Max Bornstein

Max Bornstein is a songwriter, singer and multi-instrumentalist from Toronto, Canada.

Max’s journey with music began in 2006, when he first saw the film That Thing You Do! Once he laid eyes on the hunky, debonair drummer, Guy Patterson, the film’s protagonist, the switch flipped. Max began studying drums with one of Toronto’s top musicians, Chris Lesso.

Soon after, Max joined forces with Emmett S. Webb, starting their first band, and creating a long-lasting collaborative partnership which is still active today.

While attending Rosedale Heights School of the Arts, the pair met Jacob Switzer and Fox Martindale. The quartet began playing together in separate projects, and eventually realized that the combination of these numerous incarnations could add up to something spectacular. The group created a new garage rock band, Goodbye Honolulu, and their own record label, Fried Records. The label and art collective began to release music online from local Toronto acts, in the same vein of lo-fi tunes created by the founders. To date, Fried Records has over 10 artists on their roster, spanning the distance from Toronto to Montréal. The collective also hosts regular all-ages shows in Toronto, which are consistently sold out.

Goodbye Honolulu released their debut record, Heavy Gold, in December 2015 and has played to some of Toronto’s finest venues, including the Horseshoe Tavern, Lee’s Palace, and Adelaide Hall. In 2016, the group opened for the Madrid-based garage rockers, Hinds, on the American leg of their Leave Me Alone world tour, including a sold-out show at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom.

While cultivating the creation of Fried Records, Max’s attention turned from skins & sticks to strings & picks. A sudden interest in the guitar led to composing songs that he could truly call his own. Recorded from his home, Max completed his debut solo record, The Palindrome Years. The album was released in July 2014, and with Max playing nearly all of the instruments on every single track, the result is a melodic, heartbreak record.

In August 2015, Max released a follow-up, entitled Candy Hobbyist. The six-song EP is a more polished progression of his songwriting.

Max has collaborated, composed and performed with several acts, including alt-rock band Albeit, Brantford singer-songwriter Missy Bauman and glam rock band Sister Hyde.

In June 2017, Max will graduate from Centennial College’s Music Industry Arts & Performance program, with a major in music business. Max looks forward to more touring, recording and writing in the near future.