Max Sharam's incredible disappearing act.

Craig Reardon reports for ATN Australia:

From platinum album in 1996 to obscurity, Max Sharam returns. Step back some years - to 1996. Australian commercial radio is playing the third single from Max Sharam's A Million Year Girl album - a rendition of Melanie Safka's 'Lay Down.' The debut album dominates the charts and reaches platinum status. Artist and album are nominated for no less than eight ARIA awards (but take only one due to a rampaging Tina Arena and silverchair).
Step back four years to the Armadale Hotel, Melbourne. Max Sharam and her band deliver a consummate performance of pop/rock tunes blended with a level of theatricality not common in this country. The captivating performance blends fantasy with sex, dance and mystery - kind of Kate Bush meets Alice Cooper in a porn shop. As the audience departs, there are two topics of conversation - 'wow' and 'how far Max?'
Now jump forward to 2000. The world has moved on. The media is dominated by a manufactured girl-group called 'Pop Tarts' while a young woman by the name of Natalie has become the darling of Australian fans. The most theatrical Australian music has got is a reincarnation of a rock opera from 1970. Max Sharam is nowhere in sight. The last anyone had heard of her was that she'd gone to the States to work on the follow-up to her smash debut. But then, nothing!
What happened? How could an artist with one of the best debut releases of the decade simply disappear without trace? Two motives surface. Love and money.
In an exclusive interview with ATN and true to form and character, Sharam explained the disappearance thus:

'I have a tendency to fall in and out of Coma's. I fell into another one for two years after a pretty sick and ugly break-up....more love gone wrong....more fodder for love songs etc... 'I live and love for my art,' she continues. 'I spent nearly a year in Europe. Did some touring. Then moved to the states. Hollywood. Wrote with a bunch of different people. Got some bit parts in films. Observed and laughed at the industry. Partied. Met new friends. More parties. More new friends. Did stand-up comedy and LA comedy store...where the kings like Roseanne Barr and Steve Martin and Jim Carey all started. Travelled. More fun. Started writing a book. Went into hibernation. More writing. Started making a documentary. Started coming out of Coma'

The response is typical of the persona of the performer. Like Chrissie Amphlett before her, Sharam prefers to publicly parade the performer rather than the private person.
Or are they one and the same? Sharam's website promotes the mystique. Instead of your normal biographical guff, her bio is a prosaic personal extract much like the rest of the site with its insights, philosophies and artistic photography and artwork. Part of Sharam's 'coma' resulted from what appears to have been a nasty falling out with record company Warner Music. On her website, she describes the relationship as one of 'various (and dubious) recording deals.'

'Most of the delay in my releasing a new album has been to do with complications with Warner,' she said.
 'Essentially I am no longer with them and deciding whether to release my next body of songs independently. I love my new songs. I 'm dying to play them to people.'
As Sharam contemplates her next musical move, she continues working on the comedy circuit in the US. However, both a new album and Australian appearances are on the agenda for the coming twelve months.