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Live Taste of Chaos 2006 pics
(Winter 2006) by George Dionne
It was a cold winter night when the Taste of Chaos Tour 2006 rolled into
Lowell, MA. As I made my way pass the huge luxury buses in the back parking
lot, one of them sporting a hugh flat screen television inside, I was directed
to a small fenced in area off to the side. The lot was filled with beat-up
campers and vans. If you had any illusions that the record industry is nothing
but glamorous, this would change your mind. It's humbling to know that bands
are still giving it their all the hard way. I was greeted by Adair's manager
Syd. All the members of the group were in good sprits and were really excited
about
their
upcoming set in support of their latest album The Destruction of Everything
is the Beginning of Something New (read CD review).
RIL: If I knew absolutely nothing about Adair, how would you describe
the group’s music to me?
RT: It’s hard rock that’s very passionate
and melodic.
RIL: Where does the band name come from?
RT: I actually looked it up in a baby book. It was
a baby name; like a European family name. We just wanted something simple.
A lot of these names are
deep with meaning or whatever, so we just wanted something that wasn’t.
RIL: Did you know if you type adair.com on the web, you get a newscaster
from Maine. He’s apparently deceased, so you guys might be able to
get the domain name.
RT: We tried to get it years ago when we first changed
our name. They wouldn’t
give it to us. They own the URL and just posts things like family stuff.
RIL: You mentioned that you changed the band name, what was it before?
RT: Disturbing the Peace was the old band, but I’m
the only one left.
RIL: When and where did Adair begin?
RT: We had a lot of band member changes in the last year or so under the
Adair name. In the last few years the guitar player and drummer quit the
band. This line-up came about right before we recorded our album. The five
of us in the band now wrote half of our album in the two weeks before we
went out to California to record it. It ended up being the best stuff on
the record.
RIL: How long has this current lineup been together?
RT: Six months
RIL: Where is everyone from?
RT: Everyone except out drummer is from St. Louis.
He’s from North
Carolina.
RIL: What were the circumstances behind Adair getting a record deal with
Warcon Records?
RT: Our management knew Kevin Liman, and they heard that he was starting
a record label with Bob Chipardy. We were in the process of shopping demos
to labels at the time, and the more we heard about [Warcon], the more it
sounded like a really good thing to be involved with. We sent them some demos,
and that was it pretty much it.
RIL: Is there a meaning behind the album title The Destruction
of Everything is the Beginning of Something New?
RT: It has to do with all the member changes I was talking about earlier.
On a personal and musical level, things are getting better as a band. It
also coincides with things throughout the album, particularly the lyrics.
RIL: Would you say that your album has similar themes; or would
you say they are kind of tied into each other conceptually?
RT: Both. We wrote half the album while we were recording. They were tracking
guitars and taking whatever scratch recordings that were done at that point
to write melodies and lyrics along to. I had a really crazy year last year.
On top of that, I had been reading up a lot on Pompeii, which was the Italian
city that was buried by a volcanic eruption. I kind of used that as a metaphor
at the time. I used it to parallel all of the things going on with me personally
and with the band.
RIL: Has being part of the Taste of Chaos tour been a positive experience?
RT: Oh definitely. It’s been a great opportunity
playing with those amazing bands every night and playing in front of all
those people every
night.
RIL: Does your set time rotate?
RT: Yes it does. It rotates every night. At the beginning
of the tour all the slots rotate. At some point the Deftones wanted one specific
opener
for them, because they’re a pretty particular band. There were bands
going on before them that were just getting slaughtered.
RIL: With all the bands on the bill is it tough to grab the fans attention?
RT: Yeah, it’s definitely hard. It’s a
lot to take in when people come to the show and it feels like everyone is
fighting for attention. It
gets us to stand out as much as possible.
RIL: Do you prefer the festival type of show or do you like the smaller
club shows?
RT: Festivals, but we have done small tour dates. This was the first year
for a festival. They both have positives. Festivals obviously have bigger
crowds and there is a lot more going on.
RIL: Have you been able to hang out with the other bands?
RT: A lot of them. All of the second stage band’s
are pretty good friends of ours. We all hang out.
RIL: Have any of the bands been real jerks?
RT: No, everyone’s pretty cool. It’s tough for new bands because
for them, it’s something different everyday. For us it’s a routine
that we’re used to.
RIL: How do you think the fans of a band like As I lay Dying will receive
your music?
RT: It’s funny because a couple of nights ago, we went on right after
them. Those kids were going nuts for them. I think I said to someone, ‘we’re
going to go out there like God compared to what just took place.’ For
the most part it seems that fans that come to the show are pretty open minded
and realize that there are lots of different bands playing.
RIL: What next for the band after this tour?
RT: There are a couple of different tours being thrown
around, with nothing being confirmed yet. We’re going to Europe in
May, and then off to the Warped Tour in the summer.
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