He's been dubbed the black sheep of dc Talk; some have even called him "the bad boy of Christian music." And some just think Kevin Max is a different bird altogether. From his time in the immensely popular trio through his current status as a solo artist, the hearsay has flown, the gossip has spread, and countless questions have been posed. Where exactly does the eclectic, eccentric artist stand on matters of faith, family—including his own divorce—and his solo career? In an incredibly open conversation, Max sets the record straight, divulging details on 2004's Between the Fence & the Universe EP, an upcoming Northern Records CD and a new book of poetry he's titled Divine Erotica. He may raise several eyebrows, but he also speaks honestly and from the soul.

What's been going on with you musically since 2001's Stereotype Be?

Max: I've been writing a ton. I've teamed with Van Dyke Parks [from Brian Wilson's Smile sessions] and Warren Cuccurullo from Duran Duran and Missing Persons. I moved to L.A. and really wanted to hone my songwriting skills on my next project. Why am I writing? What am I writing? What am I passionate about?

Did those sessions result in Between the Fence & the Universe or something else?

Max: Between the Fence is just an unfinished demo I decided to put out for my listeners, who've been wanting to hear something new since Stereotype Be. But I think my next project—The Impostor, releasing around the end of August—is going to lay to rest any question people out there had wondering what I've been up to. I've been working and crafting it for quite some time, but the funny thing is, it's on a very low budget and a very small studio as opposed to Stereotype Be, which was a $200,000-plus project with some of the best players in the world.

What's with the decision to downsize?

Max: I wanted to scale it back from the beginning. I kind of wanted to do it myself and was going to put up the cash and then look for labels. But in the process of touring and doing shows in the West Coast area, I was led to Northern Records through this conclave of artists I was working with. Northern started to get interested in what I was writing, and they're really into bringing this music out to the people.

Why the move from Nashville to L.A.?

Max: I felt like I had had run my course in Nashville, that I hit the ceiling a couple times and bounced back. I don't feel like I'm a better artist than anyone in the city; it's just that creatively I was being shut down on many different levels. It's no one's fault really, just me being kind of uninspired. L.A. was the easiest connector because it was the place I knew very well during the Virgin [Records] days of dc Talk.

L.A. is a bigger Nashville and another industry town, but not as many people notice me there. [In Nashville] I'd go out and people would whisper, "Is that a margarita in his hand?" No, it's a Diet Coke! It gets tiring and under your skin after awhile.

It was incredibly tough for me to go through my divorce in Nashville as well. I wanted my divorce to be very private. We'd been in counseling for a year and though there was a major reason for [the divorce]. It wasn't anything people would be all shocked about, which is just another example of how Nashville completely took things and went to the very end of the spectrum in the negative.

Why do you think that attitude arose?

Max: I think it's the Bible Belt. I would've hoped for a little more graciousness and understanding. It was really tough and actually made me become very isolated. I want to talk and explain to people that I'm on their side and I believe much that they believe. But I also think there's something missing in the church and this industry—that graciousness and that freedom to allow an individual to be an individual and to learn. You don't want to let them get away with murder, but you do want them to be supportive. I'm all for tough love if you have a relationship with that person, but also not to judge on outward appearances without taking the time to really investigate someone's soul.

What do you feel is the public's biggest misconception about you?

Max: There's too many to mention! Well, that I'm a rebel really. I think the biggest misconception is that I do things just to push people's buttons and not because I believe them. I really believe in what I do and what I say and I'm never going out to just consciously provoke or offend them. I've said some things that I've regretted, but nothing that hasn't come from a good place with good intentions.

Tell me about your new book.

Max: I've just finished a book of poetry titled Divine Erotica. I thought the title went well with what was said, much like in the Song of Solomon, which puts beauty on a pedestal, not bringing it down to lowest common denominator. God created sexuality to be beautiful and for a purpose.

I was having second thoughts about putting the book out because so many people are worried about the title. They say "you can't put that out there," but that's without even having opened it, which is again my point! Nobody wants to get past the cover because the cover is "it" to them. That's the biggest tragedy of the industry at large. Nobody wants to dig a little deeper.

So, are you going to change the title?

Max: I was thinking about changing the title to A New Eve, but that sounds like it could be a woman's journal—or a high profile yoga class in West Hollywood. But I've decided to keep the original title, Divine Erotica, which is also the title of one of the poems in the book. The true, original title was Biblical Erotica, but I felt that Divine Erotica was more appropriate. After all, I am not trying to become a sex counselor or a soft porn peddler. I am, at best, trying to make poetry that is thought-provoking and uplifting. It'll be coming out shortly after my new CD [likely this fall].

OK, so what's the book about?

Max: It's poetry about my male perspective of the female kind. It talks about how we relate, exposing true beauty as inward beauty. There's an obvious clash between the sexes, and the poetry is really about honest, everyday life as male and females living together and trying to relate. I feel like females, especially young girls even more so now, are being looked at like pieces of meat, literally. We don't want them to be intelligent, well read, interesting or challenging. We want them to look really good, sound really good and that's it. To me sexiness and true beauty is somebody who has an idea of who they are and projects intelligence and passion.

Are you afraid that your divorce has diminished your authority on the topic?

Max: The thing is I'm in love again and it's working again in a very positive way. The divorce has taught me how to truly love and really understand how to commit to a female, because I have gone through that failure. I've even thought about titling my next record After the Fall, because sometimes it's all about falling on your face. Sometimes it takes hitting rock bottom to really understand who you are and get life. It's after you hit rock bottom.

At what point do you hit that level?

Max: For me—and I don't want to belabor the subject because it's my private life—the divorce was rock bottom. It's something we really tried to work out for quite a long period. It wasn't a big affair, and it wasn't anything that was like "tabloid-worthy." It's just that we were working on the relationship, and in the end I was counseled by many different people that my decision was correct after trying to work through that for a year.

I think I have learned a lot from that dark period in my life. It made me get away from everything and kind of isolate, to spend time trying to figure out life, who I was and would I have a life in music after this? Let's be honest, the basic rule of thumb in the Christian industry is if you're divorced, you're not going to sell records.

Where do you think your next record will fit in with the CCM community?

Max: I think this record would relate to more of the CCM world than Stereotype Be, because the subject material is more general: love, eternity and society. This record is pinpointed subjects about specifics and there are going to be a lot of personal reflections. I'm here to just open my heart and re-educate people on why I do what I do. It's because I'm a believer, a Christian, a brother who's on their side—and who's trying to challenge people to go deeper into what they actually believe and start asking questions of themselves.

For more about Kevin Max, click here to view our artist page. Also, check out our review of his latest EP, Between the Fence & The Universe.

© Andy Argyrakis, subject to licensing agreement with Christianity Today International. All rights reserved. Click for reprint information.

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