Anything Goes

Max Bemis is a songwriting machine. When he's not penning tunes for his own band, enduring pop-punkers Say Anything, he's selling songs to other artists over the Internet.

Though orders for a Bemis original can only be placed every so often, Bemis spends a lot of his spare time off tour and out of the studio writing songs to spec for paying customers. In other words, you pay your money and put in your order and at the end of it, you'll have a song written about anything you like, by a bonafide 100% rock star (though Bemis would never call himself that).

In an age of dwindling financial returns for musicians, Bemis admits his song shop is a handy little money earner.

“It gives me the leverage and the freedom to not force feed every idea,” Bemis says. “There's no urgency for Say Anything to be anything. It's because I'm being supported creatively and financially from other places.

“A, I'm able to write hundreds of songs every year for a particular reason that has nothing to do with Say Anything so it strengthens my songwriting; and B, it helps me make a living so I feel less pushed to make choices in Say Anything that a lot of people are forced to make because their primary band is all they've got going on.”

Say Anything are punk-pop veterans. Already well travelled performers by the time their indie label debut …Is A Real Boy was released in 2004, the band mix dramatic, over-the-top punk-pop with snarky but irreverent lyrics. Four albums later, and Bemis is still taking his inspiration from across the musical spectrum for his most recent offering, Anarchy, My Dear.

“When I was younger, like any kid, I had cassette tapes like Joseph's Technicolour Dreamcoat or something like that. I've never been a diehard musical theatre fan, but I've always been a fan of over the top sentiment and entertainment whether that's movies or comic books or books. I've always been a fan of the spectacle. It's just where my tastes run.”

Bemis grew up in LA. His father was in the movie business so Bemis has had a long history with the entertainment world. The Say Anything frontman says it can be hard to avoid the spectacle when Tinseltown is your home.

“I think there is a big divide in what people perceive as the showbiz and entertainment world in LA and what it's like for normal people who aren't douchebags in that environment. Life isn't like the Kardashians. I grew up with lots of people whose parents were in the entertainment industry and I have a lot of friends who today are in the entertainment industry and there really is a whole world of normal people but I have to say there is a lot of craziness and pretentiousness. And it is hell, to some extent.

“You can completely exist outside of that if you choose to. Within my family and close friends, I had a very normal childhood despite being oppressed by the surroundings which are pretty fucking weird.”

But now Bemis really does live the quiet life when he's not focusing on Say Anything. Home is Tyler, Texas with wife and fellow musician Sherri DuPree from Eisley. The pair are highly visible on Twitter and Bemis, who spent much of his early band life struggling to cope with bipolar disorder, hopes that his own example can help his fans see that life changes.

“I think [our relationship] has a special meaning to both of our fan bases because we both had a lot of public dealings with not so nice stuff. I think it's nice for people who are dedicated and kind of know my story to know that someone like me can end up happy and accepted and loved so deeply by someone. I think that's why a lot people can connect to it.

“I was like the most lonely, awkward guy, just smoking weed all day by myself, just lonely, depressed,” Bemis says. “And to think that I would be this happy one day, it could happen to anyone so I think it must be nice I guess.”

While a young Bemis always dreamed of being a musician, there is one aspect of his career that has taken him by surprise.

“I wanted it so bad I definitely imagined it. But at the same time the reality of how normal it seems… I'm not going to say I take it for granted but I mean, the fact that it's such a normal thing for me, the way that I feel when I walk onstage, it isn't like, 'Oh my god, this is the first time I've ever done this. It's crazy'. It's just like 'Here we go, this is what I do'. The fact that touring would seem so every day isn't something I could've comprehended.”

A big part of the connection fans have made with Say Anything revolves around Bemis' frank and often personal lyrics.

“If you think about the things we've released, the things I say, it's just unbridled, neurotic mania for ten years straight,” Bemis says. “To be honest, I don't know why I wasn't born with a mechanism that makes me embarrassed,. but unless I'm specifically shaming or embarrassing a person I care about and love, which I don't do – there's no need to exploit the people I love – then I don't feel embarrassed sharing any details of my life, or y'know, it's always felt very cathartic and natural to me to embarrass yourself.”

Though Bemis is happy to wear his heart on his sleeve musically, you won't find the singer hanging out at a venue for hours after a show signing autographs and getting photos taken.

“The odd thing about it is there are people who seem a lot more 'rock star' than me and they will hang out outside of the bus for hours, but I don't actually do that. If I do meet you on the street or if I'm walking by you in the line, I will have an earnest interaction with you but I am very easily overwhelmed. That's something that the people who listen to our music are very patient about and I've never received that much flack for it, though it doesn't seem in character for me. But I do take pride in the fact that if I do see you under normal circumstances I am just like you. I'm just like anyone.”