A rock n' roll band from Dallas, AdaKaiN (Travis Buck- vocals, Derrick Carter- guitar, Ryan Carroll- drums, Jason Schauer- bass) first came onto the scene in 2008. Earlier this year they released their EP "Silhouette of Lies" featuring their new vocalist Travis Buck. I recently spoke with Travis, and here is what he had to say about the band!
Interview:
FRONT PAIGE METAL NEWS: So, why don't you tell my readers a little bit about AdaKaiN. How did you guys get started?
TRAVIS: We signed back in about '08. I was actually in a different band, and AdaKaiN was actually already formed and together and such. And our bass player Jason called me up, and my band and AdaKaiN had played some shows several times. Jason called me up, and they had parted ways with their old singer. So, he needed somebody to fill in for a few tour dates. So, I was like "Yeah, sure, man". That was about a week's notice. For those shows I was scattering all these lyrics on the stage, and it looked like a train wreck. (Laughs) It just sorta seemed to fit. So, that's kinda how the band got started, as far as I'm concerned. We released the full length album and toured pretty heavy on that. We actually just released an EP back in March, and we've been pretty busy touring on that as well. We definitely like to stay busy. If you wanna get out there, get your name out, if you want to achieve anything, you've got to stay busy.
FPMN: What can you tell us about the new album?
TRAVIS: As far as style, we really sorta took a 180 from our previous album.We tried stepping into sort of different realms. We did a lot of experimenting. We ended up going to Travis Wyrick in Knoxville, TN, and he really, really, really brought the best out of each one of us. It's amazing when a producer clicks with you. It's crazy. Me for instance, he taught me so much about my voice- things that I was capable of, that I did not know I was capable of. And as far as style, we focused a lot more on song structure. This album is not as heavy as our last album, but it's so much more melodic, and just all around just put together so much better. Also, one thing I'm most proud of is that we didn't write the same song over again. We've got some heavier songs, and we've got some ballad-y songs. It's definitely the most proud I've ever been leaving the studio. We actually lived in Knoxville for 3 weeks recording this album. You focus 100% on the album. You're not going back and forth, doing this or doing that, you're there every day in the studio. So, that was very nice to be able to do that.
FPMN: What's coming up next for AdaKaiN?
TRAVIS: We have a video coming out. I can't give you a date, because I don't know when it's coming out. (Laughs) It's coming out soon. It's for "Sky Is Falling". That's gonna be our next single we're gonna be pushing on the radio.
(The video has been released and is posted below) We are in the works of booking another tour in November. We're just gonna try to stay busy for the rest of the year. We hope to get back in the studio sometime next year. We've learned if you ever get sort of stagnant, it's hard to get that going. This album is really gonna keep things going. Really pretty much just the video and plenty of touring 'til the end of the year. We have things pop up here and there. It's so crazy! Something will just pop up all of a sudden- 'Oh, we're gonna do this." But as of right now, the touring through the rest of the year and the release of our video.
FPMN: What are your goals for AdaKaiN? What mark do you hope to leave on the music industry?
TRAVIS: I would say, we would like to leave--Honestly, I just want people to remember our names. I don't wanna come in and come out and be one of those bands that people have easily forgotten. I know it's very common now-a-days. We try to write music that hopefully will inspire other bands. We definitely wanna write something that's gonna hopefully inspire new musicians. It's really tough, it's really tough. You're really the bottom of the totem pole until you actually prove yourself.
FPMN: While on tour, do you ever meet fans whom you've inspired?
TRAVIS: Oh yeah. That's the greatest feeling in the world- going up there not knowing a single soul in the room. A lot of the fans will sort of look you up before and kinda listen to your songs and things like that. When you get that respect-- That's another thing, respect- I guess is one of my answers for leaving a mark on the music industry. Definitely, that would be one. That to me, is one of the greatest things, the respect factor. And I think everybody wants respect, but when you get it, it's really rewarding. It's so amazing when people come up to you that you've never met and "Oh man, this song-- I've been going through a rough time, and this song really helped me through a lot." and blah blah blah. Man, it's just so awesome.
FPMN: What advice can you give to aspiring musicians?
TRAVIS: Well, be prepared to make a lot of sacrifices. If you want to be a full-time musician, don't expect much, or any, money for a long time. Expect whatever money you do make has to go to the band, not into your pocket. Be prepared to be dedicated 100% to do what you're trying to do. If you're not, it will show, and eventually, it will be the downfall of you. But if you do work hard, and you really do put forth effort, at the end of the day with hard work and perseverance you can pretty much do anything. It applies just the same in the music industry. Now-a-days it's just so much tougher. So be willing to have a lot of let downs. It's all about just pushing through it. It's all about believing in yourself and believing in your band. Because, if you can't do that, then there's no point. There's just no point.
"Sky Is Falling":
So what do you think? If you like what you hear, you can check out AdaKaiN
here.
~Paige
