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KEVIN MAX
AWOE MAGAZINE
THE BLOOD AND BEYOND INTERVIEW:
The Blood Sunday Part 4
Kevin Max: Yeah. I mean,the reason that I have continued to do that is because it inspires me to write. Like if I had to constantly sing the answers over and over again to people, at a certain point you kind of run out of creativity and how you can say it. I find it interesting that Christian labels and record companies they’re only looking for that majority of the time. And we can look in the scriptures and see one of God’s favorites, King David. And the majority of his writings were asking questions, and probing the mind of God and just saying, “Why am I here? What can I do?”
To me it’s more interesting to kind of seek out, the mystery and try to find out, what draws us all together and you kind of have to look at it like this. I mean if I’m creating music for the masses, why would I want to only sing about the answer when people out there are still, questioning everything around them?
"The only way you’re really going to truly believe in something is if you chase it yourself."
I really feel like I kind of answered this before. To me it’s more interesting to kind of seek out, the mystery and try to find out, what draws us all together and you kind of have to look at it like this. I mean if I’m creating music for the masses, why would I want to only sing about the answer when people out there are still, questioning everything around them? I mean it’s kind of like you have to kind of write on everybody’s level to a degree.
And not everyone out there believes in the Gospel and not everybody out there believes that they found truth. I think you have to meet people where they’re at. And you know over time let them know what this is all about. And what you’re finding in life, and why you believe the things you believe because a lot of people believe what they believe because their parents told them that or they grew up in religion. But I’ve always told people to forsake what they grew up hearing and find it themselves. The only way you’re really going to truly believe in something is if you chase it yourself.
KEVIN MAX ON
THE BLOOD ALBUM
Jen G: Why is The Blood album personal to you?
Kevin Max: The Blood is personal because I grew up in the church and I grew up listening to gospel music and I think as a white kid from Michigan there was a lot of black artists that influenced me. But at the same time I’m still white. I’m not a white guy trying to be a black guy. I absolutely think that African American music has inspired and has pushed me to creativity throughout the years. And gospel music’s not entirely black music and it’s not entirely white music. I mean there’s lots of different styles of gospel music. I kind of wanted to show that on this project that it might of come from, some of the early early, early days of America.
Some of our dark pasts with wrestling with the whole slavery thing and some of these issues that are still painful to even bring up. I think the church has constantly, been kind of outside of the loop when it comes to real gospel music. And I think the whole modern worship thing is great and everything but it doesn’t touch me like some of the really old, kind of crying out, crying in the wilderness kind of songs. People that are going through really difficult circumstances and writing about it.
The one common denominator is the Blood of Christ. Jesus’ blood is going to make me whole, or the blood will never lose it’s power, or fixated on the Christ that’s going to come and heal them.
That’s kind of where the project lies in that feeling, that anybody that’s kind of going through a rough period in their life can understand. So when I talked about African American music as a heritage in this country it’s like African influence on our music today is huge. And I think that when I grew up as a kid one of my first records was a white group called the “Imperials”. The Imperials lead me to Elvis and Elvis lead me back to Chuck Barry and lead me back further . Like Blind Willy Johnson, or Curtis Mayfield or Mahelya Jackson, so it’s kind of like all those great voices of gospel, white and black are kind of in this record. A lot of people are expecting me to throw out like this R-n-B, ya know, white guy trying to do black gospel record. And that’s just not what this is. There’s a lot of different styles of music and I mean we even get into country in this record which I think some people will find very interesting. Maybe disturbing. We’re playing with styles to kind of let people know that gospel music has been a huge influence on music in general.
Jen G: Okay, I heard “That They Won’t Go When I Go” which was really good.
Kevin Max: Oh well thank you.
Jen G: You posted that, that was amazing. I want to know a little bit about, DC Talk’s going part of it... Have you guys already worked on the song that your going to be doing?
Kevin Max: Well actually I just cut Michael Tait yesterday.
Jen G: Oh cool. And Mary Mary, they’re going to be involved right?
Kevin Max: We believe so, we haven’t cut Mary Mary yet.
| Blood Sunday Part 5
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