Although the Chicago based band A.D.D. just recently signed with Pavement Entertainment, you better think twice before you start calling this band an overnight success. This band has been in the rock and roll trenches, fighting the good fight to keep rock alive and breathing in an industry focused on cookie cutter bands that are here today, gone today. The band has been paying its dues for over a decade now and has the battle scars to prove it. The band is about to unleash their new album Core onto the world and take that next step on the ladder upward too bigger and better things. I had the chance to sit down with guitarist Dave Adams and we had a lengthy discussion about where the band’s been and where it’s headed, the music industry and a common interest of our, KISS.
How’s it going Dave? After some time now, we’re finally at that point to sit down and talk about this new kick-ass album that you guys are about to release. For our readers who may not be familiar with you, can you give us some in-sight as far as how the band came together?
Dave Adams: It’s great to finally get to talk to you Johnny. As for some of the band history, Matilda (Moon) and I started the band about twelve years ago in a garage. I was the lead singer in a local band and she was like a secondary singer in this really successful rap/metal band in Chicago. We were all really good friends and from the same area. They weren’t really utilizing her a lot and she was doing a lot of back-up vocals. I mean, I always thought that she was really good, but I just couldn’t hear a lot of her in that band. We would be hanging out I would hear her singing things like Heart with the jukebox and I was floored. We started talking because the band that I was in was starting to dissolve. I wanted to go back to just playing guitar and not singing. I talked to my drummer at the time about using her as the lead singer and it was somewhat of a foreign idea to him because there really weren’t any female fronted bands around. I’m pretty sure that even Evanescence had yet to breakout. I remember telling people my idea and just about the only thing to compare it to was older acts like Lita Ford, Joan Jett, Pat Benatar and stuff like that. We officially started playing in 2003 with a different bassist and guitarist and then Jeremy (Sparta) was on-board in 2004.Ron Bailey has been on drums in all of my bands up until 2009 and that’s when Jason (Delismon) joined. Randy Berg was on bass from 2004 – 2013. The album is called Core because the four of us are the core who have stuck it out all this time.
A band’s name can be just a random thing, while at other times there’s a major storyline behind it. What’s the story with you guys?
I don’t know if I really have a great story about ours. The band that I was in before this one had a name that ended up being really complicated; we were called Via @ 40. I was a chemist working in an oil lab and I was trying to be clever. It was a test that we ran for the viscosity of oil which was at 40 degrees. The name ended up being a nightmare everywhere because everyone thought it was an email address. So, with the new band, we wanted something simple and catchy like KISS and we had to find something that wasn’t taken. A.D.D. came up and other bands hadn’t used it in the past. I talked to Matilda about it and we came up with about 20 names, but A.D.D. just stuck. I didn’t think about the meaning behind it and it’s kind of ironic how over the course of time, our society has become that way. If you do a search for the name, usually all that comes up are medical things, so we morphed it into what we thought the band was about and that is Analog Digital Disorder. We have an old school sound, thus the analog and we move into a more modern sound, thus the digital; we’re a mix of the old and the new. The name was actually used in the movie The Rocker that came out in 2007. We do have it trademarked, but Universal has about 42 lawyers. I did inquire about it and they half heartedly offered to use our music in the closing credits; we’re just not big enough to fight them. It seems like every year or two that someone wants to use it. We’re big enough now to stop it, especially with this new album about to come out. I used to stress about it, but I don’t anymore.
I was going to say congrats on the recent signing with Pavement Entertainment Records. I’m a big fan of that label and we’ve worked with a lot of the artists on the roster.
Thanks man! Yeah, we’re really excited to be signed with them and they’re a great bunch of people to work with.
I’ve listened to the album a few times now, which really kicks some serious ass, and I’m curious about the songwriting aspect of the band.
Everyone contributes because everyone has a lot of songwriting talent. Matilda and Jeremy will sometimes write lyrics together, depending on the song. She’ll have an idea sometimes lyrically and start working on it or sometimes Jeremy will; they tend to write most of the vocal ideas. Musically, I bring some ideas into everyone as far as the structure goes. Jeremy brought in “Was My Life” and it was already a finished song; I think I added one little guitar part to it. The song “So Much” was pretty much the same way and I added a couple of little guitar parts to it.
I picked up on a different type of vibe coming from Matilda’s and Jeremy’s songs and I’m not referring to their vocal style. Is that just their style or maybe an influential thing?
