Max Judo
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Max Judo

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"Max Judo off to the US"

Tweed Heads surf-rockers, Max Judo are about to tick the US off their wish-list. The four-pice, who have already made waves in Brazil and Japan have been tapped to play the US Open of Surfing in California, and will fly out next week for the week-long event.

Didgeridoo-playing frontman, Lucas Proudfoot says the gigs represent the biggest inroad the band has made overseas, and plans are in place to capitalise on the opportunity.

"For us to get to the US, where the top guns are and be given a platform where we will be heard by so many is a definite plus for us", he says.

"We are planning to make the most of the trip. We spend five days working our label and industry contacts, and five days playing at the US Open".

Max Judo got the booking, after impressing their US contact, Pete Townend, the Australian surfer who was named the Association of Surfing Professionals, inaugural world champion, in 1976, at a show in Brasil in 2003.

The legendary surfer has grown into an industry heavyweight and had a hand in organising the US Open, a week of skateboarding, surfing, BMX, and motocross events, backed by a program of music and entertainment.

The bands US visit includes shows at the US Open, club dates in and around Los Angeles, and a diary of label meetings.

Early next year Max Judo will hit Spain and France.

"We toured a lot up and down the east coast of Australia last year, but it seems like its mostly overseas that people are pricking their ears up to our music", says Proudfoot.

"Of course we'd love tro stay here but you've got to go where the opportunities are".

Sam Cleveland - Gold Coast Bulletin - Gold Coast Bulletin, July 2007


"Max Judo are in Demand..."

Max Judo are in Demand in Europe and the US, for festivals in Spain and France, yet they cant stay away from Yamba.

Their music is unique, with the contemporary use of the didgeridoo, blended with solid grooves.

Recently they have been busy, touring up and down the east coast of Australia.

"We have played four of five times in Yamba. We keep coming back beacause of the great atmosphere of the town", said vocalist, guitarist, and didgeridooist, Lucas Proutfoot. "Its a great place on the coast to play. We chuck all our boards in, and go for a wave in the mornings.

Surfing has taken the boys around the world, both through competing in contests and with their music.

"I used to compete on the longboards, and I took my guitar to events," Lucas said. "I haven't competed since 2004, purely to focus on the band and our music."

Having played shows alongside Xavier Rudd, Marcia Hines, James Reyne, End of Fashion, and Mental as Anything, Max Judo has shown versatility with their music, to support such different touring acts.

With hugely successful gigs at the recent Woodford Folk Festival, other highlights over the past several years include Japan in '05, the Big Day Out in '05, awarded Best Song / Lyrics in the Coca-Cola Live and Local Tour '04, Quiksilver Pro Finals Day, and also several accoustic shows around the world in such places as Spain, France, Brazil and Costa Rica.

Daybreak was the bands debut EP, released throughout Japan with Sony Music. In 2006 Max Judo's In Transit EP was a reflection of the bands change of members, with a new drummer and bassist coming on board.

Incorporating the didgeridoo with strong backing harmonies, tasteful guitar licks, solid drums and fat bass lines, Lucas said their had been a great response from the latest EP.

"It really shows what the band is about... the sound has definitely progressed," he said.

"The didgeridoo is a dominant and important part of the sound. I am part indigenous from my mothers side and since I was young I have played the didge for my local area, in the Minjungbal dance group and Bundjalung areas."

Max Judo will head overseas to Europe and the US with festivals in Spain and France also on the cards.

The band have already formed a strong presence internationally from constant overseas tours.

"We have more interest overseas because of our ties over there from touring," Lucas said.

Max Judo is looking forward to the return once again to Yamba.

"As much as playing in the big cities is great, we come from a regional area and we love playing in smaller towns, its sort of like our own backyard," he said.

Yohanna Dent - Daily Examiner - Daily Examiner


Discography

Max Judo’s Recent Recordings:

•Daybreak (Japan Only) Album 2005

•In Transit (Australia) EP 2006

•Live Show – Great Northern, Byron Bay 2007

•Siding Single 2007

•US Open of Surfing DVD/LP 2007

•Good Tonight Album 2009

Photos

Bio

The adjective `unique' gets bandied about in far too many band bios - a unique sound, a unique stage presence, a unique whatever. It sounds impressive, but is the status really justified?

