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Interview with Kevin Max
Ardent Enthusiast
Exclusive Material
April 14, 2002 - Last
week, Kevin Max took the time to sit down with æ.com for a casual
interview - the second in our series. (The first was our interview with
Tait). Kevin, quite the gentleman, was
extremely gracious and generous, not to mention as honest and interesting
as always. As an added bonus, his wife Alayna stopped by and I asked
her a couple questions also. Being the total sweetheart that she is,
she obliged. So settle in and prepare yourself for the following transcript
of our conversations. Also, don't forget to check out Kevin's website
this week for the unveiling of the new design!
--Jessica
[As
we sit down to talk, Kevin is slightly distracted by an adorable 2-year-old
girl who is hitting him with a stuffed lamb. He notices her tennis shoes,
which light up when she walks, and mentions that he's always wanted
shoes like that. At one point, he gets the lamb from her and they start
tossing it back and forth. He comments that he's always wanted someone
to play catch with. The fact that it's a stuffed lamb launches him into
a humorous story about himself and a friend trying to catch a lamb in
Scotland, so he could take a picture with it.]
æ.com:
So you were just in Scotland? Were you playing over there or were you
on vacation?
Kmax: I
was doing shows, yeah. I did a show in Edinburgh and I did a show in
Glasgow. I was actually vacationing with my wife too. Actually no, I
did a show outside of Edinburgh in the town where my father-in-law lives.
He has an old manor house that looks like a castle, it has turrets on
it and everything. It's a very old building, so it's all stone and everything,
really, really cool. So we go there on vacation every once in awhile.
I sang at a church there right up the street from his house. I'm actually
doing a show in Edinburgh this summer at a festival called the Edinburgh
Festival.
æ.com:
Yeah I think you have more shows scheduled in Europe than you do in
the U.S.
Kmax: I
do.
æ.com:
Do you like playing in Europe better than in the U.S.?
Kmax: Much
better, yeah, of course.
æ.com:
Why is that?
Kmax: Because
people will listen. [laughs] In the states everyone's like going to
get their gummy bears and moshing and …
æ.com:
Do they sit and listen (in Europe)?
Kmax: They
sit, they stand, they jump around, but they really appreciate the music
for what it is. What I find in Europe that I really love the most is
that there's no stereotypes when it comes to the type of performer you
are or the music that you're creating or where you're trying to go with
it as an experimental person, they like that even more. The more experimental
you can get, the better it is for them. Whereas in the States, if you
do something that's different, like if you go against the grain, if
you do something that's new to people, they just kind of like fold their
arms and go "I want the thing I'm familiar with," you know? I think
it's part of our culture to want to surround ourselves with familiarity
and comfort, you know what I mean? Where I think the Europeans are about
comfort in different avenues.
æ.com:
Do you think they're dc talk fans or they just know about you or they're
just more open to new people?
Kmax: To
be honest with you, I'm developing a whole other crowd over there right
now. It's about developing a whole new audience and for me that comes
from a place where I'm probably playing in front of people who have
no clue what I'm about. They probably heard through the grapevine that
I'm a singer in dc talk or blah blah blah, which actually does me less
good than you would expect. It doesn't [help] the situation.
[His phone
rings - the ring tone is the tune of the Hallelujah chorus. He answers
and tells the person that he's doing an interview.]
æ.com:
You're developing a new crowd … through radio? Through playing over
there? Through word of mouth?
Kmax: Through
radio, through promoters who know a little bit about dc talk but are
not going to push me as one of dc talk. It's more [that] they're pushing
me as a brand new artist - 'check out this guy' - they'll put up a picture
of me, and they'll hope that people are intrigued enough by the picture
or what's happening on radio over there. And right now Furious Records
UK is pushing my music and we're trying to figure out which song to
enter into the UK general market with. It's gonna be general market
radio, it's not gonna be Christian radio, so …
æ.com:
Do they have Christian radio over there?
