The name was chosen since it combined elements of being masculine and feminine. Īfter signing the deal at the age of 22, she began searching for a last name to use as her stage name, eventually deciding on Max. Max acknowledged that working with Cirkut changed her life, as she considered leaving the music industry after being creatively stifled. The song gained traction and attracted the attention of various record labels that contacted Max through email, ultimately leading her to sign a record deal with Atlantic Records in 2016. Max sang " Happy Birthday" to him, which led both musicians to work together, writing hundreds of songs and releasing "Anyone but You" on SoundCloud in July 2016. Cirkut was also an acquaintance of her brother. In 2014, Max met Canadian record producer Cirkut at a dinner party in the Chateau Marmont. She also faced several incidents of sexual harassment. For several years, her demos were rejected and not returned by record producers and songwriters. Max released "Take Away the Pain" in 2013, which was remixed by the Canadian duo Project 46 in July 2015. Max's difficulty in searching for producers and songwriters alone caused her to spiral "down a really bad path", which led her to drink at an early age and having to survive on 20 dollars a week. She acknowledged that the partnership "did not work out" due to differences and receiving orders from her brother and because neither knew anyone in the area. After she turned 17, Max returned to Los Angeles with her brother, who acted as her manager. During her time in South Carolina, Max attended Lexington High School for a year, after being previously homeschooled, and she recalled being constantly bullied there. She later stated that she was grateful for the move, as it allowed her to experience a normal childhood. Max relocated to South Carolina a year later, where she began writing songs about relationships she had observed, including those of her brother.
Max adopted the stage name Ava at the age of 14, and moved to Los Angeles in pursuit of a music career at the suggestion of her mother, but was constantly rejected for being underage. At the age of 13, Max came up with the middle name Ava and adopted it as her first name after stating that she did not like being called Amanda while growing up. Max often traveled to Florida in order to perform in singing competitions, and began releasing music under the moniker Amanda Kay. While living in Virginia, she competed in numerous Radio Disney singing competitions at Greenbrier Mall in Chesapeake and debuted at the NorVa in Norfolk when she was 10 years old as an opening act, where she performed Whitney Houston's 1987 song " I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)". Max moved with her family to Virginia when she was 8 years old, where she was raised in Hampton Roads. Her mother was a classically trained opera singer, while her father was a pianist. During her childhood, Max often saw her parents struggle to earn an income, as they each worked three jobs without speaking English. While in Paris, they encountered a woman from Wisconsin and were given passports by her before immigrating to the United States to reside in the state, where Max was born. In 1991, her parents fled Albania after the fall of communism in the country, and lived at a Red Cross supported church in Paris for a year. Max also has a brother approximately seven years older than her. Max's parents are from Albania her father, Paul, is from Qeparo and her mother, Andrea, is from Sarandë.