, will feature ten brand new songs in addition to Grovy Lane. It will be available on most digital platforms and also as a CD and vinyl.