Interview Kris Kohls Adema

ADEMA American Standard Inept Escape From Earth Subterranean April 14, 2005 Interview: Sharita Lumpkin

Lineup: Luke Caraccioli - Vocals Tim Fluckney - Guitar Dave DeRoo - Bass Kris Kohls - Drums

"We're still the same Adema, actually, no we don't feel that, we feel we're a better Adema."

Kris Kohls, the drummer of Adema, feels that they could be the best they've ever been. He also has a goal to still be making records over the next few years and making a better record than their latest release, Planets. Adema started with such high expectations. Their former lead singer, Mark Chavez, is the half-brother of Korn frontman, Jonathan Davis. A lot of people thought they were riding his coat tails. Their first release, Adema, was one of the hottest records of that year. It landed them a spot on Ozzfest and they gained a lot of notoriety. However, after the release of their second album, Unstable, Mark Chavez left the band because of personal issues and the bands label, Arista, closed its doors.

With so much hanging in the balance, any band would probably give it up. Not Adema! They found Luke Caraccioli, signed with Earache and recorded Planets. Now, they find themselves on tour, playing small clubs and gaining new fans. Kris Kohls insists that this is a new beginning for the band and he'd like everyone to enjoy the ride with them. Read on to hear more of his thoughts.

Sharita: Ok, first off can you clear up the rumors and stories of Mark's departure?

Kris: Well, we wanted to make a rock record and make something we could really be proud of and his heart just wasn't in it. He wasn't ready to go to the level that we wanted to go to. He had other personal things in his life at the time and I guess Adema wasn't a priority to him.  It's always been a priority for us, that's the way our band is. It wasn't for him, he had personal things that were more important.

Sharita: You mentioned in an interview that you called the album Planets because a cosmic, magical thing happened and the planets aligned when you found Luke Caraccioli, do you have anything to add to that?

Kris: I don't think I could say it better than that. We went through a process of trying out a bunch of singers and he was of the last guys we tried out. When he started singing with us, we knew he was right. The planets aligned, and everything was perfect musically so, we decided to call the album Planets.

Sharita: Who did most of the writing on the album?

Kris: We all did, equally. What happened was before Luke got in the band, we wrote a bunch of lyrics together and as a band, we'd never done that. Luke came in, made new stuff, changed some of the stuff we had and made it better. He broke a lot of barriers as well. It really was a collaboration. Musically, we all collectively contributed to this album.

Sharita: Ok, cool. So tell me what the feeling was when Arista went out of business, did the band feel like quitting at that point?

Kris: No, the word quit is not in our vocabulary. We never thought about quitting once. I mean, it was tough but, we got the Earache deal pretty quickly so that was cool. With the whole singer thing, that left a lot of things up in the air but once Luke got in the band things it was all great from there.

Sharita: So what went into the deal with Earache, did they call you?

Kris: Actually, a friend of mine gave me Alan's number and they said that he wanted to talk to us. So I called him, we talked, he came out to a show in Bakersfield (CA), and he signed us.

Sharita: Ok, great. I was reading about some of the other bands that the members have played in. You, in particular, played in Videodrone, were there any other bands that you played in?

Kris: Well, I played with Nikki Sixx in the Brides of Destruction and a band called Cradle of Thorns. The other guys played in a very popular band around town called Juice; we all kind of floated around in bands for years. We like to call this the Bakersfield supergroup. (laughs) We just feel like our chemistry together is perfect.

Sharita: Cool. Let's talk about the album. The first single off the album is Tornado, but I have to tell you, there are other songs that are better than that one. The album is awesome though. What has the reaction been like so far from critics and fans?

Kris: Thank you. Well, it's been good. It's been positive and hearing that feedback from you is great. Now, it's just a matter of getting the word out that we have just released a new album, we have a new singer that's awesome, and the band is better than ever. People have said that they like the record and now that we're playing live they're saying, yeah they can pull it off live too. We feel that we're strong [in that area] because we have a strong passion about it. We're playing these songs from the heart and I think people can see and hear that.

