Eve 6 – Interview [2001]

An interview with Eve 6’s Max! If you don’t know then I’ll tell you. Max Collins is the fiery frontman of the popular rock band Eve 6. We were lucky enough to get a few minutes with Max before Christmas and their preparation for another tour.

I heard you just got off of vacation. Did you go anywhere or just chill at home?

When I’m on vacation, there is no place I’d rather be than home.

Reflecting back on the summer and that tour, how has it differed this time since it’s only your second real tour?

It was really cool, and cool to see the kids coming out to the shows, and they seemed to morph from fans who liked a certain song to people who are really interested in the band. It’s amazing to see fans singing every word to every song. It was a really good four months.

Did you learn a lot the first time around, things that you brought with you to the second tour?

Yeah. Well, the first time around we were out for a long time and we know the routine. I guess we feel like we are sort of veterans at this point.

Is it weird now playing the shows with new bands opening who are looking up to you for advice? I mean, it wasn’t that long ago when you were newbies looking up to others.

I know. It’s nice to be on a second record knowing we’ve done it. So, I like this point. (laughs)

Were you writing on the road? Because it seems like the album came out quick after your tour ended.

Sort of. I worked on some ideas on the road and we’d sort of jam them out in sound check, but for the most part the song ideas came up during our down time. We started putting them together in rehearsal during the four months we had off after the first tour.

Was the process for the second album more natural?

It was. We knew what it entailed. From being on tour, we were more adept players and it was more natural.

Did your individual skills as musicians increase from playing every night? And did the chemistry grow?

Definitely. That is when we really became a band. We made a pretty drastic change for this tour. We now have an onstage bass player. I used to play bass, so that really took some getting used to. But the live show is at a point where it’s really working.

How did you adapt to that? You didn’t really have anything to hide behind.

(laughs) That’s true. It was really scary at first, but I’m loving it now.

You’ve got to work on your…

Big rock move. (we both laugh)

Now listening to Horrorscope, I hear so much going on, not to mention a lot of maturity from the first release. What do you think when you hear things like that?

I like hearing those things. The thing is, this time around we had more money, we were more open to using different instrumentation. The first album we were adamant about just guitar, bass, and drums, so I think it really opened up the sound, having a synth and strings in there.

I read you had some changes in your songwriting process for this record. Anything in particular?

I wrote a lot of the lyrics after the basic tracks were tracked. When I went into the studio, I had rough lyrical ideas and melodies. It was in the studio where I really sat down and focused and finished it.

So for the first record you really had the songs more ironed out?

Yeah.

The changes in the songs with strings, etc, were they something you went in looking to do?

This record wasn’t really calculated. The songs became what they did.

I wanted to toss a few songs and get the idea behind them. First is “Rescue”.

“Rescue”. I came up with the basic structure of that song about two years ago while we were on tour in Canada. It was pretty bleak out there and we were confined to the bus. That’s probably one of my favorite songs. It’s about meeting a special person and being picked up and taken away and this person is a sanctuary for me. But there is also some sexual innuendo for good measure. (laughs) It’s a fun song.

What about “On The Roof Again”?

That is me writing about someone else’s experiences and hypothesizing how this person’s life could turn out. It’s about a friend of mine who hurried and got married and had some past issues that went undealt with. It’s kind of how this adult life is making him rot a bit. That’s where that came from, but it’s also interjected with humor. It’s a real weighty subject, but that is why I like that there is some humor in there.

“Here’s To The Night”.

Actually that is going to be the third single and we’re working on a video for it now. It’s about having to leave someone that you care about a lot that you just met. It’s just wishing you could stay in the moment and remembering that time.

“Jet Pack”.

It’s not what it seems. “Jet Pack” is about a friend of mine who is always getting attention from girls and is a cool character but is shying away from them. The song is about him being essentially in love with me. It’s the course of that and I’m just saying, ‘Just say it and get it out in the open because it’s obvious to me.’

What have you been listening to?

I’ve been listening to the new Dandy Warhols record.

I love that album.

That is probably the best album out there right now.

Has there been comparisons you’ve read that were either flattering or some you found not so flattering?

Yeah. I have gotten this Peter Murphy thing from a bunch of people. I think that is cool, but I’ve never been exposed to his music though. When we get compared to anything that is going on right now, I just don’t see the correlation.

What do you think is the one thing that gets overlooked?

Well, I think on the first record a lot of what we said was overlooked because we were so young, so they didn’t really put any validity on it. I think our strongest area has become our live show. That is what I wish everyone who has heard of our band could see, us live.

When I saw you live, I did become more than a fair-weather fan. I think that is one way to win people over for life, with your live show, and you guys do that.

Thanks. I appreciate that more than almost anything you could say.

+ charlie craine