Maxwell grew up in southwestern PA on a farm with his nine siblings. When he was thirteen he received a guitar from a close friend of one of his older brothers. The guitar was missing the two high strings. He played on it for about a year and realized playing bass would feel more natural to him. He didn't have a bass of his own back then so he would borrow basses from friends so we could all jam in a garage or basement. Fast forward to when he turned sixteen years old and purchased his first bass guitar after saving up pay checks for months from his very first job. All these years later and he never wanted to have a day go by where he was not playing a bass.
He's been a house bassist for a local studio, and a fill in for hired gun bass work for local acts when he's not playing with my band Fire Escape or touring with Cool Hip Priest. With a Bachelors Degree in Finance with a minor in Communication Studies from California University of Pennsylvani, he is also a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Rig of choice: I use Rattlesnake Cables, an Ashdown ABM 600 Evo IV head, a 2x12 Schroeder cabinet, SIT Strings on all of my basses. I use a custom Marco N1 bass and a few Fender P basses as my gigging and recording bass guitars
How did you discover Nordstrand? I couldn't get the tone I wanted out of my rigs and bass guitars. I was trying different pickups and finally landed on Nordstrand pickups. I immediately fell in love with the tone. I ended up putting
NP4's in all of my p basses and p bass clones. I never looked backed since. I also use the
Nordymute on occasion and I love it.
I'm incredibly grateful to Carey and the rest of the Nordstrand team for treating me so well and accepting me into the Nordstrand family. Not only am I playing the best pickups in the world but I'm also part of a group of people that share the same love and passion for music. I'm a Nordstrand Audio loyalist for life!
Projects and artists: Currently playing shows and recording an album with my band Fire Escape. I also am a touring bassist for Cool Hip Priest and have worked with the Todd Moyer Band in the past.
Find more about Maxwell on the interwebs: YouTube and Facebook @FireEscapeBand and Instagram @FireEscape_Band
