For this edition of “Debut” we are able to do things a little bit differently. Normally, we would bring you a review of the debut CD plus a band bio to give you a feel for the new artist and their debut album, this time around with Adema we were given the opportunity to speak with Adema drummer Kris Kohls and lead vocalist Marky Chavez who gave us the low down on the band, their history and their debut CD.  Here is our conversation with them. 

RNW: This interview is for a section we call “Debut: New Artists you should know about”. 

Kris: Cool

RNW: But before we jump into talking about the album, let’s get some background on the band. 

Kris: Right on 

RNW: Where did the name come from?

Kris: The name is actually a medical term. Its spelled edema and we just changed the spelling. A friend of the band who worked at a, he was actually working at a morgue for a while, he just mentioned the term one night and we thought it was cool so we used it with the different spelling. Basically it a, it can also be like a German name; we thought the spelling was cool. It comes from a medical term, that’s where it comes from it mean swelling of the skin. 

RNW: How did Adema get together? 

Kris: Marky the singer and Mikey, one of the guitarist had the band going for about three and half years and the line up they had at that time split up, they weren’t doing anything for a while. Marky went off and was kind of writing songs on his own. Dave, our bass player and Tim Flucky one of our other guitarists, one of the two, they were in a band called Juice which also broke up and I was in a band called Videodrone which also broke up and this all happened around the same time. Marky and Mikey formed the band with Dave and Fluckey, they had it going; they were writing some songs and they needed a drummer. They played me the songs and I flipped out and loved it and joined the band and then a few weeks later we did our demo, we were searching for a label, we were in a bidding war and had all these labels wanting to sign us. It was kind of like that, kind of a Cinderella story, it’s pretty cool. 

RNW: Sounds great, so it wasn’t very tough for you guys trying to break into the business being from Bakersfield? 

Kris: Well we had all been in prior bands. We had all paid our dues as they say; we’ve been playing for years and years. Everyone in this band, although we’ve only been together, you know a little over a year, everyone in this band collectively has toured and played tons of shows, played on records done things prior to this band.  We kind of have the experience and just wrote some good songs, we’re glad people cared enough to be interested. 

RNW: Now what is the local music scene like there in Bakersfield? 

Kris: Well I haven’t lived there in probably about seven years and when I left it was bad and I go back every now and then and it seems like it will start up for a while and be pretty cool but then you now you’ll see some cool bands but then you’ll come back in a couple months later and those bands are all broken up, it’s kind of over with. I don’t want to say there is no music scene there, that’s not really fair but I will say that it’s not stable, it changes a lot, people go from band to band and there’s not a lot of places to play there. It’s kind of minimal, is what I’ll say. 

RNW: Yeah, we’re in Orange County, its sort of the same way here.

Kris: I actually lived in Huntington Beach for a while. 

RNW: So you were down at Club Mesa a lot! 

Kris: Yeah (laughs) 

RNW: You just got off the road from playing with Staind and Cold. How did that go? (This interview took place in early July) 

Kris: Actually, we’re still on the road with them. We’re playing tomorrow night with them. Tonight we’re playing with a band called BoyHitsCar. Tomorrow we’re back on the Staind and Cold thing, then we have a couple days off then we go back out with them for another couple weeks. In August we’re doing a bunch of promo stuff for the record, doing some radio shows and stuff like that and then in September we go out with Disturbed. As far as Staind we’re still on that and it’s great, they are super cool and Cold as well, they’re really nice guys. It’s really cool, its kind of like a big party really, after a show we get to hang out with each other and drink beer, have fun, its cool. 

At this point I began to ask Kris about each song and he suggested that Marky could better field this part of the interview. 

RNW: Can you tell us a little about each track? The meanings behind the lyrics, any stories about the songs. Let’s start with Everyone?

Marky: Everyone is just kind of a song about, you know people are always trying to put their s*** on other people, you know, make it somebody else’s fault. They can just turn around and look in the mirror and realize that it’s them. That’s what that song is about. 

