Maxwell spent the first 12 years of his life growing up in the small mining town of Marathon, on the north shore of Lake Superior. The romanticized idea of growing up in a small town—knowing everyone, known by everyone—holds true for him. Turns out life in the country isn't all that different from life in the bush, and he spent his formative years in Illinois, before moving back up north after high school. In the darker days of the six-month-long winters, there's not much to save you from yourself. That's where his songs come from.