ABOUT MAX

The soundtrack of a film that only exists in your imagination. A reeling sequence of individually crafted scenes, each unique, nuanced and vividly colourful. Fore- and backgrounds alternate. Perspectives change.

Max Clouth, born 1985 in Frankfurt, studied jazz guitar from 2015 onwards at the University of Music Mainz with Marc-Oliver Klenk and Norbert Scholly and from 2008 to 2009 at the University of Music Carl Maria von Weber in Dresden from Ralf Beutler and Stephan Bormann. He then took lessons from 2009 to 2012 with Pandit Nayan Ghosh at the Sangit Mahabharati Music School Mumbai and with Guitar Prasanna at the Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music. Clouth performed with Torsten de Winkel, Indradeep Ghosh, Luis Gallo, Ishaan Ghosh, Varijashree Venugopal, Arto Tuncboyaciyan, Arijit Singh, among others and played guitar on numerous film scores, including “That Girl with Yellow Boots”, “Ekk Main Aur Ek Tu”, and “Aiyyaa”.

His trademark double-neck guitars developed with luthier Philipp Neumann are based on oriental and Indian string instruments such as Oud or Sarod. With his group Ragawerk/Max Clouth Clan, he developed a unique musical style that draws inspiration from the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Kraftwerk, Led Zeppelin as well as Indian Classical and contemporary electronic music.
In 2011 Clouth released his self-produced solo album Guitar; The Times of India praised it as a “great fusion”.
Return Flight was Max Clouth’s second album, which he recorded with his clan and Indian musicians; In 2018 followed Kamaloka (a term from Sanskrit, literally translating to “place of desire”), in which two Indian singers, a tabla player and three strings complement the quartet line-up. Clouth has composed music for “Blue Summer Symphony” (directed by Sinje Köhler and nominated for the Student Academy Awards), “Masala Chai” (directed by Marco Hülser), among others.

PRESS

“Clouth’s Guitar sets off on endless runs around the melody, halfway between
comes the Mahavishnu Orchestra and full-on prog rock.”
David Honigmann, The Financial Times

“Max’s masterful yet restrained modern Flamenco guitar is set against lush electronic & cinematic elements.
This is music that realistically embraces a vision of complex hope in a bright tomorrow shaped by its shadows.”
Vernon Reid, Living Colour

“Clouth, who is trained in Indian classical, aptly lays over fretwork that oscillates between
sitar-like melodies and jazz progressions on a double-neck guitar.”
Anurag Tagat, Rolling Stone India

“Frankfurt-based jazz musician Max Clouth is considered a contemporary prime example
of the combination of Indian music, German electro and jazz.”
Lukas Lautenbacher, GUITAR

“Citing Jimi Hendrix and John McLaughlin as musical godfathers,
Max Clouth plays at the speed of light and seemingly effortlessly”
Concerto, Austria