This album has seemed to have been longer in gestation than previous ones. Any reasons or just life being life?

It was a new thing for me, I sat on tracks for a long time on this one. I usually like, make the whole album over a couple months/moment in time style. I had (have) a lot going on with doing Dolo Percussion stuff, the Lifted LPs, producing songs for people here, there wasn't much pure Max stuff the last few years, but what i did keep was just sounding great and lived-in to me. I made a couple songs in 2018 but the rest were ones I kept going back to.

Has anything changed in your working process? New toys, new tricks, new inspiration?

I got a TR8S recently but that didn't hit the album. That thing is crazy, I love it. Other than that my process now kind of isn't different but feels personally good, or flowing right now, to me, I'm better at channeling feelings in the tunes, or sort of pointing at a specific mood in a way I don't think I used to be able to.

Is this album about anything or more just where you were at when you recorded it?

I always tend towards the romantic I guess haha. Softie vibes. This one I guess is, again, lived-in. I mean its electronic music with no lyrics, but its about something nonetheless. I def made a conscious effort to collect these sort of audio bits that were perfect on their own, like Boo Sneeze, Snow Melting, the beginning of Cuz Its The Way. I love that fleeting feeling of a moment when u actually caught it. Feels like miniatures, like really good glue that holds time in place for you. Its kind of about that.

I like the way you made a guest appearance on your own LP (as Dolo). Do you go into the studio in a Max D or Dolo mindset or just make the call someway down the line?

I always liked rap shit where people had multiple aliases and showed up mid LP and stuff like that, more than anything I just didn't hear any melodic "thing" to do over the barrage so it felt like it was gonna stay Dolo. I wanted to keep the front of the album fast.

Do you still partially work in childcare? If so, what’s the funniest thing a child has said to you in the last 6 months?

Damn the other day we were watching Snow Dogs (they voted for it amongst themselves lol) and there's this moment when Cuba Gooding Jr asks out loud, "who's my father?!?!" and this kid in the back just yelled "CUBA GOODING SR!"

Disappeared down any deep musical wormholes recently? What’s in the ‘listening pile’ RIGHT NOW?

Listening pile:

-lots of Ghost, the dancehall singer. I came up on a pile of 7"s and - the voice!

-Anchor, Music Works, Pow Wow type digi dub

-Bill Evans and Philly Joe Jones - On Green Dolphin Street (I fucking love Bill Evans)

-Huey Mnemonic tracks

-when the dude Mark Hollis died I def had a Talk Talk week that was pretty transcendent

-Raincoats - Moving

-Moodymann - all the KDJ stuff and Black Mahogani

Have you and Ari ever had an argument about a track wanted for both Future Times AND World Building? If not, how would you hypothetically resolve such a dispute?

Two chops to the damn throat.