Kmax: They
have small stations ... they have this thing called Cross Rhythms. It's
a radio station, a big one, it's like one of the biggest ones. And I
went #1 with "Return of the Singer" on Cross Rhythms but I
told them 'You know what, don't put any more singles out on, kind of,
pseudo-crossover,' 'cause they're not all Christian, they're always
crossover, because the UK doesn't have a bottom-line gospel marketplace.
They'll play, like, Rebecca St. James, but they'll also play, like,
Oasis, on the same channel - people that are kind of infiltrating the
mainstream.
æ.com:
I heard "Existence," by the way, on Lightning 100 (a Nashville
radio station that plays 'progressive rock' and also broadcasts over
the internet at wrlt.com)
and I was so excited.
Kmax: Thank
you, yeah, they're actually picking up, I think, "Blind,"
they're gonna start playing next.
æ.com:
And it fits right in with the rest of what they play.
Kmax: Yeah.
Like somebody like this, like Rufus Wainwright, (playing through the
speakers), his music is better served on a Lightning 100 than it is
a pop station too. I wish there were more stations like Lightning 100,
you know progressive radio, stations that really go out and do a broad
thing - like they'll play U2, and they'll play me, and then they'll
play maybe, like, Frank Sinatra.
æ.com:
And this is obvious, I'm sure everyone knows it, but your record sounds
the most different from dc talk (of all the solo projects) which gives
you the most opportunity to attract fans that aren't dc talk fans.
Kmax: Yeah,
but it's also a detriment to me in the CCM world because people are
wanting the dc talk sound, they're wanting the catch-phrase lyric about
being a "Jesus Freak," or they're wanting something to pump
'em up as a believer. But my music is more about parables, more about
the subtle inference as opposed to screaming slogans like, "Jesus is
still alright with me" and that kind of thing.
æ.com:
Not that there's anything wrong with that …
Kmax: There's
not anything wrong with it, no, I'm not saying there is anything wrong.
But for that marketplace, that's what they're craving, and I'm just
not delivering that with this record. So I think, in a way, I've created
a record that kind of had a few knocks against it from the beginning.
æ.com:
Was that a conscious thing?
Kmax: No.
æ.com:
Were you thinking about singles at all when you were choosing tracks
for the record?
Kmax: Well,
you think about radio now when you make a record regardless because
you have to make something that you think will be successful, you don't
want to make a project that nobody's going to buy into. So, from that
perspective, I had to make a record that yielded some kind of exposure,
but I didn't think of it as CCM radio. I thought of it more as a general
market radio thing. And that's why I'm amazed that CCM radio picked
up "Existence" and played it, and it went to #4 or whatever
on the CHR charts. I was very mildly surprised at that, I didn't expect
it to. So the fact that people are open to it excites me, but I don't
think it's my home, you know?
æ.com:
Yeah. So, when you play in the States, are you looking at playing in
clubs or ...?
Kmax: Yeah,
we're concentrating on smaller venues, general market venues, again,
places that are going to listen to me as a brand-new artist, not listen
to me because of the dc talk fact. So we're going after clubs, doing
some theaters, some general market festivals. But the majority of the
shows I'm doing right now are clubs, like I'm playing Exit/In here in
Nashville, and playing El Rey …
[phone
rings again, he apologizes, answers it, and finally decides to switch
it off]
æ.com:
I won't mention how much your phone rang ...
Kmax: [laughs]
You can if you want to, it doesn't matter to me. I live my life pretty
much on my sleeve, I got nothing to hide.
[Editor's
note: So I left in the phone stuff just so I could use that quote :)
 æ.com:
What were we talking about? Oh, you're going to play El Rey (in Los
Angeles) and Exit/In - when are you going to play Exit/In?
Kmax: I'm
going to play Exit/In in about 3 weeks.
æ.com:
During GMA Week?
Kmax: Yep.
Maybe all the Christians will come out ... have a drink, have a good
time. Celebrate. For once in their lives, they can celebrate, they don't
have to worry about what everybody else thinks about them. I'm pulling
out my Elvis outfit for that show [laughs], I'm probably going to be
wearing a cape [laughs] ...
[Editor's
note: This information has since changed. Kevin says that show has been
moved to the beginning of June.]
