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From Goleta to Los Angeles, singer-songwriter and psych-pop producer Maxton Hunter longs for an escape with someone special in his latest single, "Halfway Home."
Maxton Hunter doesn't identify with one single instrument but the studio as a whole. From growing up in a secluded ranch near Goleta to moving to Los Angeles in 2019, Hunter quickly became an active member of the independent music scene through several collaborations and performing with groups like The Caverns and The Shorelines.
Now, Maxton Hunter invites you into his own mystical, moving, and passionate sonic world with his third EP release, Windmills Of My Imagination, featuring the lead single "Halfway Home." The new song is a tasteful helping of California psych-pop with breezy guitars, lush keyboards, and lyrics packed with desire. Maxton Hunter mentioned that it's a song of reclusion and longing for an escape, something many of us can relate to during these strange times.
Hitting play on the new tune, "Halfway Home," we're peacefully greeted with smooth pop-folk instrumentals that glitter and drone through our speakers with the sweetest melodies. Correction, Maxton Hunter's vocals provide the smoothest melodies, showering us in endless passion and imagination, something he's been known for since childhood.
He blesses our ears on the soul-soothing hook with gentle falsetto melodies and the warmest acoustic guitar alongside mid-tempo percussion and tender keys to round out the listening experience. It's clear that all Maxton Hunter is looking for is an escape to "underneath the waterfall," just to be alone with his woman. The song is a heaping serving of pure, unbridled passion that has us itching to hit the road with someone special.
Feast your ears on the delightful listening experience that is Maxton Hunter's lush new single, "Halfway Home," now available on all digital streaming platforms.
Welcome to BuzzMusic, Maxton Hunter. What a beautiful and comforting listening experience you've offered. You've mentioned that you identify with the studio rather than one single instrument. What was your experience in the studio creating the EP? What was that process like?
All the songs that now make up ‘Windmills Of My Imagination’ were written while quarantined with my girlfriend in 2020. Although I love home recording and still actively do so, I felt these 4 songs genuinely deserved something different. So in early 2021, I teamed up with my friend and stellar engineer Noah Bruskin at his studio in Santa Barbara. Creatively, it was really refreshing to focus more on the songs themselves this time around and equally shadow Noah’s recording techniques. It’s immensely important to have someone willing to experiment with you while also being candid and acknowledging your bad ideas. He’s really brilliant… and even made some keyboard-cameos, ha! Unlike a stage, studios feel far more comfortable to me. Every idea can finally come to fruition in a studio and to this day, being able to listen back to what originated in one’s head just always astonishes me. My perspective on songwriting and recording immediately changed after these sessions so I’m looking forward to how it’ll translate on future projects.
Why is "Halfway Home" a "song you hear when your head is in the clouds," as you mentioned? Could you elaborate on that?
Aside from my obsession with reverb, I just wanted every aspect of “Halfway Home” to also contribute to that sense of daydreaming: growing up, finding real love, and longing for a spiritual escape. The EP overall is quite dreamy to me because it touches on the importance of your mindset… or better yet, your imagination.
What sort of scenes, visuals, or images didn't you want listeners to imagine? What did you want them to picture?
There’s never been an image I didn’t want listeners to imagine because no matter how much you put into a song (literally or abstractly), people will always interpret it differently. During quarantine, like so many people, I was really going through a hard time, and I had just moved to Los Angeles when everything shut down. This meant new surroundings, a new day-to-day life… Simply put, there were a lot of changes all at once. Because of this, you can really hear that these songs were written at different points of my growth. For me, when I hear them, I’m, of course, taken back on my own personal journey. But I hope that when others listen to it, they can reflect on their own journeys and feel the comfort that they’re not alone. Once your music is released, it’s not yours anymore. That’s what’s ultimately so special about being a musician.
What can you tell us about your upcoming EP?
Funny enough, WOMI wasn’t originally intended to be an EP, but one of the lyrics from “Say What You Mean” just sounded too cool not to be an album or EP title, haha. This then sparked my interest to simply bring my 3 previous singles alongside 1 new song together for a cohesive experience. It’s rare for me to celebrate my birthdays, so I felt this was also a fun way to honor turning 25! Although each song is quite different from one another, they really summarize this first quarter of my life, and I couldn’t be more grateful… Onto the next chapter!
