History

Formation

Adema began in 1998 as a culmination of many different local bands from Bakersfield, California. At the end of 1997, a five-piece band named BPD formed in Bakersfield, with Mark "Marky" Chavez, who is the half-brother of Korn's singer Jonathan Davis, playing guitar. Chavez soon split with the group and became singer of a new band, formed with guitarist Mike Ransom, drummer Cesareo Garcia, and bassist Mike Montano. Shortly thereafter, Montano and Garcia were no longer in the band, and another Bakersfield band, Juice, contributed bassist Dave DeRoo and guitarist Tim Fluckey; Juice had spawned from SexArt, a band that included Davis and members from Orgy. Drummer Kris Kohls joined from the recently disbanded Videodrone, a band with more Davis connections, as it was on his label, Elementree Records. Kohls was easily convinced to join the band, as after hearing two demo songs, he decided to join. Adema regularly played in local shows amid its fluid early lineup. Charismatic frontman Chavez built up local hype for the band.

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." The name was recommended by Montano.

A label bidding war led to the band signing with Arista, probably in part because of Chavez's relationship to Davis. 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 and turmoil

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.[9] 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 "selfish" "personal problems" that held the band back musically. 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.

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, if not stellar, terms with Ransom, their attitude towards Chavez was much more hostile.

With regards to the split with Adema, Chavez acknowledged his "personal problems." But he claimed that "it takes two to tango," and that his decision precipitated from an argument with drummer Kohls over the direction of the band. Adema denied this, blaming the split on Chavez's disinterest in the band. Chavez would form the band Midnight Panic with his cousin and early Adema 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 such as Led Zeppelin, The Doors and Metallica, 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 of 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

In March 2006, Adema announced a new vocalist, Bobby Reeves of the band LEVEL. In August, the band recruited guitarist Ed Faris, also 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 band is now being managed by Union Entertainment Group, which managed Nickelback and Candlebox. The firm has a joint label with EMI called Audionest.

Band members

Current

• Bobby Reeves – Vocals (2006 - present)
• Tim Fluckey – Guitar (1998 - present)
• Ed Faris – Guitar, Programming (2006 - present)
• Dave DeRoo – Bass (1998 - present)
• Kris Kohls – Drums (1998 - present)

Former

• Luke Caraccioli – Vocals (2005)
• Mark Chavez – Vocals (1998 - 2004)
• Mike Ransom – Guitar (1998 - 2003)

Before ADEMA's first album and label

• Mike Montano – Bass (1998 - 1999)
• Cesareo Garcia – Drums (1998)
• Erik Jackson – Guitar (1998)

• Montano, Garcia and Jackson left the band before it was signed and before its first album release, so they do not appear in any of its records and aren't considered original members by many of its fans. Montano and Jackson were given songwriting credits for "Skin" from Adema.

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