Antique Angel

We're three days into our camapign! Thank you so much for your love and support so far. Here's a sneak peek into the making of the studio album with some silly stuff in-between.

26% • $8k in one week! Thank you to every single one of you who have donated and shared this campaign over this first week. I am so grateful for your support. This means so much to me. You are making this project come to life!!

This is just the start though. We've got to keep this momentum going. Another 25% this week and we'll be on track. Please share this with everyone who appreciates art, music, film, performance, expression, and soul!

We are doing this to create a deep and emotive sonic and visual experience through local collaboration, and celebrating Aotearoa's creative essence!

Much love,

Max

"And that's a wrap" for filming the first chapter of our short film at Lake Rotoiti in the Nelson Lakes National Park in November 2023. In order to make the next six chapters, we need this funding. It will bring to life a sonic and visual experience that deeply engages with feelings of vulnerability, human connection, heart-ache, technology, and love. I want to express my sincere gratitude to those of you who have already donated, it truly means the world to me. Please share this campaign and content with your friends and family members who might be interested in supporting this work. Much love x

There's only 1 week to go and it's all-or-nothing! I would like to take a moment to express my heartfelt gratitude to all of those who have supported me and this campaign with a donation, a share, a conversation, and endless amounts of encouragement. I feel truly humbled and grateful to be doing what I love and be sharing this beautiful journey with such a kind and giving community. 

Stepping into the realm of crowdfunding has been a daunting experience and a leap outside my comfort zone. Yet, the overwhelming response I have received so far reassures me that sometimes, all we need to do is have a little faith. It has taught me the true power of community support, in the form of compassionate individuals like you who not only recognise the value of supporting someone's dreams, but also care for their well-being and courage in pursuing their passion. For this, I am forever grateful.

With one week left in my Boosted campaign, there is still time to make a difference. We have raised just over $10,000, but we need to make triple that! I am reaching out and extending an invitation not only to you, but also to anyone you can share my story with, to kindly consider providing support or providing further support. Your generosity, no matter the size, will play a vital role in helping me bring this progressive artistic experience to life and assist in the exposure, growth, and sustainability for myself and my fellow collaborators, helping us to fly the flag for creative New Zealand.

Enjoy this little teaser of Chapter 1, titled 'Cocoon'. We're working hard to complete this and busy finishing the plan to produce the next six!

Lots of love,

Max

WE DID IT!!! WOW. A successful Boosted crowd-funding campaign! My heart is singing with enormous amounts of gratitude for your generosity and belief in me, in the vision of Antique Angel, and in the arts of our beautiful country.

What a journey this has been. A challenge, one that made me steep into a very uncomfortable zone of asking people for money. But I realised that all I needed to do was keep believing in my vision and just ask with an open-heart, and I have been continually reminded of the kindness and compassion that exists within humanity from good people like you.

Thank you for listening, for giving, and for sharing. This experience and result has truely made me understand the power of community. Together, we can do amazing things! 

I am currently on tour with Genre Fluid. We have been selected by Arts On Tour NZ to play 20 shows in 30 days in this month of March. It’s been a wonderful and wild ride so far. On my return, myself and the AA team will refresh the film budget, and build a new plan to shoot the next six music videos between April — July this year. Our aim is to have a finished product by October — “A sonic and visual experience about a surrealist journey of self-discovery”.

Please let me know if you have any questions about the project. And if you’re interested in reading about my creative process, behind-the-scenes, and other creative content, subscribe to my email newsletter, The Silk Diary at silksatinsuede.com/diary

A reminder to those who donated that you qualify for a 33% tax credit because ‘Boosted’ is run by a charitable trust!

I have some special thank you’s to the following people for their unconditional love and support:

• Mum & Dad — for your unwavering belief in me, and for being the most incredible parents one could ask for.
• Geoff & Sheree Sherlock @ Room Twenty5 — for letting me use your music equipment and your venue for my campaign event. You give so much life to our community!
• Sharon Dunbar @ Nelson Tailors Menswear — for your generosity and belief in me, and for your beautiful spirit.

Thank you again, from the bottom of my heart, for your support in making this crowd-funding campaign a success. We can now make this concept album and film a reality with a brilliant team of local creatives. Much much love, Max ❤️👁️

From lakes, to beaches, to meadows, to castles, to studios, and all the way back around, we have completed the filming of Antique Angel!
 

It's been a truly incredible journey and I was sad when it came to an end. I couldn't be more proud of the team for their commitment, energy and passion. It has been so much fun and extremely artistically stimulating. But beyond the magical footage we captured, the most rewarding and meaningful part of the past six months, for me, have been the memories and connections that we've all made together as a little creative family. And to do it all amongst the beauty of our home here in the Nelson Tasman makes it that much more special.

It's a very vulnerable thing to offer your heart and soul to a piece of work and I am immensely grateful to every one of the cast and crew who have so openly given theirs to this film. Thank you Macca, James, Mum, Nikki, Jean-Philippe, and Jonny. You are true spirited people of the world and I love you all.

In anything in life there are times to be serious and disciplined, to focus on getting the work done and done to the highest possible standard, but there are equally important times to be had of laughter and play, and we spent a good amount of time in this wonderful realm. We have Macca and my mother to thank for their wittiness and willingness to be absolute goofballs.

These times, however, were tested when we quite literally almost died at a beach on the West Coast when filming chapter two in July. This secret beach is only accessible for 2-3 hours per day because the only access point is 1.5km away with a humongous cliff and boulders opposite the ocean. We had done two scouting trips and calculated the sunset and tide times according to the weather and our shooting schedule. However, when we were shooting our final take of the day, I was crouched down inside a cave covered head-to-toe in red clay and Macca said to me "fucking hell mate, the tide's coming in quick." I replied "shit, it shouldn't be, we should have at least another 30 minutes". So we continued shooting for another 5 minutes, but when the take was over we all realised how fast the water was actually coming in, knowing we had 1.5km of pebbly sand to walk across with all our gear.

When we got to the boulders the water was up to our waists. It was scary. The waves were strong and crashing against us and this was the only way out. Emotions were high and panic began setting in. Some of us fell under the water from the force of the waves, at which point I decided that we should "human chain", me at the front and Macca at the back. As the tide went out we all walked forwards in unison and when the waves came back in we stopped and held tight, holding our expensive equipment about our heads!

After about 15 minutes of endurance, tears, faith and camaraderie, we made it out alive and laughing. But man it shook us up and I am so grateful that we got out with a story to tell and lessons learnt — if it's a full moon, don't trust the tide apps. Mother Nature has free will and no mercy, which is very ironic because the title of chapter two is called "Oh Mercy!".

I really can't wait for those of you who are reading this to see the film. We're currently in the post production stage - editing, visual effects, colour grading, and mixing. This will be complete by the end of February 2025 and we plan on premiering the film in March.

I would like to give enormous thanks from myself and the whole team to the amazing people who gave their kindness, time and services to help in the production of this film and to everyone who donated to our Boosted crowd-funding campaign in February. Your contribution, whatever its size, has given us the ability to create an audiovisual experience which tells a story through symbols about man’s relationship with himself, his loved ones, and with nature.

See you on the other side.

Much love,
Max