Interview with Folk Artist Max Bartos on New Single ‘Faithful Friend’, Creating Music, Acting & What’s Next

MuzicNotez: First off, it’s an honor to be doing this interview with you, thanks for taking the time to sit down with us. What motivated you to start creating music? What age did you begin?

Max Bartos: I started creating music when I was 11, after a bike accident that left me with a lot of time to reflect and heal. Music became my way of processing everything I was going through—it gave me an outlet to take pain and confusion and turn it into something meaningful. What started as a way to pass time during recovery quickly became a passion, and I realized that songwriting was how I could tell my story and make sense of the world.

Who were your musical influences, idols, or bands growing up that have helped mold you into the musician you are today? Or helped mold the music that you create?

Max Bartos: I’ve always pulled inspiration from an eclectic mix of storytellers. Noah Kahan and Glen Hansard showed me how vulnerable, unpolished honesty can feel huge and quiet at the same time, like you’re being let into someone’s secret world. Marcus Mumford of Mumford & Sons taught me the power of building something communal out of folk music, how a single voice can swell into a chorus that feels bigger than yourself. And then there’s Green Day—growing up on their music gave me that drive to pour urgency, grit, and edge into my songs. Put them all together, and those influences shaped the way I write: heartfelt lyrics with a folk backbone, but carried with the kind of passion and intensity that makes people really feel it.

Website: www.MaxBartos.com
Instagram: @max_bartos

What’s the ultimate goal you want your music to achieve, or for you to achieve in your career as a musician? Any particular message you wish to send?

Max Bartos: My ultimate goal isn’t just about success for myself, it’s about building a community of people who feel seen and connected through music. I want my songs to create a space where people can come together, whether it’s at a show or just through listening alone in their rooms, and know they’re not the only ones feeling what they’re feeling. If I can keep creating work that carries meaning, songs that matter to people and help them through their own crossroads, then I’ll feel like I’ve done my job as a musician.

What’s the greatest concert you’ve ever been to or performed?

Max Bartos: The greatest concerts I’ve been to were life-changing in totally different ways. Seeing Mumford & Sons at Forest Hills was one of those nights where the whole crowd felt like one big choir, it showed me the power of folk music on a massive scale. And then seeing My Chemical Romance at MetLife Stadium was pure catharsis: loud, gothic, and unforgettable. Both of those shows shaped the way I think about live music, how it can be both deeply personal and completely explosive at the same time.

Your latest release is ‘Faithful Friend’, tell us a little bit more about the backstory that inspired this track.

Max Bartos: “Faithful Friend” is a really personal song for me. It’s written almost like a story in three acts, looking at childhood, adulthood, and the end of life, and asking where our innocence goes as we grow older. At its heart, it’s about the people who walk beside us through all of those seasons, the ones who stay even when everything else changes. I wrote it as a reflection on friendship, memory, and the way time makes you realize just how much those connections mean. More than anything, I hope it makes people think of their own ‘faithful friends’, the ones who have stuck with them through it all.

How do you go about writing your music? What does the process look like?

Max Bartos: For me, writing usually starts with a feeling I can’t shake, something I need to get out of my head and into a song. Sometimes it’s just a line or an image that comes to me, and I’ll build the rest around that. Other times it’s more like a stream of consciousness, and I shape it into something clearer later. I try not to force it; I let the song show me what it wants to be. At the core, my process is about honesty, taking whatever I’m wrestling with and turning it into something that other people might hear and say, “Yeah, I’ve felt that too.”

Beyond your music career, you are also an actor. Do you feel that your acting assists you as an artist?

Max Bartos: I’d imagine it would help with your stage presence.
Absolutely, acting and music feed into each other in a big way for me. Acting taught me how to step into a story and really live inside it, which is the same approach I take with songwriting and performing. On stage, it helps me connect more deeply with the emotions in the songs and share them in a way that feels genuine for the audience. And yes, the stage presence definitely carries over, I’m not just playing music, I’m telling a story, and acting gave me the tools to make that connection feel real.

What else are you working on? What can we expect to see and hear from you in the future?

Max Bartos: Right now, I’m already deep into my next project—I’ve written and recorded eight songs for my next album, and I’m really excited about how it’s taking shape. It’s pushing me into some new directions while still holding onto that folk storytelling core that I love. On top of that, I’m heading out on a 20–date U.S. tour starting August 20, which will be my chance to share both the new songs and the ones people already know in a live setting. My goal is to keep creating work that feels meaningful and to share it in a way that brings people together, whether that’s through records, shows, or whatever comes next.

Anything else you wish to say about yourself or your music? Any message for your fans?

Max Bartos: More than anything, I just want to say thank you. Every person who listens, who comes out to a show, or who shares one of my songs with a friend, you’re the reason I get to do this, and I don’t take that lightly. These songs come from real places in my life-moments of struggle, hope, doubt, and joy, and my hope is that when you hear them, they become part of your story too. If a lyric makes you feel a little less alone, if a chorus gives you something to hold onto, then the music has done its job. At the heart of it, I want my songs to remind people that no one is truly alone, even in their hardest moments. I’m so grateful for this growing community, and I’m excited to keep creating work that we can all share together.

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