Max Clarke’s alter ego, Cut Worms, shares “Veteran’s Day” Ahead of ‘Nobody Lives Here Anymore’

Gone are the halcyon days of a previous America and left are remnants of a society in which Max Clarke believes sold itself out. Cut Worms, Max Clarke’s alter musical ego, mourns a loss of innocence for a society propped up on hallowed socio-political infrastructure throughout his upcoming record, Nobody Lives Here Anymore, due October 9 via Jagjaguwar.

Ahead of the album, Cut Worms shares “Veteran’s Day,” a song which the artist believes “speaks for itself.”

Nobody Lives Here Anymore is about “throwaway consumer culture and how the postwar commercial wet dreams never came true, how nothing is made to last.” With genuine curiosity, he explores the golden years of a society dancing along the ledge of divergence. He is suggesting not only that nobody lives this antiquated dream, but that nobody lives here, in this moment, anymore.

“Veteran’s Day” works alongside previous singles like “Unnatural Disaster” and “Sold My Soul” to paint a juxtaposed picture of an idyllic American past. Still, he ventures to consider whether that past ever existed or if it’s a longing for a lost “American Dream.”

By day, Clarke works as an illustrator designing brand logos and beer labels with madhouse technicolor pictures. Balancing the steady-job world with his impassioned musical talent allows room for songwriting and record producing in his life.

After an extensive eighteen-months of touring in support of 2017’s Alien Sunset EP and 2018’s Hollow Ground, the artist began sifting through the fragment pieces of previous work and new inspiration.

He flew to Memphis in 2019 with over thirty songs to mine through with producer Matt Ross-Spang at the legendary Sam Phillips studio.

“It was a treat to work in that space, especially with Matt,” says Clarke. “The studio itself is a real piece of history. Legendary people have recorded there but what’s cool about it is that it still felt pretty homey to me. Sitting at the piano, I wasn’t thinking, ‘I can’t touch this piano because Jerry Lee played on it.’ It felt approachable yet inspirational.”

Between May and November, Cut Worms recorded seventeen songs for the final product. Most of the initial takes were tracked live with Noah Bond on drums, while Max sang and played rhythm guitar. He then built lush arrangements around these intimate performances. Clarke’s longtime partner Caroline Gohlke contributed backing vocals. He called in a skeleton crew of friends and Memphis all-stars to lay down pedal steel, sax, and strings.

When it came time to record, Clarke cast demos aside in fear of wasting solid performances on useless tapes. Moving away from the previous approach, he shares, “I found myself chasing the energy that was in this in the demos, which was kind of a nightmare.”

Excavating seventeen songs from his initial stockpile was grueling enough. The artist decided to include the whole batch of recordings and release it as a double-LP.

“It takes a lot to do this,” he explains. “If I can only say something every so often, I’d like to say a lot more if I can.”

Pre-order Cut Worms’ brimming new collection before October 9. Listen to “Veteran’s Day” below.