MAX SLOAN & LARA RXSE
By Resonate | May 8, 2025Max Sloan and Lara Rxse, originally from Belfast and Oxford respectively, are Bristol based indie folk musicians who met at university as solo artists. After connecting over clothes and their shared experience of going through a recent breakup whilst Max was on a mission for large bubble tea straws for a vocal exercise, Max and Lara’s friendship was solidified. Max later joined Lara’s live band playing guitar, adding his own distinct sound. Making music together and separately, through heartfelt and personal lyrics and raw storytelling, Max and Lara are making their mark on the Bristol music scene having already played in many of the city’s iconic grassroots venues such as The Louisiana, The Fleece and Thekla. Their shows may be intimate, but they’re powerful, resonating with audiences earning both artists fan bases that are growing quickly and continuously.
On a cold evening in February, we caught Max and Lara having a coffee in The Social in Bristol and eavesdropped on their conversation (armed with mini mics provided by Lara, of course) where they talked candidly about their music careers so far, as well as their future plans.
M: How did you meet the rest of the band?
L: I went to college with my drummer so we already knew each other. Then my bassist was actually just one of my friends first, and always said if I needed help with recording to let him know. Then obviously there’s you. We’ve recently gained a cellist, who I actually met at an open mic and at the end I spoke to him saying I was looking for a cellist. I literally met him in the pub and now he’s in my band. After our first practice we went back and played the same open mic which was really cool.
L: What was the music scene like in your hometown and how does it differ to the scene in Bristol?
M: It’s a lot smaller. I feel like Belfast is becoming Bristol in some ways, like they had a cycling rave recently which felt very Bristol. The scene is quite similar; it’s a lot of indie, hip hop and fusion bands as well. But Bristol is just a whole lot bigger and there’s a lot more bands, which means more connections and more people to play with.
L: Was that something that influenced you to move here?
M: Yeah, so one of the musicians I know back home went to uni here and said that it was really good for music and that was one of the things that brought me here. What about you?
L: I’m from Oxford so things are really classically based back home. Also since COVID a lot of the grassroot venues have closed so there are just like one or two left now. I think moving to any city away from Oxford is automatically better in terms of the music scene. I just didn’t really see it going anywhere there.
M: Yeah, a lot of people in Northern Ireland say that you have to get out to make it anywhere. But I do feel like there are a lot of opportunities coming up in Belfast.
M: Is there a niche influence in your music?
L: I don’t think she’s super niche as she’s getting a lot bigger now, but Matilda Mann. I’m actually currently working on an EP and she’s who I’ve used for my sound inspiration. I’ve found looking at an artist that isn’t completely in the folk scene has been really helpful in the process of developing my genre. How about you?
M: My really niche influence is a band called Racing Mount Pleasant. They’re a folk indie band and they have saxophones and trumpets, and sometimes a double bass with some electronic elements. They’re really cool!
M: Do you have any advice for musicians that are starting out?
L: I think it’s all about asking people for opportunities. You need to have a little bit of confidence to ask for things because I was always really afraid but really the worst thing people can say is no. I think also just networking and making connections with other people, whether it’s other musicians, photographers or anyone else in the creative industry has been really helpful, we all just help each other out.
L: What advice would you give?
M: Facebook groups are really good for networking. Also we’ve been looking at festivals this year which we haven’t done before, so just sitting down and having admin days that include just applying fo revery opportunity because you’ll definitely get something.
L: It’s also having imposter syndrome, you can’t really shake it, but if you force yourself out of your comfort zone and apply for things it does pay off, if you’re putting the work in, I think you get out what you put in. I can’t name drop, but we did get into a festival which is very exciting!
L:What made you get into making music? When did you start?
M:Before I applied for university I thought I wanted to be a film editor and I wasn’t writing much music. I wrote a couple songs when I was 14 but they didn’t go anywhere. My mum is very musical and taught me piano growing up and I did clarinet and saxophone in school, but I didn’t pick up a guitar until I was around 15.
M: How about you?
L: I don’t have a particularly musical family. But I was given a guitar so I started out on that, then shifted to playing piano. I always wrote songs when I was younger but they were never that great and I never really understood songwriting. I did music at school and college, but when it came to my gap year and going to uni, I bought myself a nice keyboard with a pedal and weighted keys so that motivated me to really play and practice, and this is when I started properly writing and liking what I was writing. I released music on Spotify in2021 during lockdown and it was played on BBC introducing Oxford which was really cool, but I removed it from Spotify eventually because it really didn’t feel like me. I had an electronic sound, which is cool but I do plan on reworking some of it in the future.
M: Are you allowed to say you have an EP coming out?
L: Yeah, so I’ve got an EP coming out in May but the exact date still needs to be confirmed.
M: I also currently have an album in the works.
L: Do you have any interesting stories about how you got a gig?
M: There was one time I was busking in Belfast, it was the first busk of the summer and I was just setting up and within five minutes some guy came up to me and said he was doing a show at the Oh Yeah Centre, do you want to come and support me? And obviously, I said yeah. The Oh Yeah Centre is basically the music hub in Belfast so to me this was a pretty big deal.
L: That’s really cool. My first gig in Bristol was a solo gig as the first opener slot for Sean Edwards. So when I got my band, I saw he was actually looking for another support act and I was kind of like “I know I’ve supported you before but I’ve got a band now if you’re interested” I wasn’t really expecting him to say yes as we had only done one band gig, but supported him and we were actually moved up from the opener to the main support which feltlike a full circle moment.
L: So we’ve talked about artists that have inspired us but do you get inspiration from everyday life and things that aren’t technically musical?
M: Yeah, the other day when we went to The Tate art gallery there was that piece that was a bunch of nails that were hammered into a canvas or a block and it looks different depending on where you’re standing because of the shadows created by the nails and that kind of inspired me. Nature inspires me a lot. I have written so many lyrics about the sea, because obviously, Northern Ireland is so small that all of it is coastline, or where I’m from anyway. What are your non musical inspirations?
L: I get inspiration from really mundane things and situations that happen to me and my friends. I love just sitting somewhere nice and the scenery or even things like books and art. Seeing my friends playing gigs inspires me, I find that I have a similar sound to the people I surround myself with.
L: What are your future goals?
M: I want to continue making music in Bristol and developing my social media while doing gigs. I want to open a home studio to record my own music and keep writing everyday and I’ll be living with other musicians. My album will be coming out and I’m already planning an EP in my head.
L: I’m also hoping to stay in Bristol because I think it’s the perfect level of busy for me, after staying in London for five days I found it was way too overwhelming. I feel like I’ve made Bristol my home now after being here for three years. The ideal is to stay living in Bristol and building on my career and applying for everything
Words by Lucia Brown
Pictures by Caitlyn Knight
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