“THE LONG, HARSH WINTERS, THE COLD WINDS, THE MOUNTAINS, THE FEROCIOUS NORTH ATLANTIC AND UNINHABITED LANDSCAPES – IT WAS MY BREEDING GROUND FOR CREATIVITY.”  SAYS BRADLEY ARTHUR MAXWELL Fillatre, PROUD SON OF NEWFOUNDLAND, THE RUGGEDEST OF CANADA’S PROVINCES.  

GRANDEUR AND ISOLATION ON THAT SCALE DO THINGS TO A MUSICIAN’S HEAD. EVEN NOW, RECENTLY RELOCATED TO LOS ANGELES, Fillatre STILL FEELS “THE SWAY OF THE ELEMENTS” GUIDING HIM WHEN HE SITS DOWN TO WRITE. THE RESULT IS HAUNTING MINIMALISM THAT OCCUPIES THE SPOT WHERE ETHEREAL PSYCHEDELIA MEETS AMERICANA. HIS VOCALS ARE UNHURRIED, AS IF HE’S AMBLING ALONG A HIGH-LONESOME FOOTPATH, BREATHING THE AIR. YOU KNOW THAT LOST-IN-A-MOMENT SENSATION THAT SOME MUSIC EVOKES? MAXWELL’S SONGS DO THAT. EARLIER THIS YEAR, THE 405 BODLY PROCLAIMED HIM AS, “ONE OF 2019’S MOST EXCITING NEW VOICES.”

YOU MIGHT HAVE ALREADY HEARD HIS MUSIC: HALF A DOZEN Fillatre’s TRACKS HAVE BEEN USED AS SYNCS ON REALITY AND DOCUMENTARY-BASED NETWORKS LIKE MTV AND LIFETIME. REGARDLESS, IT’S AN INTERESTING JUXTAPOSITION - HIS PROFOUNDLY HONEST SONGS ALONGSIDE PROGRAMMING DEVOTED TO A FICTIONALIZED VERSION OF LIFE. MAXWELL’S UNIQUE SOUND BRINGS SUBSTANCE AND TRUTH TO THE INSUBSTANTIAL AND SCRIPTED. 

SO, WHERE TO START WITH HIS MUSIC? THE SINGLE “ALONE” IS A STUNNING ENTRY POINT INTO fillatre’S WORLD. IT’S A SLOW-MOTION MEDITATION ON LONELINESS – WHETHER IT’S THE LONELINESS OF MISSING A LOST LOVED ONE OR THE SELF-IMPOSED ISOLATION OF OUR DIGITAL AGE. HE’S MADE A TUNE THAT EVOKES DARKENED URBAN ROOMS AND WINDSWEPT PRAIRIES – BOTH IN THE SAME SONG. THE ACOUSTIC ARRANGEMENT, GARNISHED WITH DISTANT WHISTLING, COULD HAVE COME FROM A SERGIO LEONE FILM SOUNDTRACK.

OR, FOR A COMPLETE CONTRAST, THERE’S HIS DEBUT TRACK, “EASY ON ME”. A SONG HE WROTE ABOUT THE ANXIETY AND UNCERTAINTY OF LEAVING HOME AND MOVING TO CALIFORNIA. SUBTLY CONSTRUCTED OF REVERB, MINOR CHORDS AND GUITAR, IT’S A PRIMER TO THE MAXWELL SOUND - BOTH MONOCHROMATICALLY BEAUTIFUL AND AN IDEAL PIECE OF MUSIC TO TRANCE OUT TO. ITS VIDEO, IN FACT, CAPTURES HIM IN FULL TRANCE MODE. 

HIS MUSICAL HEROES RANGE FROM TOM PETTY AND NICK CAVE TO RADIOHEAD AND BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB - A DIVERSE BUNCH WITH A COMMON THREAD: EACH MAKES MUSIC FROM A LONER VIEWPOINT. HE RELATES TO THAT. “IF I STAYED TRUE TO MY INSTINCTS, I’D STICK TO DARK CORNERS IN ROOMS RATHER THAN SPOTLIGHTS ON STAGES,” HE TOLD ATWOOD MAGAZINE RECENTLY. WRITING BECAME “SOMEWHERE TO PUT MY ENERGY INSTEAD OF BEING SELF-DESTRUCTIVE”. HE’D HAD A ROUGH ADOLESCENCE, HAVING BEEN DEEPLY AFFECTED BY THE PASSING OF HIS FATHER, GRANDFATHER AND GREAT-GRANDFATHER WITHIN THREE YEARS. “I GOT TO KNOW DEATH INTIMATELY,” AS HE PUTS IT. BUT BEING AROUND DEATH HAD BEEN THE NORM IN HIS FAMILY ANYWAY; HIS PARENTS RAN A FUNERAL HOME, AND HE WORKED THERE DURING SCHOOL VACATIONS. “IT WAS NORMAL TO ME - WASHING HEARSES, BEING AROUND THE CASKET; I’D SEE THE BIG SILVER DOOR TO THE EMBALMING ROOM AND SNEAK IN THERE AND SEE ALL THE INSTRUMENTS AND BE EQUALLY PERTURBED AND FASCINATED.”

OF HIS CREATIVE PROCESS, fillatre SEMI-EXPLAINS. “SOMETIMES, WHEN I WRITE, I FEEL LIKE LOVED ONES WHO HAVE PASSED ARE THERE WITH ME. CERTAIN PHRASES COME AND I’VE FOUND MYSELF THINKING, ‘IS THAT DAD SAYING SOMETHING HE DIDN’T GET TO SAY?’ ULTIMATELY, WHEN I WRITE, I FEEL LIKE I'M CONNECTING TO A VERY SPIRITUAL PLACE.”

He also JUST RELEASed THE VERY SPECIAL “NO WONDER WHY” AS A SINGLE. A COLLABORATION WITH NEWFOUNDLAND FOLK THREE-PIECE THE ONCE. AND IT’S REMARKABLE: THE TRIO’S SPECTRAL HARMONIES, BARELY PALPABLE AT TIMES, TAKE THE SONG TO A DIFFERENT PLANE – FITTING, GIVEN MAXWELL’S BELIEF THAT SONGS CAN BE PASSAGEWAYS TO OTHER WORLDS. "No Wonder Why" is simply a love letter to the person, place or specific moment in time that has marked your heart." HE SAYS oF the song.

"I’M COMPELLED TO PURSUE THIS,” HE CONCLUDES. “I NEVER REALLY STOP SEARCHING FOR IDEAS THAT COULD EVENTUALLY TURN INTO SONGS. I HAVE HUNDREDS OF VOICE MEMO RECORDINGS ON MY PHONE.” SOME OF THEM ARE “NONSENSE”, HE CHEERFULLY ADMITS, BUT OTHERS WILL BECOME PART OF Fillatre’S SINGULAR CATALOGUE. KEEP THE FAITH WITH HIM AND YOU’LL BE AMPLY REWARDED.