Meet Maxwell Mahieu | Musician and University of Georgia Graduate Student

We had the good fortune of connecting with Maxwell Mahieu and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Maxwell, what is the most important factor behind your success?
Two years ago, if someone had told me that my group of friends and I calling ourselves ‘The Asymptomatics’ would someday be playing at the Georgia Theatre with eleven musicians onstage in front of an audience of over 350 people, I would have called them crazy. Two years ago, The Asymptomatics and I played for the first time ever in front of a real audience. Taking place in my driveway with no PA system, our first show consisted of my mom (going by the alias ‘Ringo Mom’) playing drums on the back of a trailer, a fourty minute cover set of the Abbey Road B-side medley followed by a mix of Queen, Ray Charles, and the Velvet Underground, thrifted attempts at the “Borat” poorly fitting suit look, and three of my hometown friends trying our best to emit sounds that would be considered music.

The Asymptomatics began as simply a fun creative outlet during the COVID-19 lockdown era of summer 2020 (hence the name which was bestowed by Ringo Mom herself). Three close friends of mine: Chris Natale, Sebastian Betancur, and Kevin Brown (of elementary school, high school, and college respectively) found ourselves all home from school in the Metro Atlanta area with a lot of spare time and a sprinkle of musical ability. For a full backstory on the band’s early days you can check out our first article with Voyage ATL: http://voyageatl.com/interview/rising-stars-meet-maxwell-mahieu-of-north-atlanta/

While it started as a creative lockdown pastime of friends sharing a love of music and performing, very quickly the Asymptomatics turned into a real band. As the pandemic settled down and live music was revived, our group relocated to Athens, GA to continue school and take this music thing a little more seriously. We expanded the band with new guitarists, back-up singers, and instruments like percussion and synthesizers to grow our sound capabilities. While we grew we always kept the quirky, lighthearted, and fun energy that we had from the beginning, and this has become an important part of our success.

Back in Athens, we found ourselves in an interesting position in which we were getting asked to play gigs for a student crowd seeking out mainly cover bands while we simultaneously wanted to dive into the more creative side of original song writing. We took the challenge to do both in a way that we were covering songs that not only our crowds were enjoying (and many times not even knowing), but songs that were making us better musicians, allowing us to put our own creative flair into them, and ultimately leading us in a direction energetically and stylistically where we want our original music to go.

For the A-holes (our diehard fanbase consisting of friends, family, and growing group of Athenians and ATLiens devoted to partying with the Asymptomatics at every show) many of these covers have become staples for our shows. Whether it be the Shangri-Las turned Johnny Thunders, turned Asymptomatics ‘Great Big Kiss’ (which consists of a romantically vulgar discourse on stage seasoned with swinging saxophone riffage and solo), the Dutch progressive rock band Focus’s radio hit ‘Hocus Pocus‘ (which has become our off-the-rails climatic and chaotic closer to many sets and is known as the ‘Yodel Song’ to the A-holes), or our homage to hometown heroes the B-52s with our take on ‘Private Idaho’ (which includes a Will Ferrell worthy cowbell solo from our very own PhD of Cowbell and occasional guitarist Justin Janowitz.), we’ve injected an Asymptomatic twist into all of these songs bringing them alive in our own unique way.

Ultimately, our covers have pushed ourselves in a direction that we aim for our original music to sound and feel. Our first EP ‘Modern Ooze’, which came out this past March, was truthfully everyone in the band’s first time in a studio recording and was an amazing learning experience. We set out to create a batch of original indie inspired songs aimed to accentuate the “inevitable sweaty dance party” you get with every Asymptomatics show. All written and recorded in about 2 months, our five debut songs highlight the characters, experiences, and moments our band and inclusively our friend group has gone through in our time in college together. From shouting “Garçon, Aperol Spritz!” at unsuspecting bartenders, creating a faux romance with the invasive Joro spider, narrating the adventures of our mysterious acquaintance the “Silk Road Toad” and more, the 5 songs on our EP are geared for complete singable and danceability with hooks and choruses all meant for, energy, total audience participation, and the ultimate message that “It’s not a party if your friends aren’t there”.

