Max Sharam is an Australian-American multi-disciplinary artist and singer-songwriter. In the mid-1990s, Sharam had three top 40 hit singles in Australia, "

Coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to Nociception, respond normally to Pain, painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal Circadian rhythm, sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate ...

", "Be Firm" and "Lay Down", from her top 10 album '' A Million Year Girl'' (1995). She received eight nominations at the

ARIA Music Awards of 1995 The Ninth Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as the ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAs) was held on 20 October 1995 at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre. There had been a 18-month gap since the ...

; winning Best Cover Art with Dominic O'Brien for the album.

Career

Early Europe

Sharam spent several years travelling around Europe where she initially made a living from busking. Sharam, while based in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, was part of a bohemian community of artists that included Kurt Wenner known for his groundbreaking street art. Whilst performing in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, Italy, Carlo Picone, a

RAI (), commercially styled as since 2000 and known until 1954 as (RAI), is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terrestrial and subscription television channels a ...

news journalist and producer, invited her to audition for ''Forza Venite Gente'', a hit Italian

rock opera A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...

, starring Oreste Lionello, for which she landed a lead role. The musical toured across Europe for two years. Other Italian Theatre productions engaged her, including ''Kolbe'' directed by Polish film director –

Krzysztof Zanussi Krzysztof Pius Zanussi (born 17 June 1939) is a Polish film and theatre director, producer and screenwriter. He is a professor of European film at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland where he conducts a summer workshop. He ...

an
Tadeaus Bradecki
She received the Star of the Year award at

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

's Cole Porter Festival, recorded and released a dance extended play, "I'm Occupied". Her story was documented in an Italian television program, ''La Ragazza con la Chitarra'' ("Girl with the Guitar"), shown on RAI TV.

Climax and comedy

Sharam spent a year in Japan studying

Taiko are a broad range of Traditional Japanese musical instruments, Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese language, Japanese, the term refers to any kind of drum, but outside Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various J ...

drums and fronting a Japanese band ''Climax'' based in

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has b ...

before returning to Australia where she worked as a stand-up comedian, performing regularly on the Sydney Comedy Circuit. She also appeared o
Red Faces, Hey Hey it's Saturday TV

1990s

In 1992, Sharam performed her self-penned song "

" on the television talent show ''

New Faces ''New Faces'' is a British television talent show that aired in the 1970s and 1980s. It has been hosted by Leslie Crowther, Derek Hobson and Marti Caine. It was produced for the ITV network by ATV, and later by Central. Original series: ...

'', reaching the finals and attracting the attention of a number of record companies: Soon after, under the banner of Max Sharam: The Sounds of Sirens, she was performing regular sell-out solo acoustic shows at Kinselas nightclub in

Darlinghurst Darlinghurst is an inner-city suburb in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the Ci ...

1994–1999: ''A Million Year Girl''

Sharam signed a recording contract with

Warner Music Australia Warner Music Australia (WMA) is an Australian division of the Warner Music Group. Warner Music Australia distributes in Australia, and also covers distribution in New Zealand. History In 1969, Warner Bros. Records split and WEA was formed. ...

in 1994, which issued her debut EP, ''

'', in October – produced by Daniel Denholm and Nick Mainsbridge – with the song peaking at No. 14 on the

ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

during February 1995.Australian (ARIA) chart peaks: *Top 50 peaks: *Top 100 peaks to December 2010: *"Is It OK If I Call You Mine?": "Coma" was voted the eighth-most popular song on radio station, Triple J's Hottest 100 of 1994. Her debut album, '' A Million Year Girl'', was released in May 1995, achieving gold accreditation and reaching No. 9 in the

ARIA Albums Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

. At the

Sharam was nominated in eight categories, losing to

Tina Arena Filippina Lydia "Tina" Arena (born 1 November 1967) is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, musical theatre actress and record producer. She is one of Australia's highest-selling artists and has sold over 10 million records worldwid ...

and

Silverchair Silverchair was an Australian Rock music, rock band, which formed in 1992 as Innocent Criminals in Newcastle, New South Wales, with Daniel Johns on vocals and guitars, Ben Gillies on drums, and Chris Joannou on bass guitar. The group got thei ...

, but winning

ARIA Award for Best Cover Art The ARIA Music Award for Best Cover Art, is an award presented within the Artisan Awards at the annual ARIA Music Awards. The ARIA Awards recognise "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", and have been given by the Aus ...

for the album with Dominic O'Brien. The album spawned two more Top 40 singles, "Be Firm" (No. 25 in June) and " Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)" (a cover of

Melanie Safka Melanie Anne Safka Schekeryk (February 3, 1947 – January 23, 2024), professionally known as Melanie or Melanie Safka, was an American singer-songwriter. Melanie is widely known for the 1971–72 global hit " Brand New Key", her 1970 version o ...

