This months Disciplined Drummers of metal we spoke to Adam Jarvis one of the hardest working drummers in metal today. He is known for playing behind the kit for bands like Misery Index, and Pig Destroyer to name a few. So to help you guys get through the hump day, here is an interview I did with the man himself.
Badger- So last time we talked was back in October you were on tour, it was a great time I know I had a blast. Some good beer was consumed that day haha. Then a few months after I see an announcement for a new project, and just recently saw a video of you tracking drums. So the big news is God Enslavement, tell me a bit about this new band you’re in.
Adam- Yea so the album just got mastered I believe over the weekend so I’m supposed to be getting the finalized tracks and it should be released by late spring early summer, I may need to get back to you on that one. But yea its guys from all over Europe, and Germany
Badger- Yea it’s a pretty diverse lineup I mean you have Bjorn, then you, Vince, you have Julien from Shattered, you know you have Kevin, I mean everyone in this lineup is pretty notable. This is like (in my opinion) a super group.
Adam-Yeah you know, the one guy Bjorn hit me up, and said “you know we got this material and you know we have all talked about it, and we think you would be an awesome fit, and we think its right up your alley.” I have been approached by multiple bands and usually I need to at least enjoy the material to put my name on it. I don’t want to record something just for the sake of recording something and having my name on it. It’s essentially going to be a part of my legacy you know.
Badger- Yea you definitely want to take pride in your work, you want to do it for the music, and what you want for sound, not just anything that comes your way. You sound like you are doing it because of your love of music and metal, so that’s cool.
Adam- Yea exactly so, yea when I heard the first couple of songs I thought “damn those are some killer riffs.” I believe it’s like 8-9 songs. And you know I used to be in Criminal Element with Vince Mathews and he was in Dying Fetus. They were actually going to have a different vocalist, so I was asking them because I had only heard the music so I wanted to know what type of vocals would be going over the top. Because dude, vocals can make or break a band, they are very important. I mean they have always been very important to me even more so now sometimes I think “ hey this band is pretty good, and then I hear the vocals and think Damn it WTF”
Badger-Yea they can definitely make or break, but Vince Mathews, that’s pretty cool because the last I had heard he wasn’t doing too well, but obviously now he is ready and able to do vocals on this project. I liked when he was in Dying Fetus as well as Criminal Element so I’m stoked to hear his vocals laid down on this.
Adam- Yea and he helped me out a lot when I came out to Maryland , in 2004 first place I lived I was with Vince, hahaha those were some crazy times so it came time. The guys were like “so the vocalist backed out, do you know anyone that might be able to fit or may be interested.” And the whole time when I was listening to the music I kept think “Damn dude Vince’s vocals would be a perfect fit over this. So I hit him up, and he was really excited that I asked him to even do it. I called him and said “yo dude I would like you to be a part of this” and he was really taken back by it and was like “holy shit I can’t believe you asked me to do this” For me I’m thinking “dude your motherfucking Vince Mathews what are you talking about”
Badger- Sometimes there’s someone you know is perfect for the position and then you hear them and it justifies things and locks everything in.
Adam- yea so I’m stoked for people to hear it and its just straight up old school death, thrash, there’s some grind influence. It definitely has some more of that old school feel and approach.
Badger- That’s awesome! I can’t wait to hear that.
So 2016 this makes band number 5. You have Misery Index, Pig Destroyer, Asthma Castle, Fulgora, and now God Enslavement, what are we going to see in 2016 from the other bands? You put Stratagem out last year so I’d say it’s safe to say you’re not doing a new album with them right now but any tours?
Adam-With Fulgora we have a few songs written, we have a song that we recorded at Phil’s studio, and that’s supposed to be released on Housecore TBD so yea it will probably be a while before we get a Full Length out I’d say, it might be possible by the end but maybe 2017. Asthma castle recorded about a year since I did the drums, but unfortunately our vocalist quit, so that was a bit of a setback but there was like one guy that I thought of that when he quit we recorded this , I mean we aren’t signed, this is like a side project for me. I love it, it’s a different change of pace, and we all get along so we have a guy and we are going to start jamming with him. Actually second jam will be this week. So hopefully vocals will be done by this summer and released this year. And PD is about 4 songs in for the new record, so we have actually jammed 1 of those songs a few weeks back, so that’s exciting to be working on some new Pig Destroyer material. And you know my cousin John is in the band now too so. It’s the first record with him on it so that’s exciting.
