In about my second week of being a staff writer for antiMUSIC, I signed up to do a concert review for the band Adema. Touring with them was a norCal band called Shortie which ironically I had heard five years ago when I downloaded a song by them off the internet. Based on what I heard then and currently already having Adema's first two CDs I knew this was going to be a good show. Little did I know, there was much more to come from this than just a concert review. Soon after I signed up, I was asked to interview Shortie. Despite the fact that I have never interviewed anyone before, let alone a band, I knew that I wouldn't be able to pass this up. Within a few days I was asked if I would also interview Adema which I really couldn't pass up; so I agreed without a second thought. 

Adema's first self titled record was released in 2001 and later became RIAA Gold certified. There was also the unheard of main stage slot at the 2001 Ozzfest tour with only one CD behind their belt. Adema was also widely known from the relationship between lead singer Marky Chavez and Korn's Jonathan Davis; as they are half brothers. After their debut release, Adema went out to release an EP and a second full length album titled Unstable. A few weeks after the release of Unstable, Arista (Adema's record label) was involved in a major reshuffling of their parent company and left Adema without a record label. Luckily independent record label Earache picked up Adema and signed them. 

However, if loosing your record deal is not hard enough, Mike (guitarist) left with Marky soon to follow, leaving Kris (drums), Tim (Guitar), and Dave (bass) in the dirt. With this recipe for disaster, most bands would crumble; but not Adema. The three remaining members went foreword without hesitation and started working on their third full length album without a lead singer. In the mean time, the band came up with a strategy to find a singer to complete the album, later titled Planets. They soon came across their perfect link, a guy by the name of Luke Caraccioli who is also from the same hometown as Adema; Bakersfield, California. Before long, what seemed to be a certain death for the band was now the best thing that had ever happened to them. To get a more inside scoop on everything, I sat down and talked about the past, present, and future of Adema. What was intended to be a simple interview, ended up being a "pouring out" as drummer Kris Kohls described it afterwards. 

antiMUSIC: This is the first tour with the bands revised lineup, how has it been going so far? 

Kris: Good. Really good. 

Dave: Actually we have been having some great shows. We're in Flint Michigan tonight, obviously. It's good to come back to Detroit (laughsand then correcting himself, it's good to be back in Michigan; we haven't been here in a while. We had a killer show in St. Louis last night and we're having a good time. 

antiMUSIC: How has the crowed been welcoming Luke and the "new" Adema? 

Luke: The crowed has been real receptive. 

Dave: With open arms. 

Luke: They actually like the new songs, some people are like "wow I didn't know what to expect" or "I haven't heard you guys in a while," "I didn't know what happened to you guys" or something like that. 

Dave: I haven't had anyone come up and say "Hey I don't like your new stuff" 

Kris: No I haven't heard anyone say that. 

antiMUSIC: In reading through the CD booklet I saw that two of you (Tim & Dave) thank Luke for coming into the band. To me, I would think he would be the one thanking you for the opportunity. In your eyes, what has Luke brought to Adema? 

Dave: ohh well s***, my life basically (laughs). He's actually saved the whole livelihood of the band. Not to make the guy blush or anything since he is sitting right next to me (laughs). He's kind of brought us back to life really I mean it's kind of like he was the mouth piece of the band basically. You know that's kind of your bands identity. We're all strong musicians and I give Tim, Kris, and myself a lot of credit for sticking through what would have killed a lesser band. A lot of friends of mine bands are getting dropped and they fall apart, they can't hang once that golden ring is taken away from you. We wanted a tight unit, we realized how strong we were individually and collectively as Adema but we still had that missing link, Luke came in and put it back together. 

Kris: Have you seen Rocky 3? 

antiMUSIC: Yeah 

Kris: You know right before Rocky gets the eye of the tiger and he has to fight Mr. T at the steps. But he still has faith and he keeps fighting. When Luke came into this band, we got the eye of the tiger. (everyone laughs) 

Tim: One eye feed the fire, one eye burns desire. (everyone laughs) 

antiMUSIC: That was deep. 

Tim: Thank you, thank you. 

antiMUSIC (directed to Luke) - I read through the Rewind Yesterday forums and there seems to be mixed emotions about your departure. How was leaving Rewind Yesterday? 

Luke: I'm still friends with those guys and I wish the best for them. I understand that they are not doing a whole lot but they're going to do something; all those guys are going to be successful and somebody in life and really for me I just feel like that band wasn't the band I was supposed to be in, this one is. That was just another live lesson learned on your way to where you're supposed to be. Everything happens for a reason. 

