The members of Eve 6 were only teen-agers when their self-titled debut album burst onto the… The members of Eve 6 were only teen-agers when their self-titled debut album burst onto the scene in 1998. Five years later, the boys have grown into men. They played a sold-out show at Rosebud last Wednesday and were also on this year’s X-Fest bill. The Pitt News got a chance to sit down with lead singer Max Collins before the Rosebud show to talk about growing up, nudity and the band’s latest album, It’s All in Your Head, which hits stores July 22.

The Pitt News: You guys said you want a “new beginning.” But there was an article on MTV.com where they interviewed you. There were a lot of comparisons of songs from previous albums to those on It’s All in Your Head. For example, they compare “Here’s to the Night” to “Girlfriend.” What do you think about that?

Max Collins: I wrote the beginnings of “Girlfriend,” before “Here’s to the Night” even came out as a single; it’s one of the older songs that was written for this record. I think we felt like we were going into it differently this time, with more of a solid idea with complete songs. On Horrorscope, we kind of went in with bits and pieces of stuff. It was new in that way, in that we took time off to really solidify all the material before we went into the studio.

TPN: So would you say that before the recording process was kind of hasty in a way?

MC: No, no. We did our first record, and those are just songs that I’d been writing since 10th grade. There’s no deadline on that, you just write songs and you play before you even think of recording a record. And then you make the record, and it comes out, and you’re on tour for a year and a half, and then you get right off the road into the studio with bits and pieces of stuff. “Promise” was actually the oldest song, and that was written before we went out on the road. But the other stuff was just bits and pieces of songs that I’d written on the road. So with this one we took time off, I mean, I say “time off,” but we were definitely writing and demo-ing. We weren’t in the studio or on the road. And we had time to reflect and realize where we were and look at the past couple years for the first time. And that’s where these songs came from.

TPN: You said that, since you were all scared about not being kids anymore, not living on a tour bus or in your parents’ homes, and being on your own in the real world, you took the fear and put it into this record. Can you explain that?

MC: I think when you hit 22, 23, 24 it’s definitely one of those transitional periods where you’re not a teen-ager and you’re trying as hard as hell not to become an adult, you know? In another way, you are being forced into responsibility, and I’m sure that impacted the record. That’s just kind of what we were going through at the time, and struggling with identity.

TPN: You guys have been doing a lot of festivals: X 103.9 Mayfest The Motherload, The Earth Day Festival, and locally, X-Fest. Do you prefer doing big festivals like that or playing in smaller clubs?

MC: I definitely prefer playing clubs. Festivals are good in that it’s really cool to play for a lot of people, but it’s the closer connection that’s more satisfying. You feel like everybody is participating for one thing and it’s really cool. That’s what you get in the clubs.

TPN: Speaking of X-Fest, I hear the reason that you got naked when you were here for that on Memorial Day was that you guys were a little bit bored in Moon Township. Tonight you are performing in Pittsburgh’s Strip District, no pun intended, but there’s a lot to do here. So are you going to take advantage or are you going to make your own excitement again?

MC: What I’ve done since that incident and just some other stupidity that happened a couple weeks later is only drink beer now. It really saves you from a lot of grief. So I’m not too worried about that. But yeah, it’s definitely nice having stuff around. It does get tough when you’re in a hotel that’s miles away from a restaurant. It’s, like, what the hell do you do? You drink, you know?

TPN: I really like how, in “Open Road Song” and a few others, you use three different spellings and meanings of the same word in one verse. How did you get the idea to do that?

MC: Just came out. And then I realized, “Whoa, that’s really cool.” I think I just wrote it like that because it sounded good and then I realized that I had just used every meaning of that word. I definitely was listening to, at the time, songwriters that did a lot of word-play tricks like that.

TPN: Allmusic.com lists your roots and influences as Foo Fighters and Pearl Jam. Those are the only two influences listed. Any truth to that?

MC: Not bad bands at all, but influences? I definitely wouldn’t say so. It says influences, not bands that kind of lump into some sound?

TPN: There are similar bands listed, and the one that jumps out at me right now is Seven Mary Three.

MC: Oh, Jesus. That hurts my feelings. I’m not kidding. Someone’s not doing their job.

TPN: Someone else isn’t going to use that Web site anymore. In that case, what are your favorite bands/influences?

MC: Jawbreaker was defiantly a really big influence. Green Day was a big influence. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, early on for sure. Early on, California punk music and then we got into the Pixies, indie rock from there. Now, I’m all about Creedence Clearwater [Revival], Biggie Smalls, just whatever is good. Back in high school it was like, “If it’s not this, it’s not cool.” I guess you grow out of that.

TPN: What do you hope that long-time fans will get out of It’s All in Your Head?

MC: I hope they’ll relate to it. To me, that’s what’s special about music, what makes it important. Just relating, feeling a connection to somebody, feeling like somebody’s speaking to you. It’s that simple, really.