About Max Weedon Music Charity

Max Weedon

Max was born in Botswana and his own musical journey begun as a young passenger on journeys into the African bush where he was exposed to the sounds of legendary bands from the 60s and 70s on a Toyota Hilux tape deck. Classical guitar lullabies at bedtime added to his early musical influences.  Upon moving from his country of birth to England, Max was an early adopter of the Sony Walkman, which became his constant companion, filling his ears with music day in, day out.

His first instrument was the flute but as a teenager, the Stone Roses track ‘Fools Gold’ ignited a passion for drumming, leading him to form a band called SHC. This band supported renowned acts like Blur and Spiritualized in the early 90s. He later transitioned to playing the guitar and, along with his band embarked on a new chapter in Brighton, ultimately becoming known as The Just.

Over time Max’s commitment to music only grew stronger, culminating in a formal education that included a degree in music production and two master's degrees in music and songwriting. This extensive knowledge and experience paved the way for him to inspire and nurture the next generation of musicians through teaching and tutoring, ensuring that his passion for music continued to resonate with and through others.

He was a passionate and creative teacher of young people, generous and unstinting with his time, patience and expertise and so became important in developing the careers of numerous others, largely through the establishment of the BA1 record label whilst teaching music at Bath College. In addition to running a record label Max had also run a music publishing company and been both a band manager and a sound engineer. He was instrumental in launching the careers of numerous musicians including chart topping singer songwriter Gabrielle Alpin, X- Factor star singer Lascel Wood, and Radio 1 DJ and music producer Julio Bashmore.

His approach to teaching young musicians was to insist they create and produce their own music rather than simply cover the popular music of established acts, and Max took this approach of ‘following your passion and forging your own path’ into his academic work.

Max had a wider breadth of experience in the UK education system than most people who work in education having taught in the primary, secondary, further and higher education sectors, designed further and higher education curricula and been a higher education governor. But he had many interests outside of education. Football – a supporter of Liverpool FC since childhood. He was a co-founder of an African charity for HIV orphans. He became a master scuba diver and a highly qualified instructor.

He achieved his Doctorate in 2022 with a research study that examined the effects on teachers and students of a controversial government policy called Prevent. You can find his thesis here

Max was killed in a road accident in January 2023.

Max Weedon Music has the simple aim of continuing Max’s support to young musicians.