Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Max Embers from American Idol Season 20

American Idol returns to ABC on Sunday, Feb. 27. Here’s more about Max.

* He’s a Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter who has already released music and appeared on NBC’s Songland.

* Max grew up in western Germany, began studying classical piano at age 6, became fascinated with pop music and began writing songs when he was 13.

* He spent a year of high school in Bethlehem, Pa., as an exchange student and calls that a life-changing experience because it led him to return to the U.S. to attend the Berklee College of Music.

* After graduating in 2016, he moved to L.A. to immerse himself in the music scene there. He released a debut single about his first love, a song called “Lying,” in 2018.

* He was featured in the premiere episode of “Songland” in May 2019, pitching a song called “Back Home” to John Legend. After working with Ryan Tedder, “Back Home” became an upbeat love song called “Lookin’ Up.”

* It wasn’t the song John Legend decided to record from that episode. But Max released the song a couple of weeks later and it now has more than 1.3 million streams on Spotify.

* Max went on to release nine more singles between 2019 and 2020. One of those, “Honest Mistake,” is his most popular on Spotify to date with more than 2.4 million streams on Spotify.

* But the project Max says he’s most proud of is a five-song EP he released last July called “Idyllwild.” He rented a camper in Idyllwild, Calif., spent three weeks alone in the woods and wrote the entire EP there. Check out the music video for “Wildest Dreams,” the lead single from the EP, below.

* Max told Authority Magazine he was beginning to doubt his ability to create on his own, without the help of other musicians and writers prior to that trip. “The biggest lesson I’ve learned through it is this: as a creative, it’s easy to get caught up in the expectations of everybody else, and the weight of that can really be crippling. I’ve found that the one and only antidote to this is to dive head first into the deep end of what’s authentic, honest and real to you.”

* In 2021, Max’s songs were streamed 1.4 million times on Spotify.

Max on social media:
Instagram
Twitter
Facebook
YouTube

Keep checking back …

I’ll be posting profiles of about 50 top contestants who auditioned for American Idol Season 20. Profiles of the singers listed below will be coming soon. More names might be added. The links take you to the profiles already published.

Allegra Miles
Ashley Blaire
Ava Maybee
Betty Maxwell
Cadence Baker
Carly Mickeal
Christian Guardino
Ciasia Nicole
Cole Wesley Ritter
Corey Curtis

Dakota Hayden
Danielle Finn
Douglas Mills, Jr.
Elli Rowe
Elliot Greer
Emyrson Flora
Fritz Hager
Hunter Girl
Jacob Moran
Jay Copeland
Joedi Silvers

Jordan Chase Torrez
Jourdan Blue
Katyrah Love
Kaylin Roberson
Kelsie Dolin
Kendra Checketts
Kenedi Anderson
Kevin Gullage
Kezia Istonia (a.k.a. Lady K.)
Kirk Richmond

Leah Marlene
Lexi Weege
Max Embers
Mike Parker
Nicolina Bozzo
Noah Thompson
Olivia Faye
Paige Fish
Ryan Argast
Ryleigh Madison

Sage
Sam Moss
Scarlet Ayliz
Sir Blayke
Tobias Hill
Tristen Gressett
Tyler Allen
Valerie Marie
Wennely Quezada
Yoli Mayor