He's best remembered as the most eccentric member of Christian music supergroup dc Talk, but Kevin Max has mellowed out a bit in recent years. After taking up residency in Los Angeles, doing some off-Broadway work, and mingling with "the least of these," the oft misunderstood singer is back in Nashville … with a mortgage. Remarriage and fatherhood have done him good, shifting his priorities from the pursuit of fame to the pursuit of happiness for his wife and two kids at home. The new focus could explain why The Blood, Kevin Max's fourth full-length effort, is not so much about himself as it is about his faith, singing his convictions more openly than ever before.

Since our last chat, you've remarried, moved from Los Angeles back to Nashville, and seen some big changes in your personal life. What has it been like to get adjusted to this new change of pace?

Kevin Max: Well, to be totally honest, when you say "personal life," I'm not sure what that is. Everybody in the entertainment industry in some way has to live their life out in the open. But as far as letting people know what my life has been like, I've been really open about the things I've been through in the last couple of years. It's been a wonderful journey. After leaving Nashville about 5 years ago, I moved to L.A. after leaving ForeFront Records (or really, after being dumped by ForeFront Records).

Then what?

Max: I worked to get outside of what was familiar to me—something I needed to do personally. I continued creating music and performing live, while having an amazing time in L.A. meeting all sorts of great characters. Of course, while I was there, I finished another project called The Imposter and my Christmas record O Holy Night, so I was busy.

Then yes, I fell in love with Amanda McDonald, we got married, and right now we have two very healthy, wonderful children. I get to be a father and learn on a day-to-day basis what it's like to be a parent. It's a great time for me.

So how would you say life is different from five years ago?

Max: As a 40-year-old, I think it's a time for me to mellow. The kids keep me on my toes, but I'm really more of a family guy as opposed to a guy who's always wanting to go out on the town and trying to see what the [newest thing] might be. I enjoy being home now.

So … more of a mowing-the-lawn, home-improvement type of guy?

Max: Absolutely, to a degree, yeah. Because if I don't do it, nobody else is going to! My wife isn't really one to get out and mow the lawn. I actually kind of like gardening and things like that—digging holes and planting trees. It's a little bit like being a hobbit.

That's a far cry from a few years ago—playing regularly at the Viper Room in L.A. or your off-Broadway stint. Was it hard to adapt to home life after living in the music scene for so long?

Max: We go through stages of wanting to explore and stages of hibernation. I would kind of think that right now I'm more in a hibernation state. With two young kids now, you want to spend as much time with them as possible. But I'm getting ready to get out there and explore again. 2008 is going to be very busy for me. In the beginning of the year, I'm going to be filming for a straight month in a movie called The Imposter. And then after that I'm going right out into a radio tour. I can't say I'm [going to be] staying at home as much as I'd like to be.

So would you say you've given up your rock star aspirations?

Max: Have I ever wanted to be a rock star? I'm not sure. At some point, I kinda felt [that way] because I'm known to be kind of a rebellious character. Really, I look at myself as someone who's always interested in creativity. If that falls under the terminology of a "rock star," then yeah, absolutely.

You're certainly not a poster boy for the straitlaced, Christian pop artist either.

Max: I hope I'm not. When I was at my most rebellious was when I probably was confined to dc Talk, because I was constantly struggling with listening to five other cooks in the kitchen—five chiefs trying to tell me what to do. That's when the rebel in me really came out, because I don't deal well with authority. These days, without anyone really breathing down my neck, I'm actually pretty mellow. I might look more rebellious now with tattoos and [crazy] hair—I look scarier, but I was more of a rebel before. In a way, I kind of gained my own freedom. I now can create at a level where I don't have a lot of industry people or management or corporate-type people telling me, "This is what you should do."

Your publicist said Michael W. Smith calls you the "most misunderstood man in Christian music." Is that a compliment?

Max: Probably, if you put me up against the wall with the other contemporary Christian singers. I would say that Michael W. Smith can be quite a misunderstood guy, too. I'm known as the guy that's kind of on the fringe or the outside—not because I think it's cool, but because I really believe in creativity and pushing the envelope and progressing in the arts. I don't like to sit still and put out exactly what people expect me to. I like to push myself to change.

You mentioned you felt trapped within the confines dc Talk. Ironically, your new album, The Blood, features a reunion of sorts. How did that come about?

Max: It came about pretty naturally, actually. Michael [Tait] came in and sang his stuff and I kind of produced him while he was singing his thing. Toby [McKeehan] was actually on the road when I sent him the track, but when he got home, he put his track down and we kind of went back and forth with it over the phone. Unfortunately, all three of us were never in the studio at the same time. But Michael and I were, so it was cool to coach my old singing partner.

When you launched your solo career, you started out with a bang, and then slowly seemed to receive less and less attention from within the CCM world. Do you miss being in the spotlight?

