After highlighting their brilliant Spotify Original podcast series School Daze, we got the chance to chat to Max from Max and Harvey all about the show, as well as the pair’s career in music, future plans and more! Here’s what he had to say…
Tell us a little bit about your Spotify exclusive podcast and how that came about!
We had actually never properly thought about doing our own podcast until Spotify approached us and said they had an idea for us to host one of their brand new original ones! We loved the idea of it because Harvey and I could talk for the country if we were allowed to.
School is something the majority of people can relate to as most of us have been there! How did you both find your school days?
We made sure we were in school as much as possible as our outside career did take over a little bit, we did pretty well in GCSEs passing everything.
We did have a bit of a rough time mainly when we were younger with people picking on us and supposedly ‘bullying’ us, but we never saw it as bullying because as soon as you let it be that the bullies win. But we came out of school with tonnes of life lessons and great stories to tell.
You've had some great guests on the pod so far; who would you love to book in the future to chat about their time in school?
We’ve got so many amazing guests lined up already, I know that Harvey would love to have Dynamo the Magician on and I would probably love to have a comedian like James Acaster as we love a good laugh on our podcast.
What do you think the biggest challenge for kids in school is in the modern world?
Personally I do think that school does hold back a fair amount of kids, because of its strict curriculum it doesn’t allow the creative and artistic kids to really shine through and figure out how to live their dreams.
Fortunately, Harvey and I were sneaky enough to make sure that nothing got in our way but I do think there should be more freedom in choice for lessons.
Social media has really been great for you both and for many content creators, but it can also be a dangerous place for kids. How do you think people should find that balance of using social media but only to the point where it doesn't affect their real lives?
Social media is just a bit of fun really isn’t it? Granted for some people it is a lifestyle and a way of living, but as soon as you turn it into a way of living and you’re not actually earning a living from it, you could really start to damage things like your mental health, your real life job and many other things.
I think for the majority of people social media should just be a nice pastime to watch your favourite creators and have a laugh every so often, and don’t get me wrong it’s also great for worldwide issues like gaining knowledge on coronavirus or supporting the Black Lives Matter movement safely; but I think when people start trolling and being nasty about non-important things that’s when it gets upsetting and an unsafe place to be.
Away from the podcast, your latest single Worry A Little Less dropped at the end of 2020; how did you find the response to the song from your fans?
Our fans loved the song and were so glad they did, we really wanted to give across a good message to people to not worry about the small things in life, and to make sure to mostly think positively and to focus your worries on how to stop this pandemic, as it’s clearly the most worrying thing at the moment.
We’re so proud of what we wrote and can’t wait for everyone to hear what we are releasing next!
What should we all expect from your future releases?
The next song we’re releasing is VERY different to anything we’ve done before, all of our music is usually upbeat and fun but this is a massive change for Harvey and I and it has a very personal story within the song; we’re hoping this song reaches as many people as possible as it means a lot to us.
You're hoping to tour in July, so what should fans coming to those shows expect?
We’ve missed touring so so much and can’t wait to get back on the road, we can’t reveal too much about the tour but we can guarantee that it’s going to be the best one yet, with loads of new music and the most energy and planning we’ve ever put into a tour!
How difficult has it been not to be on the road and meeting your fans throughout this pandemic?
We’ve missed them a lot but we definitely have been keeping in contact with as many of our wonderful fans as possible online, we can’t wait to see them in person when we tour again and can’t wait for them to hear the new music live!
Finally, is there anything else you've got coming up that you can share some info about with us?
We’re always making episodes for our CBBC show FOMO which is always loads of fun, and genuinely consumable for all ages, even though it’s on CBBC, you can watch it on BBC iPlayer so it’s even more accessible to the average person, and we are constantly working on new music in my bedroom studio.
Spotify Original podcast School Daze with Max and Harvey is available exclusively on Spotify now.
The new single Worry A Little Less is out now and tickets for their 2021 tour - This is Not a Phase, are on sale now https://maxandharveyofficial.com/
Find them on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/maxandharvey/