æ.com:
So are you going to be a clothes designer on the side now? Because like
a lot of the stuff you wear, you've kind of put together.
Kmax: I'm
not interested in that one bit, but I love fashion. I love trying to
play around with different ideas, trying to play off of things that
inspire me from a fashion standpoint. I didn't know I'd have to deal
with plaid [laughing], which you know everybody's going off on this
whole plaid thing …
æ.com:
I didn't say anything about the plaid [laughing].
Kmax: Well,
you know, even on the æ
site they're talking about the "Man in Plaid" and I'm like,
that's cool - I wore that for a photo shoot, you know? But it wasn't
the only thing I wore at the photo shoot. But the thing that is interesting
is that raincoat became such a huge deal, that people were either horrified
by it or they loved it. And I think, it is what it is, it's a Burberry
raincoat, you know? So, I don't like to have one piece of clothing overcome
everything, that's why I constantly change.
æ.com:
So let's talk about fans for awhile, since we're on the subject. What's
something good about having fans?
Kmax: The
fans to me are people that really feed my desire to continue to create.
I mean, it's kind of like, it's a relationship, isn't it? It's like
you want to make music that everybody's going to really dig into and
love, and love it to the point where they want the next thing. And you're
inspired by them wanting the next thing ... to go into the studio and
create something that's even better than the first thing. And you constantly
are about topping yourself, I think, trying to come up with new ideas,
to inspire people, to make people look inward, to make people laugh,
cry, you know. To be honest with you, that's the life of the artist,
constantly reinventing who you are and what you are to inspire people.
And, to me, I really take it with a grain of salt. I don't sit back
and go 'I have the end-all-be-all tell-tale vision and everybody must
listen to me or they're like, all pigs,' which some artists have done
in the past. A lot of artists feel 'hey, listen to me, and everybody
else is wrong' whereas I feel like 'listen to everybody and glean information
from lots of different sources.'
And that's
why I think my music is interesting because it's not like everybody
else, it kinda has its own feel to it, and that's why I constructed
it in the first place. So it's almost like a club to itself, it's like
if you dig this kind of music, you're one of the only ones that are
out there into this. But, it doesn't mean that it's the only thing,
you can go out and check out other things. The problem with modern music
to me is everybody's trying to emulate everyone else. Nobody is willing
to take a risk, to try something different, you know what I mean? And
that even though my record is full of influences, I still feel like
it has a fresh take on life. It's got a fresh style to it. I'm very
proud of that.
It's funny
because everybody in the Christian industry right now is talking about
'well, who's selling the most units out of the three guys' and I know
I'm selling the least amount of units. And I'm happy about that, because
I know that the people that are buying my record really like it. And
whether that's 50,000 people or 100,000 people or 2 million, it's really
great to me that people that have this record, I know it's special to
them. I know it's just not a record that they picked up and they go
'oh I like this single' and then they throw it away and they're on to
the next thing, you know what I mean?
æ.com:
Are you your toughest critic?
Kmax: I'm
pretty hard on myself from an artistic standpoint, you know what I mean?
When people tell me that my music is this or that ... I'm pretty tough
on myself when it comes to creating stuff. But I'm also kind of like
a hippie how I go about it, like I just kind of create it, and I don't
worry about how I get to the end product. I don't worry about what's
going down when I put it down. And a lot of people sit there and reconstruct,
reconstruct, reconstruct, reconstruct, until they have the perfect work.
For me, it's like, I throw it up on the wall, and if it sticks, cool,
I'll keep it. If it doesn't, then I'll try something else, you know?
But yeah, I can be tough on myself. I think where I get tough on myself
is from a live performance standpoint. I want to make people happy onstage,
and if I feel like I'm not doing it, then I get really hard on myself
after a show. Like I'm notorious for coming off after a show, and everybody
going 'that was awesome,' and me going 'it was horrible, just pathetic,'
you know what I mean? [laughs]
æ.com:
What would make it horrible?
