If you’re one of the ever-growing number of people spending time watching or creating content on or for Tik-Tok, chances are you might’ve heard and come across twin brothers Max and Harvey who currently have 6 million (and counting!) followers. They also have their own CBBC TV show – FOMO – and recently launched a Spotify original podcast called School Daze. Performers from a young age – they appeared as toddlers in UK TV drama William & Mary and started singing at the age of 8 – they’ve also impressed music fans across the country with their lyrical and vocal talents and were X Factor Celebrity finalists back in 2019.
During the pandemic, they’ve been keeping busy, working on new music and their latest single; the only one they dropped in 2020, “Worry A Little Less”, was released last month. PopWrapped caught up with the two of them to talk about the inspiration behind the track, their thoughts on social media in general and what’s to come from them in the months ahead.
Just for anyone not familiar with the two of you and what you do, who exactly are Max and Harvey in a few words?
Max: We are organised chaos in the form of people that also like to sing and present.
You’re regarded as social media sensations – notably on TikTok. Given the world and society we live in, and how much time so many of us spend online and on our devices, do you ever feel any pressure having that label attached to you? You were and are one of the first ‘breakouts’ on the site, so what do you think it is about TT that has seen the site have such a boom, particularly in the last year or so?
M: We’ve noticed that as our generation has evolved, the demand for high quality, entertaining and engaging content has risen dramatically and Tik Tok has managed to create an algorithm that caters to those needs of generation Z’s minds. In short, people wanna watch funny stuff more so Tik Tok give it to them.
Is social media something you’ve always had an interest and connection with or are you more of the mind that it’s just a useful tool, particularly for celebrities and artists such as yourselves?
Harvey: We’ve always had a soft spot for it because it’s a great way for us to connect with our fans that it may be harder to meet – especially now we’re in a pandemic. It’s also a great way to meet new work partners and friends.
You took home the Radio Disney Music Award for Favorite Social Music Artist in 2018 – how much do accolades like that mean to you?
H: When our names got announced to win that award we were completely and utterly shocked, I mean two young British kids going up against a ton of American social media superstar artists and we managed to prevail?!? We are so grateful to all of our team and fans for helping us achieve awesome awards like that one and we can’t wait to hopefully be nominated for more in the near future.
How does it feel to have your own book out there, alongside those of esteemed, acclaimed authors and several of your fellow artists and TV/music personalities? Do you think you might write another at some point in the future?
M: It’s nuts that we have a book that’s completely about us; we would never have dreamed of that when we were younger. It definitely would be cool to have another book one day but I reckon it would be best to wait a fair few more years until we really progress as artists.
You also reached a big audience when you appeared on the X Factor Celebrity series in 2019. What made you get involved and do you have any favourite moments or highlights? Did you expect the audience to get behind you as much as they did?
M: We never expected essentially a nation to get behind us so much and the highlight for us was purely getting through to the final of the show – it was such a great experience for us and really helped us grow as musicians.
Tell me the story, if there is one, behind your latest track “Worry A Little Less.” What made you think it was the right fit for a single release?
H: We just wanted to release a song that put across a positive message to people in this tough time, we’re essentially trying to get people to focus their worries on the important things and to worry less about the little things that can bother us.
How have you found the reaction to the song to be so far?
H: We’re so happy with how it’s gone down with our fans, they all love it and we just hope more people that aren’t necessarily aware of us can give it a go and see if it brings a bit more positivity into their life.
2020 was, for much of the world, one of the strangest and most difficult years ever. How did you cope with the months of uncertainty, the numerous lockdowns and not being able to enjoy the things that so many of us take for granted?
M: We actually did exactly what our new song states and we worried less about not being able to do the things we were usually able to do and made sure that we adapted as quickly as possible. We also made sure we did as much charitable work as physically possible to raise money for people that were struggling much more than ourselves.
During the lockdown, you organised a mammoth 24-hour livestream fundraiser, raising over 8K for charity. Is that something you’d consider doing again, should the opportunity arise in some way?
H: We definitely want to do it again as it was really nice to have so much support from our fans and friends in the industry. We would probably want to do it with a few of our mates to help us get through it though as it really did take a toll on us mentally, but we’re tough cookies and managed to keep high energy the whole way through.
You also launched a podcast – School Daze – with a number of celebrity guests joining you. What was and is it about school that made you think it’d make such a great topic for discussion and for listeners to enjoy and get involved with. What was school like for the two of you?
M: We just thought that not enough celebs reminisce about their school life and actually it’s most likely the time in their life that made them who they are today. Mine and Harvey’s school life was very weird as we started to blow up on social media right in the middle of it. The podcast is so much fun and so entertaining to listen to; there’s some real juicy stuff that you won’t have heard from some people before…
On top of all that, you both also learned how to use professional grade equipment to film your CBBC TV show – FOMO, at home. Is there anything else you fancy trying your hand at, since you’re clearly multi-talented individuals?
M: We were definitely proud of ourselves for being able to film a TV show all by ourselves but in terms of trying new things I think Harvey and I would love to but we should slow down and focus on perfecting one of our crafts first, then we can start trying new things.
Do you believe 2021, now that vaccines are here, will be a better year for everyone, including artists like yourselves who had much of their livelihood cut off due to Covid? What are you most excited about getting back to doing, personally and professionally?
M: I just want to go out with friends. Obviously I love my job and miss it loads, but my friends mean a lot to me and it sucks not being able to see them as much. I do also miss live performances a tonne and would love to get back to doing that ASAP which is why we’ve got our fingers crossed for being able to go on tour in August this year.
With what we hope is a brighter and better future for us all on the horizon (albeit distant), what does this year have in store for you? Are there any secret or as yet unannounced projects you can tease? What’s the big objective for 2021?
H: NEW MUSIC! We were so quiet in 2020 on new music we literally only released one song, we’re working on so much and really trying to find ourselves as artists and we think we’re almost there, we can’t wait for people to hear what we have in store.
The podcast School Daze with Max and Harvey is available exclusively on Spotify now. “Worry A Little Less” is out now and tickets for Max and Harvey’s 2021 tour – This is Not a Phase, are on sale now. For more information, visit their website, give their page a like on Facebook or follow them on Twitter.
