Max Bernstein (musician)

Max Bernstein
Born	1979
Origin	New York, New York, United States
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, writer, consultant, mixer
Instruments	Guitar, vocals, piano, drums
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Eyeball Records, Softdrive Records
Associated acts	The Actual, Max and the Marginalized

Max Bernstein (born 1979) is an American musician. He was the lead singer and guitarist for the Los Angeles pop punk band The Actual. He later formed the political post-punk band Max and the Marginalized.

Life and career

Bernstein is the younger son of author-screenwriter-director Nora Ephron and journalist Carl Bernstein. He was born premature and had to be kept at Mount Sinai Hospital for five weeks. Two weeks after that, Nora left Carl in Washington to resettle in New York with Max and his older brother Jacob. Nora and Carl later divorced. Max began playing the guitar when he was five, taking lessons until he was 16. He dropped out of college after two year and became the lead singer and guitarist for the Los Angeles pop punk band The Actual. The band was signed to Eyeball Records and performed their first gig on Easter 2001. They released their debut album, Songs on Radio Idaho in 2003. The band toured the country for the next two years. Bernstein often had to book the gigs using a fake agent name under a fake booking agency. While performing in a biker bar in Idaho, the band caught the attention of Velvet Revolver's lead vocalist, Scott Weiland, who signed them to his record label Softdrive Records. They released their second album, In Stiches and toured with Velvet Revolver in 2007. They also performed for two years on the Warped Tour. After The Actual broke up later that year, Bernstein played in Weiland's backing band. He then began a job as a new media consultant for a veterans' rights organization and formed the political post-punk band Max and the Marginalized on the side, because of his desire to make songs with meaning behind them. He explained in an interview that he felt "empty" while trying to get the songs that he wrote for The Actual to catch on and that the feeling was compounded when the band did not experience commercial success. He began writing politically themed songs after the band went off tour in 2007. The songs by Max and the Marginalized were released every Thursday on the Huffington Post website where Bernstein had previously worked part-time. The songs were accompanied by politcal writeups by the band as well.

Bernstein (right, background) became the touring guitarist for Kesha in 2009.

After deciding that he wanted to focus on music, he quit his job. He then began auditioning for bands and gigs. In September 2009, he was hired to be the touring guitarist and bassist for Kesha after answering an email from RCA Records and auditioning for Kesha. Bernstein was asked to grow a beard for the gig. Besides perfoming in her band, he is also her co-musical director for live performances and the only music director on tour. In this capacity, he handles new arrangements and programming on her songs live and also mixes any pre-recorded performances. He also started a Jawbreaker tribute band. During the break between Kesha's tour and her second album, Bernstein wrote some country songs that he wanted to pitch to the country scene in Nashville.

Artistry

Bernstein primarily plays guitar, but can play the drums, piano, synths and keytar. His songwriting process begins with a general idea for the title and chorus for a song that he builds on if he thinks the song is good.

External links

• Max Bernstein (musician) on Twitter