(at this point in the interview, someone comes into the trailer and interrupts the interview. This leads to side talk but we get back on track.)

antiMUSIC: Before this American tour, you guys played in the Persian Gulf: this was the first time playing with Luke who happens to be an ex-marine, how was that experience? 

Luke: That was way cool man. Going over there playing for the troops, you know I know what they go through. I didn't actually go to Iraq, but I've been on deployment many times and it sucks man when you're that far away from home and you're in a different country; it's nothing like this, nothing like this at all. It's totally 180 degrees different so to go over there and have those guys so excited to see a show, to see a rock band, and coming up to you after the show and saying "you made my year" you know because they have been over there for over a year. 

Dave: I concur. 

antiMUSIC: Recently there have been many bands that have been putting out these anti-war type songs, for example System of a Down's new one (referring to B.Y.O.B). You guys took a different approach and said "we're going to play for them". You know I think that is real cool. 

Kris: Thank you. 

Tim: Yeah...you know is has nothing to do with our political stand and we've said it before, regardless of what you think of the war, it's like those guys are over there and they're told to go over there and they go. There's a lot of guys over there that we talked to that disagree with the war and they don't want to be over there but they are over there anyway performing their duties as they promised. So that's the least we can do. You know, no one wants to be in f*cking Iraq, we're Americans, give me a f*cking break. 

Dave: You live in this country, you should love this country enough to respect the men and women and kids out there defending our rights to be fat asses and go to McDonalds or go to see Star Wars at the movies. You know what I'm saying, we're not the ones carrying the M-16's and s*** so the people all have to have enough respect for them, if you live in this country. Regardless if you're Democrat, Republican, Wig, Federalist (Tim repeats the word "Wig" and laughs).

Luke: Another big thing that's a real important thing is the celebrities and the people who have a status need to stop f*cking putting their political agenda out there for everyone else to be a part of because whether or not they are even putting enough forth out to realize this, they have such influence over their fans. You know you have kids that worship the grounds these people walk on and it's like if you say something they'll buy it, they'll believe it and you have to be careful with that. That is why we don't make political statements, we each and everyone one of us have our own opinions about that and we express our opinions by voting, that's what voting is for. I just wanted to put that out there that I think those people should just chill with that s***. 

antiMUSIC: Now the current tour raps up in the beginning of July. What does the band have planned after then? 

Kris: Stay on the road! we'll be on the road all year. Mid July part of August we're going to do some additional tour dates in there we're going to get filled in. In the fall we might go to Europe possibly is what we got planned. 

Dave: We got confirmed dates through July but our plan is to definitely stay on tour. 

antiMUSIC: So let's go back a little bit since you have had it a little crazy lately. After the release of your debut CD, you guys played the main stage at Ozzfest, which were some huge shows, and then all of a sudden you were unsigned without a vocalist and had one less guitarist. What was going through your mind at this time? 

Dave: (mockingly) Quitting (laughs) I felt like being a big quitter! no I'm joking. 

Tim: What I thought was cool was that for a while we probably thought it was going to happen first of all when Marky would somehow self destruct. So I think we already had seen in coming so it didn't discourage us, we automatically just started writing lyrics for the music we had. Everyone came over my house and we f*cking sat there and wrote lyrics and obviously we needed a singer and mapped out how the f*ck we were going to get a new singer and how we were going to have people audition. That all came down and we got Luke, Luke was kind of like this guy who was in Bakersfield obviously via Alabama and it sort of all worked out. I guess it happened all so fast my point is we never really had time, at least I didn't, to worry about anything. We knew we had a record deal with Earache and we promised them a record and that's what our focus was, was to put out the best record we could. 

Dave: We have been here on the road and we have ran into a few kids that were like "yeah it's been so long since I've seen you guys" and granted it probably it has been the longest break that we've had in between albums but you know it's still only been a year. In the grand scheme of things we've been busy even though we haven't been out on the road and haven't been visible and you guys haven't been able to see an Adema show. We've been arguably more busy because we had more of the drama to deal with readjusting to OK we lost our record deal, we got a new record deal, we have a new singer. We've been busy even though we haven't been out. This obviously was the goal was to get back to this point. 

Kris: There was no doubt that we weren't going to put out a third record; we knew that we were going to do that. It just took us a little while longer because we lost a singer, label, like you said. Now we're rockin harder than ever. This bands out whole lives and we just have to focus on this band 100 percent of the time and that's how we got through all of that. Just kind of sticking together, believers. 

antiMUSIC: Now Mike left because he was not getting along with Marky. Now that Marky is gone, has there been any talk between you guys and Mike about him coming back? 

