T.H.E Interview – Maggie Szabo & Max Styler

Pop Powerhouse Maggie Szabo and seasoned Spinnin’ Records electronic producer Max Styler team up for their new single “History” out today.

This energetic and heart-pumping dance track is layered with nostalgic production with an ear towards the future highlighting Styler’s killer production instincts. Maggie Szabo brings this song to life with her epic vocal range, and her natural ability to capture the spirit of the dance floor in her delivery. Together Szabo and Styler’s aesthetics pair perfectly, making “History” a true 2022 standout EDM hit.

We caught up with Maggie Szabo & Max Styler to learn more about “History” came about, plans for 2022 & more.

Aditya – Hey Maggie and Max, Happy new year! Glad to have you for the interview. How was 2021 for you?

Maggie Szabo – 2021 was great! Lots of writing and recording, and I feel like this year will be a fun year to finally release all of the material I was working on last year.

Max Styler – 2021 was special for me. A big momentum shift for my career started last year in a very positive way. I had many song releases on new labels, played some incredible shows and also connected with new people that I’m very fortunate to call friends now.

Aditya – ‘History’, sounds like a proper poolside banger. What was the creative process of this track for both of you?

Maggie Szabo – This song was one of the most memorable ones to make because I wrote it with some friends while I was on a trip to Amsterdam. Amsterdam is one of my favourite cities in the world, so this song means a lot to me. I took a short train ride out of the city to my friend’s studio, and a few of us got to work on some melody ideas and lyrics, and I recorded it that day! Once I got back to LA we made some changes and I finished up the recording of it here. Hearing Max take the song to the finish line was amazing because we needed his vision to make the song complete.

Max Styler – I was sent this vocal from my good friend Misha. We have worked together in the past on my song “Let Me Take You There” with Laura White and as soon as I heard the first 5 seconds of “History” I knew it was for me. Maggie and the writers did an incredible job. From there I took the vocal and started laying down some melody ideas. Finally, I figured out piano chords that I thought paired with Maggie’s voice perfectly and the rest of the song came quickly from there, drums, bass line etc. The song actually went through several different versions until I felt good enough to send it back to Misha, Maggie and the team. I couldn’t be happier with the final version now!

Aditya – Max, how did you begin producing?

Max Styler – I began producing when I was 16 living at home with my parents. I actually saved up money from working for my parents to buy dj equipment and started playing some local gigs. From there it took me a few years to realize I needed more than just DJing in my life. The ambitious next step felt natural, so again I saved up more money from my gigs to buy a nice laptop and production software. The rest is…. “history.” ;)

Aditya – Max, how do you feel when you’re performing across thousands of people? Do you feel nervous?

Max Styler – I will always feel nervous. Although I used to get more nervous when I was younger and more new to all of this.

Aditya – Maggie, what kind of a singer would you classify yourself as?

Maggie Szabo – I grew up loving R&B and soul music, and even sang in some jazz bands. But I’ve also always loved pop music and as far as my writing is concerned, pop is where my tendencies always land. So I would like to call myself a soulful pop singer!

Aditya – Maggie, you’ve recently amassed millions of plays on Spotify, how do you feel about that?

Maggie Szabo – It’s a pretty amazing feeling to be honest! As an independent artist, every listener, every stream and every fan means so much to me. I’m just very grateful.

Aditya – Max, what’s your studio setup like?

Max Styler – I produce in Ableton, my main studio monitors are the Focal cms65s that I have used and trusted for years. I also recently, over the beginning of the pandemic, invested in a Moog sub37 as well as a Roland drum sequencer TR8, both of which I love and use now in most of my tracks.

Aditya – Maggie, how and where did you learn to write music and sing?

Maggie Szabo – I grew up always singing whenever and wherever I could! For local charity events, for my parents’ friends when they came over (haha!) and eventually I started taking singing lessons. I started writing poetry as well and I had a vocal coach that encouraged me to turn those poems into songs, and that’s kind of how it started! What helped me learn a lot about songwriting was working with other people.

Aditya – Are we going to see more collaborations between you two?

Maggie Szabo – I hope so!

Max Styler – Yes! What Maggie said!

Aditya – Lastly, what are you both looking forward to in 2022?

Maggie Szabo – After the last couple years we’ve all had, I’m just super excited to start traveling again and doing more in-person writing sessions!

Max Styler – I think similar to Maggie I’m looking forward to traveling and playing more gigs again. I’ve missed that aspect of my career for a couple years and I’m very excited to get back out there.