Max and the Martians leader Max Bien Kahn; photographed by Akasha Rabut.

New Orleans act Max and the Martians bridges the down home organic southern jangle with a spaced out leaning mindset. With their new album All the Same arriving March 12 from rising DIY imprint Perpetual Doom; Max Bien Kahn and a rotating ensemble of local stars follow up the Stay at Home demos with mind wandering tales of the day-to-day within the familiar headspace framework and planetary alignments of our own solar system (and beyond). Max and friends offer an outlet and diversion from the frustrations, headaches and bellyaches of the world that finds a supernatural power in the sweet life sway of lazily skipping guitar strings (that ring like bayou-side chords that ponder the merits of hedonism in exchange for the mundanity of reality).

Max flees the pressing nuisances of the world for a cosmic fishing trip in the video debut for "Milky Way", directed by Connor James Reever and Sam Aguirre-Kelly, produced by Fast Friends. We watch the band leader drifting their way throughout the day listening to the radio, right before the pickup truck breaks down, prompting Kahn to abandon any attempts at repairs. Instead our hero grabs a backpack along with a trusty casting rod in a leisurely, and no doubt welcomed, rerouting of plans. And like all the best expeditions in pursuit of the big catch; Max finds himself in an unexpected recording studio turned retro-esque spaceship that takes flight with the controls set to interstellar overdrive. The events of exploring planetary clusters and piloting space craft provide Max's desired escape from reality that proves to have been a midday's dream imagined whilst reclining on an old tree at the foot of the water. "Milky Way" illustrates a balance between the earthy qualities of responsibilities and natural beauty with stoned stepped progressions that strolls with their feet on the dirt and their heads in the constellations (and clouds). In the immortal howl of Max Bien Kahn — Gonna lose my mind before it runs away…

Max Bien-Kahn shared some generous insights and shined some expository light on the making of the album All the Same and the cosmic proportions that informed the single & visual “Milky Way”

The first track, “All the Same” tells the story of the record. It’s a reckoning of forces in my life, some within my control and some much bigger than me. In this song I’m drifting unaware of what will come to me. I’m living in a burning building. Inside, I’m dreaming of the past, recalling old lovers and heartbreak. I simultaneously feel love, nostalgia and regret. In the end, the house burns to the ground, and what’s left is all the same.
My mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer and suddenly it was a different reality. Everything shifted when we received the news. It must be like that for everybody. Especially with hindsight, when you know the end of the story, that phone call carries a lot of extra weight. It’s impossible to remember exactly how it felt at the time, just everything felt changed afterwards.
This record was written and recorded during those last years of her life. The songwriting process helped me confront feelings of loneliness and grief, but these songs aren’t all sad. It’s about someone who feels free, is having a lot of fun, yet keeps making the same mistakes. Personal problems eventually become overshadowed by forces in life which we have no control over.

Une vue de l'intérieur — Max Bien Kahn; video still courtesy of Fast Friends.

The song “Milky Way” was written during Mardi Gras season a few years back. It’s always a wild time (this Covid year excluded), but I was going through a lot when Carnival came around in 2017 and I kept myself busy. I was always thinking of my family, missing them dearly but dreading their phone calls for fear of the news on the other end. My mom was going into brain surgery when just a few months earlier she was the healthiest person I knew. As long as I was outside of my house it was Mardi Gras and I could lose myself in it. This song comes from that feeling when you leave everything behind and go to a party somewhere up in the Milky Way.
The recording was part of a session done with Ross Farbe and Ray Micarelli (of the band Video Age) on bass and drums, and me and Jordan Odom playing guitars. Ross set up his Tascam 8-track in our practice space and we played live. We recorded the bed tracks for three other songs on the album tracks that day (All the Same, Lust Will Linger, Please Remember). Sabine McCalla and Gina Leslie recorded vocal harmonies later.
This video was made by Connor Reever (Director), and Sam Aguirre-Kelly (Director of Photography), they have a production company in New Orleans called Fast Friends. I saw some videos they made for Silver Synthetic, buddies from New Orleans (putting out their first LP with Third Man Records in April), so I hit up Connor and we brainstormed a bit. We settled on making a mini space flick.

Reclining along the edges of the Mississippi River with Max and the Martians; video still courtesy of Fast Friends.

We did the exterior shots at the Mississippi River bend, the farthest point upriver in New Orleans. That is a magic spot because the river looks especially wide as it makes an abrupt turn south and traces the western edge of the crescent. If your movie’s going to end up in outer space, the levee seemed like a good place to start.
I live all the way downriver in the Lower 9th Ward and walk along the Mississippi every day. It’s my favorite place to daydream and get lost in my thoughts. Sometimes when I finish writing a song I don’t know how I started it. I like those songs because they carry a mystery. “Milky Way” is like that to me.

All The Same will be available March 12 on cassette/vinyl courtesy of Perpetual Doom.

VIDEO PREMIERE | Max & the Martians, "Milky Way"