Kmax: Just
the feelings that I have when I'm performing. [If] I don't feel like
I'm pulling off the music the way I wanted to pull it off. Or I'm not
connecting with people the way I want to connect with them. The thing
that I hate about performers is when they turn their back on the audience
and they're just into their own music and they don't want to bring people
into it, you know what I mean? That's my least favorite performer. That's
why some of my favorite performers are people like Freddie Mercury,
and like another great example was Elvis, constantly involving the crowd,
constantly bringing them into the show. Bono does that quite a bit now
too … so all my favorite front people were always people that constantly
emoted, went out there, and really tried to draw people in.
æ.com:
On this last tour, would you say there were more performances that you
felt good about rather than horrible?
Kmax: Good
question. I can't remember, I have a really poor memory too. I'll tell
you what - the summer festivals were the most horrible because I didn't
think the show was put together. I didn't think it was packaged. We
didn't have any time to sound check. We all went out and our bands had
like 10 minutes to sound check and then we were out on stage doing it.
There wasn't a consistency, a storyline behind the show, where I think
this tour, the dc talk solo tour, had a little bit more of a storyline
to it, had a little more consistency, continuity, and that helped a
lot.
But I also
think it is very hard for me to perform my music in 20 minutes and [leave].
And that's why I threw a few covers in there because it's really, my
music is pretty difficult to grasp in 20 minutes. I mean, I feel like
I need an hour to let people know what I do. And so I struggled with
entertaining as opposed to letting them know what my music was. And
I really struggled with that entertainment thing, like I said, I really
enjoy making people smile and making them think and making them get
into it.
And I actually
carved out, I was going to do another cover, I was going to continue
doing the "Hold Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me, Thrill Me" song, but
I got a lot of flack from youth leaders and promoters about that song,
so I decided not to do it. But, it's like, I would've loved to have
done "Blind" and "Her Game" and like "Dead
End Moon." But to play those songs in front of the dc talk crowd,
I'd say 20% of the crowd would be with me, maybe 30%, 'cause it's something
brand new, again, something tough to get their head around, you know?
I don't know if they're willing to go there yet. They're wanting the
"Get the Party Started," that kind of thing.
æ.com:
How did you pick the two covers you did? I mean, "We are the Champions"
makes sense, it's recognizable and you like Queen, but the other?
Kmax: You're
right, I went against protocol with "Alleluia" because I wanted
a moment of sincerity and reverance when it comes to the music. I wanted
to make a musical statement as well as have fun. So, really, to be completely
honest with you, I really struggled with knowing what to do during my
set. Because there's so many statements you can make. You can make a
statement, I think, that Toby made very, very, very loudly that 'hey
I'm here to rock the crowd and get you all up and dance and have a good
time.' Mike, I feel like, kinda got caught in between being a rock show
and trying to play emotional songs. I got caught in trying to make artistic
statements and entertain, you know, and so it was very difficult for
me to try to be pure entertainment or be artistic. I love to be just
all artistic sometimes as well, but to do that, you have to have the
right kind of crowd.
I think
"Alleluia" for me was just to be able to let people hear my
voice. Because I think within that 20 minute set without "Alleluia,"
it's kinda like a lot of people want to hear me sing. And it's kinda
hard in 20 minutes to really latch into the vocal sound. So I wanted
to play that song because I think people really could hear what I do,
you know, as a vocalist. I mean Jeff Buckley used it for that same purpose,
people really heard his voice. It's a wonderful song to showcase a voice,
very simple, it's really all about the melody. The lyrics are amazing
[too], one of my favorite songwriters, Leonard Cohen, wrote that song
[as well as] Bird on a Wire, Suzanne, all those songs. You read the
lyrics and they're just so deep, so amazing.
æ.com:
What's your favorite version of "Alleluia," Jeff Buckley's?
Kmax: Yeah,
hands down. A friend of mine says John Cale has a version that's really
great ... to be honest with you, I'm a very big fan of Rufus Wainwright,
but I don't think he pulled it off like Jeff Buckley did. Bono does
a version that's really interesting, but it's more of a spoken word
thing. It's cool, but it's not as great as Buckleys. Buckley nailed
it. And if I did it recorded, I would probably do a different take on
it. Because I think Buckley and I have very similar things that we do
with our voices and I wouldn't want to sound like I'm taking from Jeff
Buckley. I'm more from a Freddie Mercury, John Lennon, school of influence.
