“THEY FLEW ME TO LOS ANGELES where I met the producers and the heads of the network,” Max says. “A week later, I found out that I got a part in the Nickelodeon show I auditioned for.” That Nickelodeon show evolved into what is now How To Rock, a musical, comedic sitcom that revolves around Kacey Simon — a once popular “Perf” who loses her status when she temporarily has to wear glasses and braces. In an attempt to express herself through music, Kacey joins Gravity 4 (later renamed Gravity 5), an initially unknown band at Brewster High School, that is, until Kacey comes along. Max plays Zander Robbins, the confident keyboardist and guitarist in Gravity 5. Though he is slightly vain, he is a bright thinker and the glue that keeps the band together. Shortly after landing the role on How to Rock, Max tested for the Nickelodeon movie one last time, and was given the role of the lead character, Charlie Prince. That Nickelodeon movie soon developed into Rags, a musical-based Cinderella-esque rags-to-riches film co-starring Keke Palmer and Avan
MAX SCHNEIDER Jogia. Rags was released on the network earlier this year. “It was one of those things that you wait for, for a really long time, and it feels so good when it all finally just comes together,” Max says, gleaming about his big break. “You know how they say, ‘it happened overnight’? That’s what happened to me.” Though the memory is about four years old, Max’s drive for performance is still motivated by the moment he experienced while working on 13. His talents have been showcased for eyes and ears everywhere, and now, the country has witnessed that passion in person on his summer tour with Victoria Justice. When Max recorded and filmed two medleys on YouTube with the Nickelodeon starlet earlier this summer, who knew
when his microphone pack fell out of his back pocket. “I couldn’t hear myself singing. I ended up taking out my in-ears and kept on doing my thing,” Max says, recalling the memory. He starts wiggling his hips and holding up an invisible microphone to his mouth. “But while I was doing that, some monitor guy ran out on stage and tried to put my microphone pack back in my pocket while I was dancing. It was so random, but so funny.” No matter the circumstance, Max is sure about one thing: being on tour makes for some pretty great stories. “I want to tour for the rest of my life until I’m too old to be dancing around, which I hope is never. But if that really happens, I can just bring my walker or my wheelchair on stage,” he continues, laughing.
“I COULDN’T BE HAPPIER. I LOVE EVERYONE ON THE TOUR, BUT EVEN MORE SO, I JUST LOVE PERFORMING.” MAX SCHNEIDER they’d spend the following two months on tour together? While life on the road is a completely fresh experience for him, Max is learning how to roll with the punches on the “Make It In America” tour. “I couldn’t be happier. I love everybody on the tour, but even more so, I just love performing,” Max says. He mentions a performance in front of a crowd of 13,000 people. Not only was this the first show of the tour, but also the largest audience Max had ever sung for. “It was insane,” he says. Almost anything can happen while you’re on stage, and Max is more than happy to contribute to the unexpected with a “just go with it” mentality. He tells me about a particular show in Philadelphia
Although Nickelodeon recently announced that How to Rock will not be picked up for another season, Max expresses his disappointment with a thankful and positive attitude. “The network is doing what they’re doing. I respect it,” Max says. “I’m sad we won’t be continuing the show, but I’m happy it happened.” With one chapter of Max’s life coming to a close, new chapters are soon to be written. When asked about the future, Max tells me about his upcoming schedule for his return to Los Angeles — a combination of songwriting and filming a second season of the network’s revived ’90s sensation, Figure It Out. “I would love if they NKDMAG.COM
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