Max Aurora & The Southern Lights is a dreamy bittersweet indie rock band based in Naarm / Melbourne, formed by non-binary songwriter Max Aurora in mid-2021. Max grew up in a bushy suburb of Canberra, where their first exposure to music was from Crowded House–filled car trips. Their songwriting bloomed from a patchwork of punk, folk, emo and ambient influences, concept albums like ‘American Idiot’ by Green Day to art pop artists like Kate Bush and Gotye. They revel in writing from other characters’ perspectives, like a fiction writer – drawing from empathy, imagery and observations to create heart-gripping songs often involving characters travelling and overcoming adversity. This also reflects how Aurora writes about their own daily life, treating their emotions and struggles with care and curiosity, and finding comfort in awe and nature.
 

Max’s first EP was released during lockdown in 2020 called “Somewhere Near”, a culmination of songs written between 2013 and 2018. The band formed soon after, being built on a wealth of musical experience, with Max, Caroline and Jack playing music together since meeting at university in 2013 – Zac was added to play drums in 2023, forming 'The Southern Lights'.

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After waiting through lockdown, the band has played a string of vibrant shows in various venues across Naarm/Melbourne. Their latest single 'How I Missed Home' released in June 2023 and was recorded at Marigold Studios in Brunswick. The track is inspired by a documentary about one of the youngest people to sail around the world, Laura Dekker. With Laura’s permission, footage from her trip was used in the creation of a music video at Bakehouse Studios in Richmond, directed by Max and Tamara Brane-Gregory.