This week I talk to Maxton Hunter about social media as the new marketplace for artistic expression. The early heady days where “blowing up” and finding “instafame” was possible are long since gone. Now potential audience members are often prevented from finding artists they like, instead being presented with an array of images, pages or advertisements Big Tech choses for them with its endlessly changing algorithms. Visual social media platforms like Instagram add pressure to artists; increasing the competitive and comparative nature of artistic output, and diverting precious “creation” time to endless self-promotion, fighting shadow bans and battling code. Exhaustion, creative burn-out, anxiety and depression are increasing amoung people working in the arts. Maxton Hunter is a producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and podcast host based in Los Angeles, California. He grew up in Santa Barbara, on a secluded ranch near Goleta, showing an early interest in creative expression, which ultimately led him to music and songwriting. Over the last decade, Hunter played in and alongside a variety of psych, rock and DIY outfits before officially setting out on his own in 2019. Hunter’s latest production, Paradise Syndrome, is a vibrant blend of ambient pop and modern psychedelia with singles “Say What You Mean” and “Honestly” coming out this US summer. Maxton Hunter also hosts a podcast called Life, Liberty and Creation which explores the different ways inspiration manifests and flourishes within the mind, delving deep “into both the uncomfortable truths and exploratory sides of the creative process”.You can contact Maxton here. Subscribe to our newsletter, follow our socials and leave us a comment here. Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/au/fundraiser/charity/4075258)