Max Avery Lichtenstein

Max began his professional career in music at the age of 16, when he joined the influential urban ska group The New York Citizens as a keyboard player and songwriter. In 1991, after spending a few years on the road and in the studio with the band, Max decided to formalize his education in music by enrolling in Berklee College of Music in Boston. Four years later he graduated with degrees in Filmscoring and Music Production & Engineering.

Upon returning to his home state of New York, he established Tin Drum Productions to pursue scoring work in the television and interactive entertainment industries. Tin Drum quickly earned a reputation as a source for unique, imaginative and witty musical productions. Over the next few years Max's musical works appeared in TV programming and multimedia products from such companies as CBS Television, Disney Interactive, Prudential Banking, MTV Animation and T·HQ Interactive.

Success allowed Max to build the Tin Drum studio into a high-caliber recording facility. In the fall of 1998 he began to invite bands and songwriters into the studio to make records. By early 1999, Max was working at Tin Drum and other studios around the U.S., recording and producing tracks for independent and major label release. He's produced and/or mixed projects from such artists as Mercury Rev, Hopewell. The Silent League, Grand Mal and his own bands Camphor and Timesbold.

In late 1999, Max was asked to compose and record additional music for the feature film "Jesus' Son". This critically-acclaimed movie introduced Max's work to a wider audience in the independent film community, leading Max to create songs for the Academy Award nominated film "Far From Heaven" and to write full scores for a number of feature-length projects. In the fall of 2003 Max was honored with the Artbridge Association Award for Best Original Score at the 2003 Hamptons Film Festival for his work on the feature "Screen Door Jesus". His original music for the 2004 documentary "Tarnation" was widely hailed by critics and generated a great deal of public interest, with downloads of the film’s main theme song tallying more than 40,000. Most recently, Max completed the original score for "The King", staring Gael Garcia Bernal and William Hurt, which Hollywood Reporter called “inspired” after its premiere at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.

Max's reputation as an inventive record producer and film composer continues to grow. His unique style, varied experience and indie sensibilities infuse a special character into the music he records and the films his scores accompany.