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Adema
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Adema is a 5-member nu metal band from Bakersfield, California.
a's first (self-titled) album was released in 2001 with Mark Chavez being the vocalist, Tim Fluckey and Mike Ransom playing guitar, Dave DeRoo' playing bass, and Kris Kohls playing drums. Since then they've gone through numerous changes with their lineup and musical style.
Adema got its name from the medical term "edema," a kind of tissue swelling.
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Encyclopedia
Adema is a 5-member nu metal band from Bakersfield, California.
History
Early years
Adema's first (self-titled) album was released in 2001 with Mark Chavez being the vocalist, Tim Fluckey and Mike Ransom playing guitar, Dave DeRoo' playing bass, and Kris Kohls playing drums. Since then they've gone through numerous changes with their lineup and musical style.
Adema got its name from the medical term "edema," a kind of tissue swelling. According to Kohls: "A friend of the band who 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."
A label bidding war led to the band signing with Arista, probably in part because of Chavez's relationship to Korn singer, Jonathan Davis (They are half-brothers). The band was signed by L.A. Reid, who is better known for signing R&B artists. The band then sequestered themselves in a cabin and wrote the material for their debut album.
Adema and success
The band’s eponymous debut, Adema, was released in August 2001 to moderate success. Its two major singles, "Giving In" and "The Way You Like It," received significant airplay on rock radio. All the lyrics were written by Chavez, and the album was produced by Bill Appleberry (7th House) and Tobi Miller (Wallflowers guitarist). It was certified Gold, and the band received a spot on the main stage during the Ozzfest tour. They kept playing live with the Music as a Weapon, SnoCore Rock, and Projekt Revolution tours.
In 2002, Adema released Insomniac's Dream, an EP, as a "gift to fans." The single from the album, "Immortal," was written for the video game Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. Besides the single, it included a track from international versions of Adema, a tribute to Alice in Chains and four remixes of songs from Adema.
Unstable, Mark Chavez's and Mike Ransom's departure
Adema's second album, Unstable, was released by Arista in August 2003. It was produced by Howard Benson, whose credits also include producing albums with P.O.D., Hoobastank and Cold.
The band has vigorously fought the label "nu metal," preferring to be classified as traditional rock. While Unstable was not a significant break from their earlier sound, Chavez compared it to the rawness of Nirvana, and bassist DeRoo hoped that Chavez’s stronger voice (the result of voice lessons) would result in a more mainstream sound. "We don't go onstage and nu metal," said drummer Kohls. "We're sick of that phrase. ROCK - it's such a broad word that it doesn't categorize you." The band would ultimately shed the label when they shed their "nu metal singer," Chavez.
As it turned out, the album was named "Unstable" for a reason: Chavez and guitarist Ransom had a bitter rivalry that ended when first Ransom, then Chavez, left the band. The rest of the band has blamed Chavez for "personal problems" that held the band back musically, but Chavez claims that it was differences in the direction of the music. The feud with Ransom put the rest of the band in the middle. While DeRoo wouldn't comment specifically on what the supposed problems were, he insinuated that Chavez was caught up in drugs.
During 2003, when the band released and toured for Unstable, Chavez and Ransom didn’t speak to one another. The band claimed that the split was no surprise. Ransom left in September, while the remaining four members finished touring.
On January 5, 2004, Adema had a song called "Rip the Heart Out of Me" while there are two 2004 singles are "Co-Dependent", & "So Fortunate".
Amidst this conflict, Unstable sold over 66% less than the band's debut album. In December, the band learned that Arista was dropping them during a label merger. A large number of Arista's staff was fired in a management shakeup by its parent company, Sony. L.A. Reid, who originally signed the band, had left the label a week earlier. The band has blamed low sales of Unstable on being dropped.
The band continued to write, but in February 2004, Chavez started to lose interest. He quit the band in September. While the remaining three members remained on cordial terms with Ransom, their attitude towards Chavez was much less favorable.
With regards to the split with Adema Adema blamed the split on Chavez's disinterest in the band. However, Chavez acknowledged his "personal problems"(Drugs) and claimed that "it takes two to tango," and that his decision precipitated from an argument with drummer Kohls over the direction of the band. Chavez would form the band Midnight Panic with his cousin and old bandmates Cesareo Garasa and Mike Montano, which released the self-titled Midnight Panic EP before dissolving. He is currently working on a solo project.
Planets with Luke Caraccioli
The remaining three members regrouped to write new music and auditioned new singers. After Kohls heard a demo from Rewind Yesterday, another Bakersfield band, he was impressed by the group's lead singer, Luke Caraccioli. Adema asked Caraccioli to front the band. Caraccioli accepted a few months later in January 2005.
Adema signed to metal label Earache Records in Spring 2004 when its manager, Al Dawson, heard them at a show. Under their new label, the band gained more control over their direction than they had when signed with Arista. Adema lauded Earache for allowing "bands to express themselves creatively."
In April 2005, a year later, the band would deliver their next album, Planets produced by Nick Forcillo. They released the album's first single, "Tornado," that March.
Planets was, musically, a significant break from Adema's two earlier albums; it was much closer to rock than Adema's nu metal history. Kohls said that the band relied on influences from classic rock , and that the band proved that they were "so much more than" a nu metal band. The writing for the album was shared between the four members.
As an ex-marine, Caraccioli played his first show with Adema in the Persian Gulf in April 2005. They performed for American troops stationed in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates for the Armed Forces Entertainment. Though the Iraq War was still raging, the band stressed that the tour was apolitical. Adema then promoted the release by touring with Brides of Destruction, a band that Kohls had briefly been involved in. Though proud of their identity change, the band noted that they had a mixture of fans from both the "old" and "new" Ademas at live shows.
In September, Adema released a second single from the album, "Planets." The single was featured in the movie thriller Cry Wolf.
In October 2005, Luke Caraccioli left the band, citing personal reasons. Following Luke's departure, the band got in touch with Mark Chavez and according to the band, both parties are back on good terms. Both parties even had talks about Chavez singing for Adema again and even wrote some new songs together, but as of late nothing further transpired from these events.
Kill the Headlights with Bobby Reeves and Ed Faris, Hiatus, and Immortal's demise
In March 2006, Adema announced a new vocalist, Bobby Reeves a former member of the band LEVEL. In August, the band recruited guitarist Ed Faris, also a former member of LEVEL. With their new lineup, the band signed onto Immortal Records in February 2007. They released Kill the Headlights, produced by Marshall Altman (Marc Broussard, Zebrahead) in August 2007. The first single, "Cold and Jaded," was released in July. The Reeves incarnation of the group also appeared in the comic book series Koni Waves from Arcana Studio.
In early 2008 Dave Deroo announced the band has decided to go on a "hiatus" to regroup, take a break, and assured fans they have not broken up. They've recently began playing live shows again in their home state of California but no plans on any major tours or a new studio album. This could be because of the band not having a label.
Band members
Current members
Former members
Discography
External links
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