Some of Matilda’s stuff is a little darker and edgier at times and her voice is definitely different as well. She can scream with the best of them, but she also has that lower range and it’s a little raspy. She’s been compared at times to Joan Jett, Stevie Nicks and Grace Slick. The song “So Much”, one of the two songs that Jeremy has on the album, is kind of dark and about a relationship gone bad; well that’s my interpretation of the song. “Was My Life” is a bit of a throwback to those influences that you and I talked about earlier. So, yeah, I think it is a combo of their stylistic way as well as where they’re coming from as writers.
I know you’re based out of Chicago, but I was wondering what type of touring radius you guys have for how far from base that you’ve toured?
Well, our goal this year is to tour the whole country. The budget is always tighter on a new or relatively new act. We’ve been mainly sticking to the mid-west and about a six state radius; we’ve also had a few one off shows in places like Vegas and Boston. We’ve toured where we thought it made sense to, which was from our home base and then outward. We’re playing on Rock Fest 2015 in July in Cadott, WI and that should be pretty awesome. Now that we have a label, a publicist and someone working radio, hopefully we have all of those things that you need as a band to move forward. If anyone says that you don’t need a label, then I think they may be a little misguided.
You’ve picked “I Regret” for your lead-off single and video?
A.D.D. – I Regret (Official Music Video)
[embedplusvideo height=”300″ width=”590″ editlink=”http://bit.ly/1x88Yzc” standard=”http://www.youtube.com/v/P35b0MLwphQ?fs=1″ vars=”ytid=P35b0MLwphQ&width=590&height=300&start=&stop=&rs=w&hd=0&autoplay=0&react=1&chapters=¬es=” id=”ep6627″ /]
Yeah, it’s one of the heavier tunes on the album, but we think it’s a good representation of what the band’s all about. We’re all pretty excited about it; I’ve never had a real music video to speak of. I’m pretty sure that we will start working on a second video by the summer.
What would say has been your biggest hurdle to overcome as a band?
The reality of the business is the lack of making money and that’s made things hard over the years. You see a new band out there on their first tour and then you never see them again because they ran out of money. There are a lot of bands who say that they play for the love of the music, but at the end of the month, they still have to pay that electric bill. The reality of the modern musician is that they’re working a full-time job and trying to tour as well. It’s tough because some of them have mortgages, kids, families and they’re not living at home with mom and dad. Can you make a living out there as a musician playing original material? Well, I’ll be honest with you, it’s tough.
Who were some of your influences growing up? Who inspired you to pick up a guitar and want to learn how to play?
Ace Frehley and KISS in general, that was my first intro into playing. Tony Iommi from Black Sabbath was another guy and he’s a fellow lefty; Sabbath is a great band to start learning from. As I progressed, I moved into the duo guys like K.K. Downing and Glen Tipton from Judas Priest, then Iron Maiden. Randy Rhoads was another guitarist that I knew was good, but I didn’t truly realize how great he was until I started learning his songs. I’ve always been a songwriter, so I’ve been into the rhythm guys more than the fast players. Malcolm Young of AC/DC is another influence as well. There have also been some who aren’t necessarily house hold names such as Dave Meniketti from Y&T. I think Dave’s very underrated and he has such a unique style. I’m pretty excited because we finally get to play with them in May!
That has to be pretty awesome experience to get to play with one of your influences.
Oh definitely! We’re still waiting on the KISS tour; who knows, maybe next year. If we got that, then Jeremy and I have already decided that we’d just walk off the stage after it was over, get our stuff and quit. How could we ever top that? When I was in my room, learning “Smoke on the Water”, I remember saying that I wanted to get on-stage with KISS and play. It would be very hard to top that experience!
Dave, you know I am a little biased when it comes to KISS, so I’m not going to disagree with you on this one. Is there anything else that you want to let the fans knows or our readers who may be hearing about you for the first time?
We’ve played with a lot of bands that I’m sure they’re familiar with including Korn, In This Moment, Halestorm and Sevendust and we’ll add Black Stone Cherry to that list in May. We’re somewhere in that ballpark for those who may not know us. Our album Core will be released on March 24 on Pavement Entertainment and we hope everybody will give it a listen. Thanks again for the talk Johnny; we definitely appreciate the support.
Connect with A.D.D.! (click on the icons):
By: Johnny Price, Lead Senior Journalist
Solo pictures of Dave Adams and Matilda Moon courtesy of AbsolutEddy Photography
