New Men, Same Boots

MAKS is a rock band from the Netherlands, initiated by multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Maks A. 

Maks is occasionally assisted by a number of fellow musicians, such as:

-  guitar player, musical sparring partner and long-time friend Peter Barnouw

-  bass guitar player Claudio Guliker

-  synthesizer guru Andy Kockelkoren

-  Dutch guitar hero Jeroen van Tuijl

-  Kentucky based guitar virtuoso Tommy Stillwell

Maks A. (or "Maks" for short) was born Peter Lebbink in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

The "A." in the artist name originally stood for "Antraks", but that is a heritage from the rouring punk period in the late 1970's. Few people actually know this .

Maks has been making music and playing in bands for a big part of his life. Until recently, this was mostly done from behind a drum kit. From as early as 1976 Maks played in several High School bands, switched to cover bands (1979) and later to new wave bands (1980 to 1984).

After that period Maks mainly concentrated on his education at Art School in Rotterdam and on a working life thereafter. In 2007, Maks reunited with two former High School buddies to form a blues-rock band. This was the spark that re-ignited the musical eagerness in Maks. This experiment came to an end in 2012.

In 2013 Maks spent 3 weeks being the stand-in drummer with a Dutch blues-rock band. They did a small tour through the USA from Michigan to Clarksdale.
Musically, this trip opened his eyes and finally made him decide to write and record his own songs. "When you do something that you love, you should do it properly..." The rest is, as they say, history...

Besides admiring the likes of Alice Cooper, David Bowie and Iggy Pop - his youth idols-, Maks was heavily influenced by 1980’s new wave bands such as Magazine, Duran Duran, Ultravox and Gary Numan.
He describes his musical style being a mix of the music of these artists and the music he came to appreciate at a later stage in life: blues- and country-rock. To be precise, artists such as John Mellencamp, the Black Crowes, Foo Fighters and the Black Keys

June 2017, Maks finished his first album, which was called "3FT No Diving".

He is now back in his home studio, preparing new tracks for the second album, which will be called "Antidote for an Idiot".

For more information, see the MAKS website at www.maksagency.com.