Uncovering unique hobbies at North Central College proved to be a rather difficult task. Something not so difficult to uncover, however, is sophomore Max Tansey’s love for music.
“Well, I like it. There’s really no other reason, I just enjoy the energy it brings.” An energy that is very apparent in most of Tansey’s music, especially “I Want It,” one of his newer releases.
Studying graphic design and philosophy at NCC, Tansey — aka Bastard Child, aka Wild Cat, aka Maximillion — spent 10 years before college studying music theory and classical guitar, or in his words “… like half my life.”
With his debut single, “Call of Booty (ft. EarthChild, Wild Cat),” which is nearing 17,000 plays on Soundcloud, it’s not hard to see that people are as passionate about Wild Cat’s music as he is about making it.
Drawing influence from rappers like Famous Dex and Denzel Curry, Tansey seems to have figured out a secret that many producers in many genres still seem unable to uncover: “… it doesn’t have to be intelligent,” Tansey said, “those guys (Famous Dex and Denzel Curry) just go out on stage and they’re having a blast. Like they’re just jumping around stage… It’s not about intelligent lyrics, it’s about energy, you know? A shared experience, everybody just going crazy.”
Tansey’s energy and passion shine through just in conversation, by letting it be known that “Wild Cat (is) stuntin’ baby.” Tansey also talks about the drive behind his studies. While a graphic design major serves to help Tansey make his own album artwork and promotional material, a minor in philosophy serves a deeper purpose in helping him gain more understanding of the world around him.
“I think it helps studying philosophy because I’m able to talk about vices and things like that and how they’re a good way to escape, but you just don’t let them take control of you. I mean, what can you say, sometimes they do.” Sentiments like this seem to be apparent in Tansey’s softer, more emotional songs like “Too Cold” and “Patience (Rough).”
Never serious for too long, Tansey cuts back to talk about his upcoming album. “I’m just having fun again like, you know, I’m trying to get somebody to draw my new album artwork. I’m trying to get like a full mink coat drawn around me, you know chains and things.”
Despite the mink and the chains, Tansey assures that there isn’t much of a difference between Tansey and the newly realized Maximillion. “I’m not trying to be someone I’m not. I mean this is me, I’m just a lot more crazy I guess. I’m pretty wild. WILD CAT!”
“…TuneCore — I don’t know if you’ve heard of that — you pay them like $39, you can upload a whole album… they just take a little cut of the profit… I mean, it’s not hard, you don’t need a record label anymore if you want to get out there.” Relying on digital music aggregators, like TuneCore, Tansey is able to forgo a record label while still having his music distributed on platforms like iTunes, Spotify and Amazon. Tansey has not yet performed any of his rap music live but plans to in the near future once he amasses some more material.
He said that his friends were one the greatest tools in getting his music out to the masses. “Friends really help a lot… if you have an initial group of friends to just really hype up your music and share it that helps a lot. From there you can build, but initially, you really do need people to believe in you.”
Keen to get a shameless self-plug into the article, Tansey leans closer to the microphone, “M-A-X-I-M-I-L-L-I-O-N. Soundcloud name, Maximillion. I hate saying that. I mean you can find me on Soundcloud; you can find me on Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music as ‘Wild Cat.’ I don’t know if that’s gonna change, I don’t know if I can change that.”
Catch more of Tansey and his music on The Chronicle/NCClinked Facebook page on Thursday when he performs on nccLIVE.
