RANDOM MAXX - Since 1997, Lead Guitarist Mark Redlich, Rhythm Guitarist/Percussionist Bo Johnson, and Bassist Matty Phillips have brought together their musical backgrounds to present Random Maxx, a musical entity whose product is best labeled "vocal power pop".

A nominee of five WAMI awards, Random Maxx has also achieved its share of decoration, earning songwriting and performance awards from public polls, industry organizations, and regional press.

Each member of the band is also a veteran of stage performances of other stripes. Musically, the diversity of influences of these "Maxxes" means that the ideas have come from everywhere. Even now, songwriting and lead vocal duties in the band are split in different directions, with each member contributing much in the way of creative voice to the overall sonic cocktail, one that often emphasizes four- and five-part harmonies.

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MAXX BUFFY - Matty Phillips has played bass guitar for over 15 years (most of them without frets of either kind), having started with the Elkhorn Area High School Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Combo.

Also an accomplished clarinetist throughout school, Matty went on to Northwestern College of St. Paul, Minnesota, where he performed with the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Orchestra, "Big Band," and the ministry group Rhapsody in Praise. Matty also toured with the Symphonic Wind Ensemble in a fantastic journey through England and Scotland, and enjoyed a decade-long stint with the Holton-Elkhorn Band, the 2nd-oldest municipal band in the United States.

In addition to adding vocals and covering the ultra-lows for Random Maxx, Matty works as an international tax analyst for Johnson Controls, plays bass and percussion with the Harvest Community Church Worship Team, wrestles as "Magnificent Matty Blast" for Powerhouse Pro Wrestling, and is a student of the Taekwondo Masters Academy. He is also a member of the United States Parachute Association, and is a skydiver with the Sky Knights Sport Parachute Club of East Troy, WI.

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MAXX DADDY - Bo Johnson was born in Terre Haute, Indiana. If you listen closely, you might hear just a hint of that backwoods accent, unless he's masking it by speaking with an Irish, or English, or French, or Italian, or Swedish, or Cudahy, or some other ridiculous accent. Bo likes to speak with accents. It helps him get work as an actor with a lot of local theatre companies.

In fact, acting is pretty much what he does for a living these days. Let us make it clear, however, that Bo does not cook with Accent (it's mostly just MSG, after all). He cooks with, primarily, garlic and ginger, which keeps him very healthy, although people tend not to stand very close to him, especially women, who, for some reason, tend not to get very close to him at all. Dogs, on the other hand, love Bo and tend to stick to him like shadows. "Everything's a trade off," says Bo (he says that a lot).

Bo went to UW Eau Claire, where he majored in Theatre Arts. It was a while ago, but the experience launched a career with Milwaukee Chamber Theatre and Milwaukee Shakespeare Company. In addition to playing rhythm guitar and percussion for Random Maxx, Bo plays percussion with award-winning folk artists the Mambo Surfers.

Bo's age, by the way, is 12 (behaviorally) on most days, though it can range as far as 80, usually on days after long gigs. His chronological age is "none of your bee's wax." (Bo was behaviorally 6, apparently, the day we asked him how old he was) We can tell you that he has been involved in music in some way since before he can remember and there are very few things in this world that make him as joyous as those moments when Random Maxx lands on one of those beautiful 5-part vocal harmonies. In fact, there is only one thing he can think of that makes him as happy, but, since women tend to not get very close to him, it's a good thing we sing a lot of-5 part harmonies.

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MAXX FLYY - Terry is the 102nd best drummer in the world.

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MAXX SCENE - Jamie is cursed with an eye and ear for proper grammar. You know people like this, right? So – her profile will be loaded with all sorts of grammatical mistakes just to irritate her (starting… now!) Plus, it’s easier this way than it would be to write in a way that we’d be held accountable for. So bear with us.

Now what do you want to know about Jamie? Well, she is the only band member whom has a parent in college (her mom) and goes to college herself. Not only that, but she also is majoring in Music Education with a choral and general music emphasis. Which means she will always be teased about not having a real major. By the way, her mom is majoring in physics with an emphasis on aeronautical design. Esprechen-zie “outshined”? Oh, yeah, that, reminds, me, did you know Jamie speaks in German? Not all the time, ‘cause that’d be like having Nena in your band, but I should say, only some of the time. But where was I? That’s right… she plans on teaching middle school or high school choir when she finishes school…which if she then goes to school to teach, can you say she’s finished school, ever?

Of course, Jamie’s love of teaching stems from the years she has been spending teaching Irish dance in La Crosse. If you’ve seen our shows recently, you know that Jamie is plenty capable in this field, having taken lessons for nine years, and performed with Trinity Irish Dancers and Glencastle Irish Dancers out of Milwaukee. To keep her dancing skills at peak, she counts her steps when she walks. I wish I was kidding about that. Yeah, she’s got some OCD in her – she will let you know (incessantly) when the time on the clock is a “math problem.” For example, 2:46 is a math problem, since 2 + 4 = 6). And that’s not her only OCD charm – she also alphabetizes all her DVD’s she owns or lives with. And she goes insane if you mix them up. Completely ballistical. I suggest swapping the discs and cases in addition to mixing up the order of them, so she completely loses it. But really, what do you expect of someone who says “I like analyzing music for fun. Tonicizations are my favorite.”

What else? Her favorite letter is “L” – it might not be readily apparent, but words containing L, or a double L in particular, most often tend to be things she adores. For example she loves Ella Fitzgerald and Diana Krall. Her favorite TV show is I Love Lucy,and her cell phone ringtone is the I Love Lucy theme song. And the list goes on. It’s a good thing we already had a band name before Jamie joined us, or we could have ended up being dubbed “Random Mall.”

And now we return you to your regularly scheduled, good-grammar-containing website.

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MAXX SMART -
Mark Redlich, Random Maxx's lead guitarist is one of the founding members of Random Maxx, along with Bo and Matty. Mark's musical development is a long and boring history, which shall not be recounted here (just too many hair bands). On the plus, Mark is an alumnus of the Kids from Wisconsin, and continues to perform regularly on weekends as an improv "actlete" with ComedySportz in Milwaukee.

Outside of performance Mark is a Ph.D. chemist with a lovely wife, cat, little girl and a new baby boy. During performance he is a dangerous, volatile, and cunning conduit of musical sensation. True story.

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RANDOM MAXX - Since 1997, Lead Guitarist Mark Redlich, Rhythm Guitarist/Percussionist Bo Johnson, and Bassist Matty Phillips have brought together their musical backgrounds to present Random Maxx, a musical entity whose product is best labeled "vocal power pop".

A nominee of five WAMI awards, Random Maxx has also achieved its share of decoration, earning songwriting and performance awards from public polls, industry organizations, and regional press.

Each member of the band is also a vetera... (read more)