But there's a lot of people out there that think I'm taking from some
of the more modern people like Jeff Buckley, you know, who do they say
all the time, Cheb Mami from Sting's band, that middle-eastern singer
that sings with Sting, and I just think 'you know what, hey, that's
cool that you think that, but I go way far back before that,' you know
what I mean? I've been singing before Jeff, even though I know it sounds
crazy, but I've been doing this before Jeff was doing it. I appreciate
that people are trying to link me, I don't get mad about stuff like
that. I have one person that says that I'm not original at all, and
I'm just taking from U2, Rod Stewart and Sting and everybody, the Smiths,
and lumping it all together. And I think that's what everybody does,
they take from their influences and then they make something better,
or make something that's a part of them, but they keep their influences.
I mean, it's kind of hard not to do that.
æ.com:
The second part of the question from a long time ago was, what are the
downsides of having fans?
Kmax: I
think for me it's just when people don't respect your privacy and they
try to infiltrate your everyday life. And I've had some problems with
people and I actually had to go legal with a couple of people, and I
had to bring the FBI into it at one point. And it got really scary ...
I had FBI agents at a dc talk show and no one knew about it except the
people onstage and the road management and stuff. But it was very scary
to have people backstage with guns and not knowing if this person was
going to show up and try to shoot me or kidnap me, which they were threatening
to do. That's where it gets weird, that's where it gets wacky. And,
I mean, it comes with the job … like Bono says, he wears his sunglasses
for protection [laughing], I wear my Burberry raincoat for protection.
æ.com:
Have you ever asked someone for their autograph?
Kmax: Yes,
when I was a kid, I was fascinated by Duran Duran. I actually sent a
letter to them asking them to sign my [album] and they never did, they
never sent it back. I was really hurt by that. I also have a signing
by Johnny Cash, I ran into him like 5 or 6 years ago and he gave me
his autograph, so that was cool. I've bumped into a lot of people since
then and it's not like I'm going to ask for an autograph. Like, I saw
Thom Yorke of Radiohead during the Grammy Awards and I would never ask
him for his autograph, but I really look up to him. And I've just become
friends with Robbie Williams over in London ... [trails off because
he's distracted by the music and a friend who just walked in the door]
æ.com:
Have you ever refused to sign anything?
Kmax: Nobody's
asked me to sign a part of their body that's controversial to me ...
no, I've never denied anybody an autograph. There have been times where
I've felt like it's an invasion of privacy and I'll say 'hey, I can't
do this right now, but check back with me in like 30 minutes or so and
I'll get it.' Or if I'm walking through someplace and I can't do it.
It's just like anything, if you can't stop, you can't stop, you know?
And it sucks and you want to. But an autograph is really impersonal,
though, I don't look at them as, like, a necessity in life. I'd rather
sit down and talk with somebody, have a coffee, or shake their hand,
before signing an autograph. I mean, Michael Stipe, I look up to Michael
as a songwriter, Michael will not sign autographs, he shakes hands only.
I think it's a little hard to say 'I will not sign an autograph,' I
mean, that's just a little weird.
My point
is that I don't think it's cheap, I just think it's more meaningful
to sit down and talk to somebody. It's more meaningful to look in their
eyes and say 'hey, how's it going? Are you doing alright?' Actually
listening, you know what I mean? Autographs are duplicated all the time.
People sign stuff that's supposed to be signed by me and pawn it off
as my signature all the time. I'll unravel the mystery of that. People
don't know that, but it's true.
æ.com:
What are your thoughts on Solo being nominated for and winning the Grammy?
Kmax: I
think the Grammies are really about who sells the most and who makes
the most impression and who makes a dent in society. And the truth is,
they're a popularity contest in some respect. And it's a familiarity
thing. You know what I'm trying to say? I was very shocked that it won.