(note: this part of the interview can be a little confusing for the reader as to whether the band is referring to Mike or Mark because they switch from one to the other. To sum things up: Both Mike and Mark are gone for good. The band will stick with this lineup and they are happier then they have ever been. The band is really excited to be on tour with this lineup and to have all the other stuff behind them. They are ready to move foreword with their career and head in the direction the hearts have been telling them to go but for many reasons have been held back. Now those sources holding them back are no longer existent and Adema can let their hearts take them away.)

Tim: No. We don't talk to Marky. Mikey we talk to and Mikey came to our show in L.A. But you know that was the whole thing between those two and we were kind of thrown in the middle of it so we probably have some sort of resentment towards Mikey I'm sure for a while. Now Marky I don't know if we'll ever talk to that guy again. 

Dave: Yeah I don't really have anything to say to the guy. He obviously left us kind of high and dry if was his own selfish problems but he's got his own little things that are his business and I'm not going to air the stuff. But anyone that is selfish enough to put all that s***, personal problems, whatever the case may be "umm, drugs, uhh" (*coughs* - Tim laughs) but as far as the band it's obviously that he doesn't care as much as I do about this band and I don't want to be in a band who doesn't love it as much as I do, that don't want to make it their lives, you know what I mean? He just chose a different path and that's fine you know; more power to him. I hope he finds the happiness he's looking for, some thing for Mike. 

Kris: Well this band now on a creative level number one, musically and on a friendship level the whole thing, we're a better band now than we ever were. We're just looking foreword, we're not looking back. Luke's the man and we're happier than we've ever been. Planets is our best album and we're going to continue to go in that direction. What that record sounds like, that's the direction we're going to continue to go in. 

antiMUSIC: Now let's talk about your guys' new label. You guys got lucky in a way that you have already played large shows like Ozzfest, gone Gold with your self titled CD, and now you're on independent label. Does that help you guys you think? 

Tim: In a way it does because we got to produce our own record this time and we had a lot of control over that kind of thing. Earache had already thrown a lot of money into our band and people know who we are and we established our fan base over the first four years. So that promotion thing is us right now and we're doing our thing and you know to me it's more honest way of doing things, the way we're doing it right now. It's like paying our dues a different way for a bigger thing. We got our first record, the big gold record and all that bulls*** or whatever but I think this time in our life is where our payoff will be big huge in the end. So I think we're all really excited about what we're doing right now and going in and playing all these towns that we've never played or we've only been once, you know what I mean? It's cool to come back. 

Dave: Just to be able to have this level of control is refreshing; it kind of got where the band was out of our grasp. It was this big machine, the car was driving itself and we didn't have a hold of the steering wheel. And now it's kind of like we can control it and hold the reigns and kind of control the direction. You know what I'm saying? We got a vision, we know what we want to do; we can do it. We got to a point where we didn't kind of have control and that's probably why certain people abuse the privilege because it is a privilege to be doing this. It's not a right. It is a job but I don't want to think of it as a job because it's a privilege and I'm honored to be able to do this. And anybody else who thinks it's [not] you know Mother f*ckers are missing out. What is there not to love about traveling the world with your boys, getting free beer and you know it's like that's what it's all about. I've been wanting to do this since I was 15 and I get to live my dream. There's a lot of a**holes I went to school with that are working at Wal-Mart and hating their wives and hating their jobs. So I've got a lot to be thankful for. 

antiMUSIC: So you have a new album called Planets, I think you could take yourself out of that Nu-metal category you might have been [I would say] plagued with [when you were] with Marky and place yourself in a more dynamic category with such bands as APC or Incubus. 

Kris: I agree. 

antiMUSIC: Well that is exactly my question, Would you agree? 

Dave: Yeah. Yeah I do agree. I never even when everyone else was calling us nu-metal, we've always called ourselves a rock band. Even when we had a guy that made us sound like another nu-metal band, you know what I mean? But I'm fine with that if the public wants to perceive it [that way]. Having a guy that actually can sing, has a real voice, instead of whines "OK, if that makes us or earns us more respect." 

Kris: That's the thing; we've always been a rock band, we've always been a rock n roll band. We just didn't have a rock singer. We had a nu-metal singer. And now we have a rock singer. 

antiMUSIC: When I first popped it [Planets] into the CD player and heard the first track I could just tell the difference. If you listen to your first CD and Unstable, both CDs start off with a hard kind power chord type sound, for this one you start off with more a complex guitar beginning. (everyone in the band is nodding their heads and express their agreeing with "yeah") 

And it's like "wow this is totally different". 

Kris: Yeah it is, thank you. 

antiMUSIC: So I was wondering, was that the way Adema was heading already or was it all the things you guys went though? 

