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Whether you consider Adema
nu-metal or just another in a long line of hard rockers dedicated to the cause, there's no
denying that the band has put together a solid outfit, designed to take the turbulence of
the road and thrive. The band toured for three months before its debut album's release,
and has already - thanks to aggressive radio promotion and strong internet interest -
established a serious core following.
"I've just been amazed that the record's not even out and the shows have gotten
bigger, but all the kids are singing the songs. And not just the single. How do they know
this?" Asks Adema drummer Kris Kohls, taking a break from a soundcheck at New York's
Irving Plaza. "Literally, I'm not exaggerating - there were kids singing the lyrics
to every single song. Kids are really identifying with it."
Kohls was the last member of the band to join, having given it a go with Videodrone only
to watch things fall apart.
"I got in the band about five, six months before we recorded the record. Marky
[Chavez, Adema's singer] and Mikey [Ransom, guitar] had the band going. We hooked up
together. they played me the demo and I knew as soon as I heard those three songs that it
was something really special. Then we went away and wrote the record."
Those three songs, it turns out, included "Blow It Away" and
"Everyone," two tracks that made adema the start of a major-label bidding war
right from the git-go. While it certainly didn't hurt matters that Chavez is half-brother
to Jonathan Davis of Korn, the band still had to have the goods to deliver. In any case,
Kohls does admit the process was quick and to the point. "We're planning to be on the
road for at least another year and a half to two years. We're not in any hurry to go
home."
"We did the demo - a week later we were on a plane to new york and going through a
bidding war and doing all that record label stuff. We figured which label we were going to
go with, signed the contract, and went away and wrote the record, recorded it, and now
we're sitting here."
Arista records impressed the band as being behind the cause. According to Kohls,
"everything they said they were going to do, they've done. They've pushed the band.
they've made us a priority."
But the men of Adema have also pushed hard themselves, playing night after night with the
likes of Staind and Boy Hits Car and planning a tour of europe with Linkin Park followed
by a U.S. tour with Disturbed.
"We're planning to be on the road for at least another year and a half to two
years," says Kohls. "We're not in any hurry to go home. we're friends on and off
the stage, not just when we're writing music. We hang out, drink beers, play
PlayStation."
As to what might be the secret to the band's strong connection to its audience, Lohls
suggests it might have something to do with the universality of singer Chavez's message.
"What O like about his lyrics is that we know the specifics of what he's talking
about, but in the songs it could relate to a different person in totally different
ways," explains Kohls. "'Giving In,' from his standpoint, is about what he was
going through at the time - drinking a lot and being really stressed out and taking pills.
He was having a hard time. But it's not just about that. It's not about drinking or drugs;
it's about whatever your own personal demon is. If you're having problems with a girl and
she's driving you crazy and you need to get away from her and you find that you can't and
you find yourself giving into her, it can be about that. [or it can be about how] you eat
too much. His lyrics are very universal. They can relate to everybody, if you just really
listen to what he's saying and take your own idea off of it." |
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