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career. Or taken these seven-year breaks,
where other people’s careers are just over.
At their third year away, fans are like, “Oh,
well – a new person’s out now.” But for
me, it’s still going, and I look out in my
audience and see 20- and 25-year-olds. I
must have done something cool to somebody to get all of this – I had to have sacrificed something for someone, even my life,
maybe. But I did something, because it
shouldn’t be this good. But it’s weird, too.
When my last record came out, Michael
Maxwell, 2016.
Photo: Eric Johnson
07•2016
same spiritual plane as you. And you can’t
make relationships charitable – you have
to be with people who are on your wavelength, people who think like you and
have the same ethics as you. They care
about politics and issues in this world.
And it’s tough sometimes, when you see a
super, super-badass girl, and she’s hot.
You can really be a sucker for a pretty face.
But I’ve kind of outgrown that. I’m really
looking for substance, and the more substance I find, the more substantial my
work becomes, and the less I’m distracted
by the negative energies that can be
around me.
IE: Have you ever had a past-life regression? Or believe that you’ve lived before?
M: Oh yeah, for sure. Or none of this
would have happened the way it did – I
never would have made these choices or
ascended to where I have in this 20-year
12 illinoisentertainer.com july 2016
Jackson passed away, and Prince just
went, and Bowie. It’s really ironic that
every time I release a record, I lose one of
my idols. But every time that happens,
you start to realize Don’t forget to live.
Yeah, you’ve been given a gift, and you’re
known in the world for something creative
that you do. But don’t let it overwhelm
you, and don’t let the competitive aspect
of your career compel you to oversaturate
the market, and people start to not care
about you because they know you’re
always going to be there. Just live a little
bit, Make your mistakes, but enjoy life and
see the world. That’s a code that I live by.
And I try to stay away from the mini-bar at
three in the morning, as well – that’s
another one. And I’m not talking about
booze – I’m talking about Snickers, Reese’s
Pieces, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
Because I’m telling you, bro, and I’m serious – you’re there in your bed, and you
hear a voice, and it’s Reese’s Pieces that
starts saying things to you.
IE: You should get business cards printed
up – ‘Maxwell: The calmest man in show
business’!
M: Ha! You know what? I’m going to do
that! Any color preference you have for
these business cards, once I get them
going?
IE: You should use the tint and the font on
those cards from “American Psycho,” that
would really piss off Christian Bale’s
Patrick Bateman character.
M: Ah! You see? You and I have one mind.
He was so mad that the other guy had better business cards than he did! And now
there’s an American Psycho musical, and
my friend’s involved in it. I was so taken
by the commercial for it, I think I might go
check it out. I like camp. Camp is always
good.
Tom Lanham