Kris: I think Luke has a huge [thing] to do with bringing that classic kind of rock sound that we wanted, you know? His melodies are just perfect. His singing voice is (with a smile from Kris) very easy on the ears, you know, nice to listen to. And it makes our music perfect and it gives us that rock [sound] you know. See that's the thing, you can be a killer rock band but unless you have a guy that is really singing his heart out and singing with feeling, it's not going to cut through and make you [good] you know I believe that Luke adds a huge rock sound to our music, someone sum this up for me. 

Tim: (who happens to be in another room at this part of the interview, chimes back in to help Kris out) Here, here, I'll do it. Here's the deal. The three of us were in the studio by our selves; there was nobody around. We were going in this direction because we didn't have Mikey in the room and I love Mikey to death but he would slow our process down. He might work in some other band but he didn't work in our band that way, he would slow our process down musically. The three of us were in there with these raw tracks, raw guitar, bass, drums and this is what came out of it. I mean, it's been wanting to come out of us for the last five year (Kris agrees with a "yeah") and it was obvious that Marky couldn't sing to this s*** and he was a f*cking pussy anyway, so he f*cking took off like a bitch. Well that's what it was and that's what had happened and it sums it all up really and that's what all we've been saying and that's why were so excited, that's why we're so f*ckin like, "we'll f*ckin take on the f*ckin world and we'll start from the bottom and then go to the top, we don't care and we'll say we don't care. Every mother f*cker's heard it from a f*ckin five year old kid to my mom loves this s***, so f*ckin you know what I mean? And my mom don't love nothin!" (everyone laughs) 

Kris: You know we weren't thinking well we gotta do this or that or that, we were just doing it, it was just pouring out of us. We were in the moment and this is the way Adema is supposed to sound. We finally captured the true Adema sound. So we're happy about the future as well. It's all good. 

antiMUSIC: OK guys, last question. You're going to have fans that listened to your old stuff and people that listen to your new stuff; like the old or like the new. What do you have to say to both sets of fans? 

Dave: It's not really up for us to say, it's up to the fans. Anyone that has turned on the new stuff and have come up [to us] actually at every gig and at least one kid will go man I love the new record, I like the old stuff, I didn't know what to expect but you guys f*cking smoked like the old band, like the live shows are a lot tighter, way louder!" 

Tim: You know what you can tell them? You can tell them that we promise them that we're not gunna f*cking go in and make some formulated record because that's what we think we're supposed to be. They might not agree with the way we're going but we're trying our f*cking hardest to make the best record; we're not trying our hardest to make the next best single to go on the radio. That's been our philosophy; we're not going to be that band that you listen to that half-asses. 

Kris: I would also like to say to the old folks and ask the old fans as well as the people that might have not liked the old Adema to listen to the new Adema. In fact, listen to Planets three times and if you don't like it then get stoned and listen to it one more time (everyone laughs) and then if you don't like it after that, then you don't have to [listen to it] (more laughter). At least give it that chance, you know what I mean? Listen to the record and as someone who likes rock n roll music will like that record. That's where it's at. 

Dave: I like that, that's good. That's pretty good. 

I would like to conclude the end of this article with a short CD review of Planets. I decided to do this because I received the album from the record label the day before the concert and I was unable to incorporate a lot of the album into my interview. I felt it would be unfair to the band for me to talk about an album which I had not even listened to all the way through. I even expressed this concern with Kris after the concert, which he understood and I made sure to tell him I would talk about the album outside of the interview because after now being able to listen to it more, this truly is Adema's best CD yet. 

Planets is a much more musically challenging and technical album than its predecessors. I would like to emphasize a statement I made in my interview: When I first heard the first few second of the new CD I knew right away that this was not the "old" Adema we were use to. Adema and Unstable both start of with basic power chord sounds, yet Planets starts off with a more technical guitar riff. Luke's voice is, well exactly that, a voice, and a good one at that. Listening to the old Adema, you could really hear the half brother of Jonathan Davis in Marky's voice and his vocals were very limited. The diversity in Luke's singing enables the band to play more technical and melodic music and the vocals complement it perfectly. Songs range from heavy to acoustic with a mix of both in between and as Kris described Luke's voice to me "it's very easy on the ears" without any "whining" like you might have heard in their old music. If you're expecting the old Adema, well you're not going to find it. If you are expecting a better Adema, well you will definitely find that. Talking with the band I knew that this was where their heart was and this is their passion and you can hear it in the CD. I highly suggest both fans of the old Adema and non-fans to check this CD out. If you like Hoobastank, A Perfect Circle, Chevelle, and Taproot you will like this CD because it has a nice blend of all of these bands. 

Preview and Purchase Adema's new CD Planets Online

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