Finding a fascinating niche as a singer-songwriter, NYC’s Max Satow, professionally known as Noshows ,explores the inner workings of the mind with a wildly eclectic blend of alt-rock, hip-hop, and funk.

Having recently made his UK debut, his new EP Wants And Needs is set for release on 28th June preceded by the new single Portrait. He says the EP is “about my relationship with romance and escapism, sometimes blending the 2 concepts together. There are a lot of emotions and thoughts I have surrounding this topic that I explore throughout the songs on the EP. Generally the vibe of this collection of songs is upbeat and fun indie rock music with a modern edge”.

Max joins us to share his love for the psychedelic Rock of Tame Impala:

My favorite artist is Tame Impala – AKA Kevin Parker – mainly because I highly respect the way that he produces and plays all the instruments himself. His writing and production style is cool because he implements vintage sounds and aesthetics that everyone knows and loves, but he flips them into a style that sounds super futuristic and out of this world. 

I’ve always loved music that’s high energy and music that’s cerebral as well; Kevin Parker manages to scratch both of those itches (when usually I’d have to get my doses of those styles separately). His bass playing specifically is also very influential to me. It has a funky yet super melodic vibe to it much of the time which I can’t get enough of. A prime example of this is a somewhat obvious instance on his song The Less I Know the Better. The bass intro on that song practically makes the entire thing and is what separates it as a massive hit from the rest of the project. The moment you press play on it everyone can not only instantly recognize it as this song, but also knows it is a Tame Impala song. 

While I am primarily a guitar player, bass may actually be my favorite instrument compositionally and artists such as Kevin Parker heavily influenced me to have this opinion. The bassline you choose to lay down on a song ultimately determines the energy or vibe it will end up having. Something funky will lift it up whereas something drawn out will deepen things and leave space for other sounds.

Something else I also appreciate about Tame Impala is their knack for hook writing. It’s a huge part of Parker’s success, which would normally prove as unlikely given how psychedelic and spacey his music is. As someone who is a huge fan of psych music in general, this is so cool to me because it proves that you can make music in this lane and actually see approval of it in a mainstream context with a catchy enough chorus. 

Our thanks to Max for flagging up one of the influences that bleeds into his own music.

Here’s his latest single, Portrait:

Noshows online: Website / Facebook / Instagram

You can read more from our extensive archive of Why I Love pieces from a wide array of artists on an even wider array of subjects, here.

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