Max Mahmood is a drummer whose playing spans jazz, hardcore, death metal, and other heavy music. He began formal lessons at age 5 and was performing with bands by 8. His playing combines technical precision with a broad musical vocabulary developed through years of studying and performing jazz alongside extensive recording and touring experience with heavy bands.
Beginning in Fall 2026, Max is studying Global Jazz Studies at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, an interdisciplinary program combining jazz performance and musicianship with the study of jazz history, culture, improvisation, composition, and music from around the world.
Before UCLA, Max was the first freshman in 20 years to be accepted into the Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble. He went on to perform with the California Jazz Conservatory's Advanced High School Jazz Workshop and Studio Band, studied at Cuba's Escuela Nacional de Arte, and received multiple honors at jazz festivals for solo and ensemble performance.
Max's recording work includes Manos de Fierro, Iron Front, Four Winds Away, and other projects. His live experience ranges from jazz ensembles to touring and performing with hardcore and death metal bands. He has also performed as a fill-in drummer with Snuffed on Sight, Forced to Suffer, and other bands.
