Comprised of alt/R&B singer, Corina and guitarist Jesse O’Neil, Max Caddy formed in 2012 when O’Neil walked into a bar where Corina was bar tending and the two immediately found a love for writing and creating music.
For two and a half decades O’Neil has been finding his own voice on the guitar through a variety of projects and styles. Around the time he first connected with Corina, he was inspired to return to his roots on acoustic guitar. His burgeoning singer-songwriter skills were a compliment to Cornia’s abilities as a frontwoman, and the chemistry between them quickly compelled Max Caddy to dive head first into the New York music scene. Soon the band established a loyal following, a weekly residency in Williamsburg, “Max Caddy and Friends,” an EP, regional tour dates and a southern tour ending at SXSW. After a brief hiatus of working on solo projects, the pair recently re-booted the project. From the Bay to the Hudson, the pair have wide range of performing background and experiences, fusing rhythm blues, soul, and stripped down folk influences with a twist of 90s kid angst.
Corina, aka Corina Corina, has been gaining recognition as a solo artist within the New York City independent hip-hop/R&B music scene, attracting tastemaker blogs like PRIDE, Bitch Media, The Vinyl District and Singersroom, among others. She’s had the honor of sharing stages with heavyweights Talib Kweli and Action Bronson and touring extensively through the USA, including multiple showcases at South by Southwest in Austin and North by Northwest in Toronto. Both of her self-released solo albums, The Eargasm (2012), The Free (2014) were co-produced with internationally acclaimed producer Willie Green (backwoodz), and for Hangover Music she teams up with him once again. All three of her albums incorporate social issues from gender inequality to self-love and resisting social norms. In early 2017, Corina Corina released a mixtape tribute to Run the Jewels entitled Run the Blues to critical acclaim, and now, she is gearing up for the unveiling of Hangover Music. All three of her albums incorporate social issues from gender inequality to self-love and resisting social norms.
In this interview feature, I chat with Max Caddy about their newest project, challenges, motivations and more.
Full Q&A with links and music below.
If you missed my previous features with Corina Corina. Check those out here and here (opens in new tab).
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.)
JO: We live down the block from each other in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I grew up in Albany, NY and Corina hails from Oakland, California. We incorporate elements of blues, folk, rock and rhythm and blues through the lens of an acoustic singing duo. At our heart I’d call us a blues band. That’s the attitude that drives us, even when we’re not doing 12 bar blues.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to stay the course?
JO: For me, our style is a freedom to have our own take on all of these different influences that we are driven by. We are not pigeoned holed into a certain box, and lots of different kinds of ideas have room to breathe and co-exist. That’s a great feeling and it feels very freeing and motivating to have an outlet for.
CC: I grew up playing blues music with my father and his guitar. I have a degree in jazz and world music and have been a hip hop kid my whole life. As Jesse said, given that we have such a huge range of influence, it’s so much fun to just get together with our ideas and see what works. It’s a hard grind to be in this industry but I’d say overall, Max Caddy is driven by the fact that we just really love playing this music together!
How is your new release different than previous ones? Did you set out to accomplish anything specific?
JO: This is our first release that prominently features guest instrumentations. Also, I play more stringed instruments on it — mandolin and guitar. We often feature guests on stage so the idea was to capture that collaborative energy on the recording but in a way that’s true to our stripped down sound. I think we succeeded in that.
CC: Jesse and I haven’t released a Max Caddy project in five years so this is basically to showcase how much we’ve grown as a duo. We’ve each released a lot of solo projects during this time and always feature each other but now is Caddy time once again!
Do you face any challenges as an indie musician in a digital age? On the flip side, how has technology helped you (if it has)?
CC: that’s a hard question to answer because I wasn’t putting out music before the Digital age so I can’t give a fair comparison. I will say that it’s awesome to be able to put out music on our own terms, whenever and however we want. The same can be said for technology.
The downside is that because it’s so easy to release music, there’s a lot out there and the good stuff can get lost. i think technology has created a culture of extreme A.D.D. It’s verrrry hard to grab people’s attention (and keep it) because now everyone is so used to staring at their phones and scrolling through without taking the tome to properly digest anything.
Where can we follow you online and hear more music?
You can find “Straight to the Face” anywhere you buy music on June 1. Also the old standbys — soundcloud, bandcamp, youtube.
Anything else before we sign off?
JO: Your blog is awesome and thanks for having us. I love Tennessee and the musical history and heritage and promise. My grandparents retired in the Blue Ridge Mountains so I was in the area a lot as a kid and come back every chance I get. Hope to see you at a Max Caddy show in Nashville soon!