RNW: Blow it away

Marky: “Blow it away” is about an addiction I had with drugs over a girl, its like I was, it was the stupid part of my life, I was pissed off at everything. I’d just graduated high school and that song was kind of like retelling the story of what was going on in my life. 

RNW: Giving In

Marky: The single, yeah that song is probably one of the most spiritual matters on the record. It’s about everyone having impulses and acting on them sometimes gets you into trouble. And that’s what that whole song is, it’s about giving in to your personal demons and realizing it and trying to do something about it. 

RNW: Freaking Out

Marky: That song is about high school and you’re trying to fit and people are; kids are mean and s*** and a lot of people feel alienated and taken aback and that song is pretty much about that. 

RNW: The Way You Like It.

Marky: That’s like my laugh back at all those people, like ha ha I’m here I’m doing what I wanna do. I don’t have to deal with that anymore and that’s what “Way You Like It” is about. 

RNW: Close Friends

Marky: A real close friend of mine stole my girlfriend from me. That’s what that song is about; it’s about being betrayed by two people you love. 

RNW: Do What You Want To Do

Marky: Do What You Want To Do, that’s pretty self-explanatory. It’s about me not listening to anyone tell me how to live my life or try to get me to do things I don’t wanna do so that’s what that song is about. 

RNW: Skin

Marky: That song is about the struggle between two people wanting to be together and not being able to because of the differences and opinions and ideas of the way relationships should work. 

RNW: Pain Inside

Marky: Pain Inside, that song is about religion and stuff; it’s about people trying to push ideas and thoughts onto you, tell you that you’re wrong, you’re going to hell cuz you don’t go to church and you need to save yourself and that’s what that song is about. 

RNW: Speculum

Marky: That song is about losing a child actually an abortion. Somebody in the band, I won’t say who but one of boys in the band had his girlfriend, she was pregnant with his kid and didn’t even tell him and had an abortion and he found out about it after. It’s not putting all the blame on a women, because there is a part in the chorus that goes “If I would have known, I can’t say what I would’ve done”. Its kind of like a serious song, kind of a tribute to that. 

RNW: Drowning

Marky: That’ about all the people I hate in the world, that’s very self-explanatory, what I’d love to do with them. (laughs) and then the last track “Trust” is about pointing the finger back on myself and apologizing for being a prick in some of my relationships I had in the past. That’s pretty much what all the songs mean. 

RNW: What are your favorite tracks from the CD?

Marky: My favorite tracks on the CD are “Trust” and “Giving In”... Here’s Kris, thanks man. 

RNW: Ok Kris, what about you, what are your favorite tracks? 

Kris:  I like “Do What You Want To Do”, “Close Friends”, “Everyone” and “Blow it Away”. 

RNW: Do you get much of a chance to go out and drum the hell out of these songs live?

Kris: Yeah, we play every song on the record. The one we are not playing too much now is “Speculum”. Yeah but we play every song and it’s pretty much there is a little bit of electronics for color but it’s pretty much just bashing the hell out of the drums.  Its what I love to do, so it’s cool. 

RNW: On Arista, that’s interesting, did you guys find that Arista is an interesting label to work with since they really haven’t had many rock artists in the past? 

Kris: That’s actually appealing to us because we get more attention being one of the only rock bands and their great man. Everything they said they were gonna do, they have done and we get a lot of support. They are always out here on the road with us, it’s really close knit which is cool. They’re very attentive and throw a lot of support into us and it’s great; that’s what every band wants. 

RNW: Yeah it’s better then stuck on a label with 20 other bands and getting lost in the shuffle. 

Kris: Exactly, that’s what we didn’t want. 

RNW: Alright Kris, thanks a lot and good luck with the record, we’ll see out on road. 
 
 
 

• Mark "Marky" Chavez - lead vocals 
• Mike Ransom – guitars
• Tim Fluckey – guitars
• Dave DeRoo – bass
• Kris Kohls – drums

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