Although Eve 6 didn't enter the public eye until 1998, the band has been together since 1993. Bassist and singer Max Collins and guitarist Jon Siebels, two boys from La Crescenta, California, started playing together when they started high school. The duo became serious about playing and, after adding drummer Nick Meyers, started a band called Yakoo, which was later changed to Eleventeen. The band played mostly in local coffee shops. "We acutally got banned from a lot of them," Max admits. The group would distribute flyers at school and around town a couple of weeks before a show and "there would be 300 kids packed in a room that's supposed to hold 50," Max revealed.
The band was discovered by Brian Malouf and after he saw great talent in the young group, he gave them a record deal. RCA Records signed them when the guys were only juniors in high school, with the condition that no record would be made until after graduation.
Max and Jon took the next two years to make a few changes. Their drummer quit the band, so Max and Jon put out an ad. They originally had the idea of hiring an older drummer to create more of a balance within the young group, but when 17-year old Tony Fagenson responded to the ad, Max and Jon knew their search was over.
With Tony added to the band, one more change was to be made: its name. Tony, who's an X-Files fan, suggested naming the band after an episode of the series called Eve. In it, there were multiple female clones all named Eve. To keep track of them all, the Eves were referred to by number: Eve 1, Eve 2, Eve 3, all the way up to Eve 8 and, of course, including Eve 6. After Tony's suggestion, Max and Jon replaced Eleventeen with Eve 6 as the band's name.
With a new drummer and a new name, the guys put together the songs that would make up their self-titled debut album. Even though Eve 6 relies on the influences of such musicians as the Pixies, Elvis Costello, Tom Petty, the Muffs, and Jawbreaker, all their songs have come from their hearts and their experiences. Some of these experiences are described by Max as acceptance, relationships, heartbreak, freedom, and understanding.
Eve 6 recorded the album in Los Angeles after graduation as planned. Since then, their punky, high energy music has attracted a solid, if not distinct, fan following. "With every show, we discover a different type of person that likes our music," observes Tony. "It seems to have a very diverse appeal."
In July of 2000, Eve 6 released their second album, titled Horrorscope. Their pop-punk-rock style gave the album a solid backbone while their expansion to include samples of techno and electronica introduced a unique and broadened sound. "It's pretty much what you've come to expect from Eve 6 but a whole lot better," describes Tony. "That's kind of the way I look at everything on Horrorscope. We did it loads better this time. We're very confident with this record. We've grown and matured quite a bit as people, as well as musicians."
Max describes Promise, the first single from Horroscope, as "being unsure about new relationships and life in general and vowing to myself not to make promises to anyone." The album also deals with themes such as reminiscence, regret, dreaming, and change. Like the first album, Max writes about personal experiences. The exception on this record is the upbeat second single, On the Roof Again. "It wasn't based on my personal experiences, but about a friend of mine who I see going down this well-treaded path that leads to despair."
With the success of Horrorscope, Eve 6 went back on tour but started playing shows with the addition of a touring bassist. This gave Max the freedom to be more active and responsive to the fans on stage. "What I love most is making a connection with people in the audience," Max reveals. "In our live shows, you get a sense of fun and maybe even more excitement than you do on our records," Tony adds. "We try to keep it spontaneous. If we make it fun for ourselves, the crowd feeds off that."
After touring, Max, Jon, and Tony collaborated to record a track for the Out Cold soundtrack called Anytime. The boys took a break, but their creative juices didn't stop flowing. "We were back in the studio jamming and it was like pure emotion and that fueled our fire," Jon recalls.
That fire produced the band's third album, It's All In Your Head, released in July of 2003. "It was a struggle to get to where it ended up but once we got there, it felt like we had done something great," Tony says. The lyrical tone of the album is more down to earth than the previous two. "A lot of songs on the record are about being alone or leaving someone or missing someone," Max explains. The songs also reflect on loss, loneliness, and unfaithfulness. "I just think about when I would relate to a song. That's helpful. That can save you."
Album sales for It's All In Your Head were lower than expected, causing RCA Records to drop Eve 6. After playing their final show of the tour on July 15, 2004, Eve 6 took an indefinite hiatus. During that time, Max worked on a solo project and Jon joined the band Monsters Are Waiting. A year and a half later, Max and Tony reunited calling themselves The Sugi Tap. They toured in 2006 and recorded a digital EP in 2007, but their success paled in comparison to Eve 6.
In October of 2007, Max and Tony announced the return of Eve 6. Jon declined to return to remain with Monsters Are Waiting. But that didn't stop Max and Tony who went on the road immediately to revive Eve 6's spirit among fans. After touring, Eve 6 plans to record their fourth album.
"You really can't complain when you get to play in front of thousands of people every night that are digging your shit and understanding what you're trying to do," explains Tony. "If we can do that forever, then we'll be very happy."