All in all, these 2 years have flown by, and the amount of growth our group has gone through has been incredible. On Tuesday, August 30th this past week we played the Georgia Theatre in front of an audience of over 350 people. The Asymptomatics were in full force this show with 11 musicians on stage including our typical group of seven, plus an amazing trio of back-up singers Farida Igbadume, Bea Porges, and Annabelle Marshall, as well a special appearance from the Underground Springhouse’s Jacob Sherwin playing an armory of congas and other percussive instruments. The entire room of A-holes was singing along to our original songs, dancing, and definitely getting sweaty.

Through this time together, we have played almost every venue in Athens and are making our way into the Atlanta scene now. From The Georgia Theater, 40 Watt Club, Flicker Theatre, and more in Athens to Smith’s Olde Bar, The Earl, and Sweetwater Brewing in Atlanta, our resume of venues is looking to now break out of the state. This summer we aim to commence our first ever tour showcasing our musical repertoire as well as a growing list new originals songs all channeling the energy and sound inspirations of our favorite groups and encapsulating the vibe of dancy sweaty indie rock with 10 people on stage… more cowbell please, you’re gonna need a towel.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’ve been playing classical piano since high school, but realized I also had a friend group of talented musicians who could play music outside of structured concert bands in schools. Putting the band together has been the most enjoyable creative experience in my entire life. In the last two years of us playing, I have been taking singing lessons, improving on my abilities as an on-stage performer and frontman for the band, as well as more recently honing in on my song writing and music creation.

I’m currently a Data Analytics Master’s student with a finance undergraduate degree at UGA but have a love for music. I get the best of both worlds here in Athens in being able to apply myself creatively as a musician and performer, while I also feel confident in managing the band from what I’ve learned in college. I run our band’s social media accounts, booking, and finances and feel like I’m getting a priceless experience on both sides of the spectrum of pure creativeness and business. Apart from the band and school, I also work at the legendary Wuxtry Records in Athens where I help the 45-year-old business run their social media platforms, website, and help with the behind-the-scenes bookkeeping and finances. Working there has exposed me to all types of new and old music, which has also given me inspiration for some of the songs I’ve written for our band. As we dive into more original writing, I’m excited to use these last 2 years of experience and learning to channel some really great indie rock music into existence.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Being based out of both Athens and Atlanta, I have a love for both cities, but realize I still have a lot more to explore. From the Beltline, Little 5 Points, or Piedmont Park in Atlanta, to the 40 Watt Club, World Famous, or The Globe (any many more) in Athens, there is so much to do in these two distinct cultural hubs whether it means, eating, drinking, music listening, or ideally all three at once.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
This shout out goes to the A-holes. For the A-holes reading this, you know who you are. For those of you new to the Asymptomatics, let me explain to you how this is not an insult. The A-holes are the friends, family, and growing fan-base that come out to every Asymptomatics show. While we perform on the stage, The A-holes are always front and center in the crowd singing, dancing, and bringing the energy that we thrive on to do our thing.

From the first performance in living rooms to some of the earliest shaky, chaotic and extremely fun bar shows we played (a mini shout out to Mollapalooza & Boar’s Head Lounge in Athens), the A-holes have been there, and we can’t thank them enough. We invite anyone join the tribe.

One additional shoutout I’d like to mention so that it doesn’t get lost in the expansive lore & history of The Asymps is the primordial Asymptomatics show under the brief name of ‘Max & The Shaggy Cats’. This rarely gets remembered and can barely be considered a show, but occurred with me on drums, the other original founding member Kevin Brown playing guitar for probably his 5th time ever, and some of our closest girlfriends who can be accredited for convincing us to start a band helping sing. After joking about “getting the band back together” we set the ball of the Asymptomatics rolling and played this terrible set of Octupus’s Garden, Mean Mr. Mustard, You Can’t Always Get What You Want, and Hey Jude in a fraternity basement. So, thank you Hollis Midkiff, Eileen Clark, Molly Richardson, Sam Lee, and Christina Liberto for sparking this crazy idea and being there from the beginning.

Website: https://www.asymptomaticsband.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asymptomatics/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCN_L2ULOMR8TUZL–Y_Pk9w

Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6WkOdm1cbLuLfYsqgLjF0v

Image Credits
Garrett Cardoso