's song, which reached No. 36 in November). Her fourth single, "Is It OK If I Call You Mine?", a cover written by

Paul McCrane Paul McCrane (born January 19, 1961) is an American film, television and theatre actor, as well as a television director and singer. He is known for his portrayal of Montgomery MacNeil in the 1980 film '' Fame'', Frank Berry in the 1984 film '' T ...

for the film '' Fame'', was released in February 1996 but peaked outside the top 100. After several subsequent sell-out national tours, Sharam disappeared from the Australian mainstream music scene moving to Los Angeles for several years. Sharam re-appeared in Channel 9's TV documentary ''Dream Factory'', shot in Los Angeles.

2000–2009

In 2000, Sharam moved to

Manhattan, New York Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

where she continued to write. She wrote and staged her first one-woman show, ''MadmoselleMax'', for the

Melbourne International Comedy Festival The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is the largest stand-alone comedy festival and the largest international comedy festival in the world. First held in 1987, it takes place annually in Melbourne over four weeks, typically starti ...

. In January 2005, she performed "Butterfly Suicide" at the Hong Kong

Fringe Festival Fringe theatre is theatre that is produced outside of the main theatre institutions, and that is often small-scale and non-traditional in style or subject matter. The term comes from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.Kemp, Robert, ''More that is Fr ...

. In 2006, Sharam portrayed Jean Lee in the musical ''The Hanging of Jean Lee'', which was based on a biographical book of poems by Jordie Albiston. The score was written by Australian composer Andree Greenwell and the musical played at

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

alongside

Hugo Race Hugo Justin Race (born 23 May 1963) is an Australian rock musician and record producer who had been based in Europe from 1989 to 2011. He was a member of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (1983–85), and The Wreckery (1984–89) with Nick Barke ...

. Sharam performed and produced the music for 2006 AFI award winning documentary '' Forbidden Lie$'' and in 2007 wrote, performed and produced the closing credit song for '' Expired'', a movie starring

Samantha Morton Samantha Jane Morton (born 13 May 1977) is an English actress. She is known for her work in independent film with dark and tragic themes, particularly in period dramas. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including the BAFTA Fellowship ...

Jason Patric Jason Patric (born John Anthony Miller III; June 17, 1966) is an American film, television and stage actor. He is known for his roles in films such as '' The Lost Boys'' (1987), '' Rush'' (1991), '' Geronimo: An American Legend'' (1993), '' Sle ...

Illeana Douglas Illeana Hesselberg ( ; born July 25, 1961), known professionally as Illeana Douglas, is an American actress and filmmaker. She appeared in three episodes of '' Six Feet Under'', for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination as Outsta ...

and

Teri Garr Terry Ann Garr (December 11, 1944 – October 29, 2024), known as Teri Garr, was an American actress. Known for her comedic roles in film and television in the 1970s and 1980s, she often played women struggling to cope with the life-changing ex ...

. In 2008 Sharam continued to tread new ground and experiment with platforms, creating video performance based art. She was invited to join the New York Foundation for the Arts, a not-for-profit arts organization, panel for Video Art. In February 2009 Sharam returned to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival with her show ''Songs and Stories from My Suitcase''. and followed it up with another more experimental production ″Bushpygmalion″ which featured Sharam's animated artworks in a semi-autobiographical tale. In June, 2017 her performance art was part of an exhibit in Fabrik der Künste in Hamburg, Germany as part of a retrospective for German painter, Tania Jacobi and then in September 2018 as part of the inaugural Ballarat Biennale of Australia Art (BOAA).

2010–present

Sharam is a Master of Fine Art (MFA) and studied Animation Direction at Australian Film Television & Radio School (AFTRS, Sydney) before graduating from RMIT's Centre for Animation & Interactive Media (AIM) in 2011. In 2011 she was a finalist in the APRA Professional Development Awards and in 2013 The

Vanda & Young Vanda & Young were an Australian songwriting and producing duo composed of Harry Vanda (real name Van den Berg) and George Young. They performed as members of 1960s Australian rock group the Easybeats where Vanda was their lead guitarist and ba ...

Songwriting Competition. Sharam also created the music and sound design for the play ''Anaconda'', which won 'Best Original Play' at Hollywood Fringe Festival in 2012. In April 2019, she performed "Society" at the

APRA Music Awards of 2019 The APRA Music Awards of 2019 are the 37th annual awards given in the series of awards together known as APRA Awards, given in 2019. The awards are given in a series of categories in three divisions and in separate ceremonies throughout the yea ...

. In 2020, Sharam portrayed the ghost of Jean Lee in the docudrama A Miscarriage of Justice based on the hanging of Ronald Ryan.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions o ...

. Sharam won 1 award from 8 nominations. , - , rowspan="8",

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, rowspan="3", "Coma" , Single of the Year , , - , Song of the Year , , - , Breakthrough Artist - single , , - , rowspan="1", "Coma" (Paul Elliott) , Best Video , , - , rowspan="3", ''A Million Year Girl'' , Best Female Artist , , - , Best New Talent , , - , Breakthrough Artist - Album , , - , rowspan="1", ''A Million Year Girl'' (Dominic O'Brien and Max Sharam) , Best Cover Art , , -

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharam, Max ARIA Award winners Australian women songwriters Australian women singers Interdisciplinary artists Living people Year of birth missing (living people)