A Very Short Introduction to Max Bemis

I love Max Bemis. Like bromance kind love... well, more like massive respect kind of love.

I don't know the man personally, but I do know him in that fake way that you feel like you kind of know celebrities... Twitter helps too. Anyway, Max is the lead singer of a band named "Say Anything." I heard about his band some years ago when they released their first album: "...Is a Real Boy." Once I found out that their first single was called "Wow... I Can Get Sexual Too" I was instantly turned off.

So I forgot about them for quite sometime. Years down the road I was listening to a lot of Eisley, a band from Texas composed of three sisters, their brother and a cousin. Their parents are their managers, and they were homeschooled Christians. Plus their music is just really cool.

Well, this past fall, I found out that the girl who plays lead guitar for Eisley married Max Bemis... the lead singer of Say Anything, and the bands were doing a tour together. "Why? Why???" I asked myself. Well, there was only one thing to do... figure out what she could see in a guy like Max Bemis. And I found plenty.

Right now Max is a nominally Messianic Jew, with suppressed bi-polar syndrome. He's a bit nuts. But his new album, "Self-titled," expressed how much he has changed since the release of his first album, "A Real Boy." It's a transition from self-loathing, drug addiction, rage, bitterness and lust to an attitude of thankfulness, penitence, love for his new wife, and the hope he has found in Christ.

What really cemented my respect for him however was an interweb incident that occurred last night that reflected my own missteps on the webernets. A Twitter post by Max took a jab at another band member from New Found Glory. A bit later, Max put up another post that was rather longer (read it here) that explained and apologized for his actions. Apparently one of the members of New Found Glory had written a song taking pot shots at Max's wife. That really sent him over the edge, but he felt like he ought to explain himself and apologize for getting angry in such a public way. Sound familiar?

He seems like one of the few celebrities that wants his fans to keep him accountable for what he does, and wants to explain himself when he does something that he thinks is justified. I want to support someone who does that. Especially someone who does that in the punk rock industry.

Yeah, he still swears... yeah, he's still a little rough around the edges... But wasn't the Apostle Paul?

JSTT