18
The Bakersfield Californian Thursday, July 22, 2010
Eye Street
Index Art for Healing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Chuck Wicks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Arts Alive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Celtic music duo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 The Lowdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 A Night Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27-29
Editor Jennifer Self | Phone 395-7434 | e-mail jself@bakersfield.com
Let’s try this again, shall we? Bakersfield-based Adema had it all before breaking up. Now they want it back. BY MATT MUNOZ Bakotopia.com editor mmunoz@bakersfield.com
A major-label deal, radio and MTV air play, massive tours, thousands of records sold, a worldwide following: Most working bands strive their entire career — and fail — to achieve that level of success. But Bakersfield-based band Adema is trying something even more ambitious than that. They want to do it twice. But this time, they say, will be different: No drugs, no fighting and no falling into traps that self-indulgent rock stars routinely set for themselves. They’ve done that before too. A Friday night concert at The Dome marks a homecoming of sorts for the band, whose members seem to have their heads on straight, their differences firmly behind them. But it took awhile to get there. “I just think that fate had it, that we had to take a break and all explore some different things in our lives,” said original vocalist Mark Chavez of the band's choice to regroup. “I spent the best years of my life with these guys ‘livin' the dream,’ and we did some really special things. It was time.” Adema shot to fame in 2001 with their selftitled debut FELIX ADAMO / THE CALIFORNIAN album. The boys were following Adema singer Mark in the nu-metal Chavez. footsteps of acts like Korn, whose frontman, Jonathan Davis, is Chavez’s half brother. In fact, when the band was signed on the strength of a demo and a few live shows, speculation arose over whether they were really that good or if it was Chavez's connection to Davis that sealed the deal. “There's still this misconception that Korn gave us a handout,” says Adema bass player Dave DeRoo. “We'd been putting in work for years individually, but the band literally got together, recorded a demo, and kind of bull****ed the record label. In the music biz — you might work your whole life. That just gives you a 2 percent chance you might succeed. But, 98 percent is still luck and being at the right place at the right time. I think we kind of capitalized stylistically on that time in music with the ‘nu-
FELIX ADAMO / THE CALIFORNIAN
Adema, from left: Kris Kohls, Dave DeRoo, Mark Chavez and Tim Fluckey. The band is back together and performing at The Dome.
GO & DO What: Adema in concert, with special guests When: 6 p.m. Friday Where: The Dome, 2201 V. St. Admission: $13 Information: 327-0190
metal’ thing happening. Bands like Korn and Limp Bizkit kicked those doors open for a lot of bands to get signed.” Formed in Bakersfield in 2000, Adema was signed to Arista Records by recording industry legend Antonio "L.A." Reid. Many critics questioned the swift move by Reid, who had just been appointed president and CEO at Arista. Chavez can remember the day their lives changed inside Reid's office. “Our manager and I were talking to different labels in Los Angeles, and Reid asked me point blank, ‘What will it take to keep you off the plane to New York to talk to that other label?’ I said, ‘I want 3.5 million.’” Chavez got his wish and soon began calling his bandmates to quit their day jobs. Arista's plan was set in motion with videos, radio airplay and a chance to perform on the “tour of tours” for heavy rock bands, Ozzfest. Young and freshly signed, they
embraced the life and all its excesses. “For this band, it was like the best of times and the worst of times on that tour. Because we had some great times and then we had some craziness,” recalled guitarist Tim Fluckey. Upon their return, the band continued riding high on their debut, which spawned two radio singles and MTV videos, “Giving In,” and “The Way You Like It.” Working non-stop on a follow-up, friction between band members soon began to surface. After the release of 2003's “Unstable,” Arista dropped the band. Chavez, who'd also begun losing interest in the band's artistic direction, quit. “After you spend five years together working non-stop, you get to know the good, the bad and the ugly,” Chavez said. “There's a lot of give and take involved. Some deal with it with women, drugs, or glued to their cell phones. All those things are going to come to the boiling point and explode.” Guitarist Mike Ransom left after Chavez quit, but DeRoo, Fluckey and drummer Kris Kohls chose to move on, re-signing with two other labels as Adema. Recording and touring with vocalists Luke Caraccioli, Bobby Reeves and guitarist Ed Faris — who would replace Ransom in the group — things weren't the same. “We should've probably changed the
“We're concentrating on, for lack of a better word, ‘reintroducing’ ourselves to our fans. We're taking it slow, feeling each other out and we definitely wanna write new material.” — Tim Fluckey
name, because the older we got, the more we realized that Adema is the original five and will always be,” said Fluckey. “We just weren't having a lot of fun towards the end.” Eventually things came to a head and the band chose a “hiatus” in 2008. DeRoo and Fluckey began producing new bands, while Ransom worked out of his own L.A. studio. Kohls, who had been pursuing a fighting career as a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champion over the years, still fights today. Achieving his purple belt rank in competition, he remains active in the sport when time Please see ADEMA / 19