But, what it was up against, though, I mean, no offense to the other
bands, those people just don't know who those bands are. First of all,
Big Tent Revival, even though I like those guys, they aren't known by
anybody really outside the Christian circle. You have Sonicflood, who
put out a live album and then broke up, and again I like those guys
too, I sang on their first record and I really appreciated what they
were trying to do. I just feel like it was a popularity contest - people
look down and go 'oh, dc talk, we know who they are' and that's who
wins, you know what I mean? It's not like 'let's listen to each record
and see what the message is.' And if they do that, then great, but I
doubt it. I would tend to think it's more about who makes an impression,
you know? Which, I was very excited to see Radiohead win in best art
packaging because I think that is one of the few art forms in the Grammy
industry that people do really investigate, they check it out and they
think 'this is really cool' 'cause it's visual and they don't have to
take the time to sit down and listen and extract.
æ.com:
And you've been pretty active in your packaging ...
Kmax: I'm
very into design. Very into art.
 [Alayna
arrives and I ask her a few questions while Kevin excuses himself to
the restroom.]
æ.com:
Do you think you and Kevin will ever sing together?
Alayna:
Probably not.
æ.com:
Why not?
Alayna:
First of all, I don't want to disgrace Kevin's voice with mine [laughs].
Second of all, my sister and I really write the most, we don't really
sing anymore. We write for Sony ... so I really enjoy watching him and
not having to hassle with singing. When we're at home, we sing together
all the time, but it's not something I want to do [out], you know what
I mean?
æ.com:
Do you guys have any plans to be parents someday?
Alayna:
Perhaps. Maybe. We're thinking about it. I want to have kids ... I don't
think it's the smartest thing to have a bunch of kids while half of
us is on the road. I mean, if you're gone for four months at a time,
I have a problem with that, you know? So I think that when Kevin has
more freedom to set his own schedule and that sort of thing, perhaps.
I've always seen myself having six kids, 'cause I come from such a big
family. So I think [for now] we're just going to take it easy.
æ.com:
Do you have a possibility of having twins? I don't know how that works.
Alayna:
I'm sure we do, my brothers are twins too, they're identical also. You
know identical twins are sort of acts of God and fraternal twins are
every other generation so you never know. I would love to have twins,
absolutely.
æ.com:
What's your favorite song to hear Kevin sing live?
Alayna:
Live? My favorite one right now is "Angel With No Wings" when
he breaks down the bridge and makes it into a big band thing. It's definitely
the best. I'm trying to encourage him to do a big band record, actually.
Because he would be so brilliant at it, you know? That's my favorite
to hear him sing live. His voice sounds the best on "Alleluia."
[Kevin
returns from the restroom, they talk some, and Alayna bids goodbye.
She has to leave to meet someone for lunch. I have a couple more questions
for Kevin.]
æ.com:
In the future, what do you forsee coming first, another Kevin Max album
or another dc talk album?
Kmax: It's
an interesting question. If I were to put my money on it, I'd say a
Kevin Max record before dc talk. I think each of us wants to establish
the fact that we're serious about solo careers. And the band is definitely
going to come back and make another record because we're contractually
bound to do that. But I think in order for us to establish ourselves
as serious artists outside of dc talk we almost have to do another record
to let people know we're serious about it. And I'm already writing for
another record, I'm not writing for dc talk right now, so it seems my
path has already been laid for me in a way. It's like Gandalf says in
Lord of the Rings, 'The one who wanders is not lost.' It's alright
to wander sometimes, you know.
æ.com:
How many times did you see that movie?
Kmax: I
actually saw it three times. I'm actually really looking forward to
it coming out on DVD because I'm a DVD freak, being able to stop at
certain moments and look at the way they made it. I actually went out
and bought the National Geographic story on the making of it and the
world of Tolkien.
æ.com:
So are you going to go to New Zealand to see where they made it?
Kmax: Oh
yeah, I love New Zealand. I'd love to do a show there, actually. I don't
know if I have any offers for there yet, but I'd love to go there and
do a show.
æ.com:
Well, hey, thanks so much for taking the time to talk to me.
Kmax: You're
very welcome.
Also, extra special thanks to Alayna Max for taking the pictures!
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