Max: I'm sure in CCM I kinda faded into obscurity for a few years, but mostly because I moved out of Nashville, landed in L.A., and didn't really do the Christian festivals like I had done years prior. But again, during that time that I was in L.A., I was performing all the time. I was doing a lot of travel and international shows. People think that I fell off the map, but that's because of the narrow-minded idea of what [Christian] music is. People that are in the Christian culture only see what's in front of them, without really digging into music in different places or venues.

I meant more the celebrity aspect of dc Talk. Do you miss that level of attention?

Max: Yeah, at the very top of our game, around '95 or '96, we were playing arenas. Honestly, I miss aspects of it. What I miss the most is being on the road and having things taken care of for you—the niceties of being on the road. Being on the road now and not playing arenas, I'm doing a lot of stuff that management and others would have handled at that level.

But, man, I know this sounds really cliché, but I dig the small crowds as much as I like the big crowds. They give me the same kind of feeling—the same kind of allure. Looking back and seeing the huge shows we did on video, I'm proud of the fact that we did something on that level. But it's not like I actually miss that. I guess I'm fortunate to be able to say that, because some people would never be able to see that kind of a crowd. I count that as a blessing. At some point in my career, I'm expecting to be playing in front of those kinds of numbers again, but even if I don't, I'll be happy with what's happened.

Let's segue into your new album. You've said that you made The Blood out of a desire to return to your roots in gospel music. Why did you ever leave those roots?

Max: I don't think I ever left them. I think it's more like reinvestigating. I don't think I've ever really left talking about faith in my music, whether it was subtle or loud. But I think the genre of gospel music as a genre fed my love for music as a young kid. Looking back on that now, and remembering those songs and standards I sang in church as a young boy, I had this deep desire to create a project that kind of retained the feeling that I had back then. When I started recording some of these songs, I thought, "You know what? Not all of them need to be all of the old traditional stuff."

I wanted to create something that actually, in my mind, [reflected] gospel music, period. Those old blues players, like Blind Willie, paved the way for a lot of artists to do what they do. Then again I also wanted to create something that was more looking forward. The main thing for me was to create a project that kind of told the story of gospel music and what it meant to me—how it affects different people and why it's so powerful. And the reason it's so powerful is because it's talking about the Gospel and the need for Christ to set us free.

These classic gospel songs are different from your more subtle material on past solo albums. Do you worry that the more overt message might alienate some of your audience?

Max: My hardcore audience, no. As far as the people who have followed me on the journey from dc Talk and Stereotype Be to where I am right now, I don't think much could shock them. But the people who really don't know what to expect from Kevin Max, well … if I were a superhero, I'd probably have question marks all over my body. [that's another story]. This might be a bigger shock to them than anything I've ever done.

Is this a one-off project? Or do you think you might continue in this vein of music for albums to come?

Max: As I've tried to explain to so many people that are trying to figure out this little enigmatic head of mine—which is quite small at times—I always like to change. Change is probably my one vice. It kind of confuses and pisses off some people, but I need change. It's not that I think it's cool to do that. I just like doing it. The next project is probably going to be another 360-degree turn. Watch me say that, and I'll probably make a country album. You never know. I don't think I'll be doing another full record like this for quite some time.

When I glanced at the song titles, I thought it'd be more of an Americana, rootsy sort of album. But it's really a Kevin Max disc, only more spiritual.

Max: I agree with you. I think it's more of a spiritual-type album. I really want to let people know that I'm not trying to be Mr. Blue-Eyed Soul here. My voice is not typical R&B vocal. I wouldn't try to enter into the camp of Bryan Duncan, Jon Gibson, or Michael McDonald. Those guys could do a legitimate black gospel or R&B album as white guys. But I really didn't set out to do that, either. It's not my style. I didn't want to get out there and showboat just to prove myself.

You've said that Elvis Presley needed gospel music because he needed it in his life, not for fame. Expound on that.

Max: I think we get caught up in trying to be the next Paul McCartney, or the next George Gershwin, or Cole Porter. We lose track of what we're in music for in the first place, and that is to convey an emotion that people can relate to. I think that as an artist who looks back [and admires] all these great writers, I felt like I didn't have anything new to contribute. I wanted to sing songs that in my mind took me to another place. And hopefully that's something I've done for listeners here.

For more about Kevin Max, visit our site's artist page where you can read our review of his project, The Blood. Visit Christianbook.com to listen to song clips and purchase the music.

Copyright © Andree Farias subject to licensing agreement with Christian Music Today. Click for reprint information.

Click here for more interviews.

Click here to view our music review archives.

Visit the artist pages for related interviews and reviews.

				Try an Issue of Today's Christian Woman Free! Name Street Address City/State/Zip E-mail Address No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. Click here for International orders. If you decide you want to keep Today's Christian Woman coming, honor your invoice for just $17.95 and receive five more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The trial issue is yours to keep, regardless. Give Today's Christian Woman as a gift Buy 1 gift subscription, get 1 FREE!

FREE Newsletter Sign up now for the Christian Music Today weekly newsletter:    RSS Feed   RSS Help