Sharita: Ok, great. Tell us about the experience of going to the Persian Gulf and playing for the troops, how was that?

Kris: Crazy. It was very cool though.

Sharita: Any stories to tell?

Kris: Well, at one point we were about 200 yards from a car bomb. 

Sharita: Wow...

Kris: Yeah we rushed into a bunker and all these soldiers were around us. It was crazy but the shows were awesome. The guys were holding their guns and rockin out. (Laughs) Doin' the pit with the guns. (Laughs) It was crazy but cool. We had a great time and they treated us real well. It was great.

Sharita: Wow, that's interesting. So, about the tour. The venue here, Subterranean, is a small club. Are you playing places like this the rest of the tour?

Kris: Yeah, pretty much. We're starting small and working our way up.

Sharita: Do you feel like you need to do that since you have a new singer and just signed with Earache?

Kris: Yeah, that's kind of what it is. We're still the same Adema, actually, no we don't feel that, we feel we're a better Adema. We feel like we're 10 times better than we've ever been and build it up. We're gonna' make records for a long time. We're not in any rush, we're just gonna' come out and play our music.

Sharita: Ok, cool. I have to go back and ask you about your experience on Ozzfest and would you like to play on it again?

Kris: Awesome! It was a good time. I mean, playing with those kind of bands...I really wish that this lineup had played on that Ozzfest. Hopefully, we will play it again. Being onstage with the likes of POD, System of a Down, Ozzy, and Rob Zombie was great. Zakk Wylde playing right before us, it was killer!

Sharita: Great. What has been the biggest difference with Earache as opposed to Arista?

Kris: The biggest thing would be communication between us and the label. Like, I can call Al at anytime or email him. I've always got an answer within a day. It's almost impossible at a major because there's so many people working there. You tell one person, then they have to tell someone else, and they have to tell their boss. Here, we talk to 1 guy and we ask can you get this done and he lets us know the next day, so it's good.

Sharita: I have a couple of personal questions for you. You take Jujitsu?

Kris: Brazilian Jujitsu.

Sharita: Ok, what is that exactly?

Kris: It's the best form of martial arts. If you want to learn how to protect yourself that's the one to take. It was actually invented by a family called the Gracie family and they're from Brazil; I have my blue belt from Orion Gracie who is one of the brothers, so that's pretty cool. I do tournaments and compete all the time, it's my hobby. They also call it submission wrestling. It's like wrestling with no rules, you can choke each other...

Sharita: Oh wow. (laughs)

Kris: It's crazy and it's fun.

Sharita: Ok, so what about your playing, are you self taught or did you have lessons?

Kris: I'm self taught but I did have a few lessons because I been fortunate to be around a lot of good drummers. Like on Ozzfest, there was a bunch of awesome ones there. But, I learned from just watching people, picking up things here and there but I'm mostly self taught.

Sharita: Is it a big advantage to be self taught as opposed to having lessons, because I've heard that you have more creative freedom even though the technical stuff might not be there?

Kris: That's a good question. From my perspective, experience is the best; just playing all the time no matter what. If you're taking lessons but you're playing with passion and the guy is showing you something that you're doin' and you're like oh this is awesome, as long as you love doin' it and you're in the moment, then that's cool. I think, what you're referring to is that guys can get stale and they end up hating it and wanting to do something else. A lot Of times when you play on your own, there's no breaks and you're not listening to anyone else. I think it goes both ways, balance is good; being shown the technical stuff, creating on your own, and just playing all the time.

Sharita: Ok, thanks so much for the interview and I look forward to seeing you guys some time soon.

Kris: Thank you, it was awesome!


Thanks to James Wright from Kerosene Media and Curran Reynolds from Earache for setting it up.

Click here for pix from tonight's show!