SINGER and songwriter Maxx Milner www.MaxXMilner.com has penned a song about his second love- bowls. The catchy jingle will be the new theme tune for Bowls is Bowls, the organisation which celebrates and promotes the inclusivity of bowls in all formats.
It was unveiled at Daventry Indoor Bowls Club in September when the club welcomed six times World Champion and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Alex Marshall MBE and England star David Bolt onto the green.
Maxx played two sets with these Champions and sung his new bowls song, which was well-received.
The multi-instrumentalist took up the sport in Northampton in his late teens because he wanted to do something with his parents.
“Bowls has a great social aspect, it is great to be able to meet a lot of new people and it is quite different to other sports,” Maxx said.
“I really enjoy playing in league games in particular, I like to get a bit aggressive with it and try out some firing shots.
“A lot of people say it is an old man’s game but my answer to that is there are a lot of youngsters now playing this difficult sport and you really should give it a go.”
Maxx may be only 20 but he has already released three albums and has written more than 100 songs.
“I wrote my first song when I was around 15 years old, it was called Chase Your Dreams and it was an attempt at an inspirational rock song, a bit cringe but a good first attempt,” he said.
“My first album ‘Reflections’ came out when I was 17 and I think I made a lot of progress in my writing from that first song to the first album. Looking back now it’s a bit heavier than the stuff I write these days, although it was a good start for my writing portfolio.
“My inspiration comes from a range of artists and genres.
My taste ranges from Taylor Swift to Slipknot.
I tend to write most of my songs in the pop/rock genre
I was brought up on classic rock like Whitesnake and Boston, so a lot of inspiration comes from bands like that as well.
I’d say that Nickelback are my main influence for my sound.
“I have many idols in music: I think Slash is a brilliant guitarist and writes amazing melodies on the guitar, I love Noel Gallagher’s song writing, I respect bands like Radiohead for how experimental and interesting they sound, and I think Corey Taylor from Slipknot is awesome because of his amazing vocal tones.
“I’d say my sound is most like Nickelback, I like the rock/pop balance of their sound and I love their melodies, I strive to write music like that.”
Maxx, who is in his final year of a Song Writing degree at Birmingham, says he jumped at the chance to write a song about bowls. He said: “I love writing music and I think it is something that I will always do, as well as playing in bands. After finishing University, I will be looking for potential artists to pitch my stuff to.
“I wanted to write the bowls song because I think Bowls is Bowls is doing a great job in publicising the great things about bowls.
“I started off with the chorus which references Bowls is Bowls and then I started to think about bowls imagery.
“I wanted to get the message across that bowls is about having a good time both on and off the green.
“Bowls is Bowls is doing a great job in bringing a new generation into the game and I think it is brilliant.”
Bowls is Bowls CEO Mark Courtney said: “I am delighted with the song that Maxx has written, I certainly have never heard a song about bowls before and it sums up the sport really well with its upbeat, catchy tune.”
The song is available to buy here: Bowls Is Bowls (ditto.fm)