Well Australia's Max Judo are unique. There, we said it.

Find us another roots, rock, soul combo fronted by an ex pro surfer who freely switches between a didjeridoo and an acoustic guitar during the set and we'll back down.

Lucas Proudfoot, who spent five years on the international longboard circuit, says the splashes of didjeridoo in Max Judo's sonic palette have added a `wow factor' that's got audiences up and dancing in Australia, the US, Japan and Brazil.

``I guess it is a bit intriguing for crowds who haven't seen anything like it before the didj in a rock band,'' says Proudfoot of the band's totem instrument.

``It's become this familiar point for us and I don't think we've played a show yet where someone hasn't come up and told us they dug it.''

Proudfoot says the didj has been part of Max Judo’s sound since the band formed in 2002 on Australia's Tweed Coast, a short drive from most of the country's best surfing beaches.

``At the start it was a matter of pooling what we had, but it's never been used just for the sake of it,'' he says.

``And that's been a big part of our growth, writing songs that stand on their own no matter what instruments we play them on.''

Regular airplay on Australia’s FUEL TV and inclusion on several surf film soundtracks has also helped grow their fan-base.

“The last 18 months has been really inspiring period because the crowds are really starting to build for a Max Judo show,’’ says Proudfoot.

“If we’re not selling out a venue, we’re doubling the numbers through the door each time we go back”.

After two years cutting their teeth in front of surf crowds up and down the east coast of Australia, the band welcomed UK-born bassist Graham Newman into the fold, an addition that Proudfoot says brought `new blood and new stability'.

The re-energised Max Judo then cracked Japan, where their inclusion on a compilation of surf music, alongside the likes of Jack Johnson, led to the production of an exclusive Japanese release, and tour in 2005.

“The Japanese crowds were a great way for us to break the international touring circuit,” says Proudfoot, “They really loved our sound, and have such a vibrant market”.

“It was a great learning curve – working out how labels worked, how to win over new crowds live and how we needed to really step it up to compete internationally.’’

And step it up they did, opening a crack in the US college circuit with a pistol-hot showcase gig at the National Association for Campus Activities summit in Missouri earlier in 2008.

Response to the gig from the event’s 3000-strong audience has prompted the group’s fourth tour of the US in September this year, with the band confident they’d made their mark just seconds after walking off stage.

“We played on the last day and even the stage manager said we were the pick of the concert,’’ says Proudfoot, who also counted a 50-deep queue for autographs at the band’s post-show signing.

“They’re usually pretty jaded, after 3 days of showcasing, so for this guy to tell us we were “the pick of the bunch” was pretty amazing.’’

To date Max Judo has played slots on the Big Day Out, the Woodford Folk Festival, The Dreaming Festival, the Newtown Festival and Yabun National Indigenous Festival, as well as the US Open of Surfing, at the famous “Surf City”, Huntington Beach, California, and have shared stages with End of Fashion and Kid Confucius, to name a few.

On the award front, they’ve scored Coca Cola Live n Local prize for most inspirational song/lyrics and in 2008 earned their second consecutive DEADLY Award nomination for band of the year. Add a Q Song award this year, and 2009 is shaping to be a formative one for the band.

Work on their forthcoming album was completed at Byron Bay’s Studio 301, where the boys insisted on a daily surf before plugging in to record. With one of Australia’s finest producers on board, the Brisbane-based Caleb James had no trouble getting the best from the lads.

“We start most days with a surf as well,’’ laughs Proudfoot, who says the hardest parts of putting the record together have been settling on just 12 songs and coming up with a title.

“For us, getting two hours in the ocean is about freeing the mind and setting up the day, just like some people need to jog or some people need to sleep in.’’

Max Judo are:

Lucas Proudfoot - vocals, acoustic guitar, didjeridoo
Marty Shang - guitar, backing vocals
Brendan Carr - drums, backing vocals
Graham Newman - bass guitar

Management:

Stu Banks + 61 401 326 986
info@maxjudo.com
www.maxjudo.com
www.myspace.com/maxjudo
www.facebook.com

Max Judo - Here’s what’s happening in 2009

• April / May – 3rd USA Tour
US – college circuit bookings secured, mid-west, etc