ML - Michigan Avenue

2014 - Issue 4 - Summer

Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!

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OPPOSITE PAGE: PHOTOGRAPHY COPYRIGHT PETER MAX 2014 (MAX, TONIGHT SHOW ); THIS PAGE: COPYRIGHT PETER MAX 2014 (GE CLOCKS) I said, "Do I have paints?" We roll out a cart of paints, and he writes, "To Peter, Love Ringo," followed by a star. There's a photo right on top of you and Ringo. Was it another famous Beatle, Paul McCartney, who turned you on to vegetarianism? Paul and I became vegetarians at the same time. I've been a veg- etarian now for over 40 years, and I'm only 38. [Laughs] I've had everybody up here in the studio—from Mick Jagger a couple of times to Ringo Starr to Paul McCartney—they've all been up here, they're all my friends. We hang out; I've been very lucky. Is it true that you also have a DJ who works here in your studio? Yes—Joe. He plays for me all good contemporary music—jazz, bebop, fusion jazz, certain rock 'n' roll. When I start painting, the music is on and I'm just in the groove. Music inspires my whole will to paint—it fuels the creativity. You worked with George Harrison on the Integral Yoga Institute, a yoga center and ashram in New York's Greenwich Village based on the teachings of Sri Swami Satchidananda, whom you brought to America in 1966. Was it George who introduced you to the Swami? No, George was involved with the Maharishi out of England. George and I talked about my Satchidananda and his Maharishi, and we introduced each other to the other guy. The institute teaches how to go into medita- tion, get your mind focused, do stretching, become a vegan—a lot of health, behavioral, and mental benefits that have changed my whole life. How did you first meet Swami Satchidananda? Conrad Rooks, who was the heir of Avon cosmetics—he was a billionaire kid—called me one day when I was still in my early 20s, and he wanted me to come to Paris to help him with the colors on a film he was going to make. Conrad picks me up from the airport [in Paris] and we're hanging out in the restaurant at the hotel that he's staying in, and then in comes the Swami— long beard, beautiful long black hair, gorgeous eyes—and Conrad introduces me to him. After spending a day with the Swami, I knew I had to bring him to New York. All my hippie buddies were taking LSD, and I was thinking, This is the man we need to be with, not this other stuff. I brought him to America and I opened yoga centers for him. THE BEST IS YET TO COME Over your career, you've accomplished so much. Is there a goal you have yet to achieve? I'm always being creative; that's full-time. And I've been listening to music very intensely my whole life, but especially in the last 36 months because I've been collecting music for seven feature films and animation. Characters and stories—I have so many. The only thing I hadn't collected was music, so I called my friends—Paul McCartney, R ingo Starr, Bon Jovi—everyone I knew, and I got about 175,000 to 200,000 songs on these little iPods. Everything that's pop-y is five stars, and if it's a great piece but a little melodic, four stars. Everything that's four and five stars is going in the films. Out of 200,000 pieces of music, I selected about 3,000 or 4,000 that I adore. Have you ever thought about retiring? I've been retired since I was 20. [Laughs] Retiring is getting to do com- pletely what you love, right? It's not like sitting in a chair somewhere. This is a nice life—it's creative, colors, music, and people. I love it. MA FROM TOP: Peter Max's painting Flag With Heart; a commissioned portrait of a couple. Peter Max (circa 1969) showcases the clock art he designed for General Electric. MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM 121

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