Badger-Oh hell yea John, he is no stranger to the business so that’s definitely cool
Adam- yea I mean he’s in Agoraphobic Nosebleed and in Fulgora so were in another band back in the day called all will fall, so yeah me an him have been jamming since I was probably 8-9 so it goes back a long way. As far as new stuff coming out that’s probably it. Killing gods is about 1.5 year old?
Badger- yea it came out around my birthday so around may 2014
Adam- Yea you’re right yea.
Badger- so I have seen a few big shows you guys are booked to play here in 2016, so I’m guessing your touring schedule is starting to pile up
Adam- yea unfortunately we can’t tour as much as we used to I work full time on top of being in five bands, and Mark has a kid now, and he’s going to school. And he actually just started working at Extreme management group.
Badger- hell yea that’s a big outfit
Adam- yea they rep bands like suffocation, they have a lot of people under their belt. So he just started working for them so that’s real cool. Jason back and forth from states and Finland, so he’s actually working on his PhD right now and yea we just got to be more selective.
Back in 2006 we would do 200 shows a year so anything that came up we would say yep let’s do it, but now a days we have to plan, we have a lot more responsibility now so we can’t be selfish, marks got a wife I have a girlfriend it’s not easy on people. But we do have the one European run this summer. We are hitting some pretty awesome festivals. We’re playing one in Vancouver that’s going to be badass it just got announced a few weeks ago and it’s got Suffocation and Dillinger Escape Plan, and Job For A Cowboy their first show in a few years, Cattle Decapitation, Dave Lombardo’s new band Dead cross will be on it. So yea a lot of awesome bands. And when we got the offer we didn’t really know , we thought we were going to be the headliner and then this thing gets booked and I looked and called mark and was like “ holy shit dude this is a big festival” it’s not like doing down to the dew drop in.
Badger- one question because I am in ton of FB groups so I have seen a few people here and there ask about drum shoes. So your go to brand, have you tried others or do you just you the tried and true style.
Adam- I’ve been rocking DB drum shoes for years, they’re my go to, and they’re really lightweight really durable they last. I have had pairs last me years even with all the touring. A guy named jerry at DB he is an awesome cat. I always prefer to play esp. on tour to play in different shoes than what I wear every day, because you feel disgusted after if you were to stay in the same shoes after a show. It’s a necessity, their almost like an equivalent to a water shoe, very flexible lightweight. I have had people call them ballerina shoes. but I like the dexterity, and they are tight. They are my go to, and I have been wearing them for… going on ten years now at least ten years. They’ve been around for a while, you don’t seem them too much but when you do you see many drummers wearing them. I know the dude from arch enemy wears them, Danny walker he uses them, I don’t want to say anyone who doesn’t you know but if you look at the roster it’s pretty stacked with great drummers. Yea Mike Hamilton, he’s another one, he was in deeds of flesh, but he’s in exhumed now. They’re definitely amazing shoes I’m not saying it because I’m endorsed, these shoes are the real deal.
Badger- so I was going to ask this yesterday, but I will put a spin on it. So who were you routing for to win the super bowl?
Adam-I was actually, I wasn’t in favor of any team. But I wanted to see Peyton go out with a win, Cam was a J.A. He was a baby about it
Badger- I listen to sports radio a lot, and they were saying that he was one of the biggest guys on the field and he recoiled away from the fumble. How does that happen when you are the largest guy?
Adam- oh I know, he regretted that one. His passing was off, they just didn’t look like a SB team.
Badger- some moments were painful to watch, If Peyton does retire it’s on a high note, and he didn’t want to say for sure.
Adam- yea but he did say what type of beer he was going to have after. Hahaha I actually just got myself a six pack of Hopslam from Bells Beer. That stuff’s good you can only get one sixer at a time so, and at like 20 something a six pack, I mean you got me that Heady Topper so you know your beers if you’ve never had that? Do you get bells there?
Badger- sometimes I have to go to mass to get some beers. Like the iron maiden beer I can’t get it in NH but I can head down to the mass border and get some. I have had some brown note from KY, (this is when I explain the brown note from the league) so the front of the can is hilarious it’s a brown ale but it is absolutely great. I’ll send you the picture. Another good one was a brewery in RI, if you guys come up my way I will have to get you a growler of this stuff. It has a summer ale taste like blue moon or Sam summer but it tastes like it would be around 2% but it’s actually close to 12 % so when you drink a glass it hits you, and you don’t expect it to hit you as hard as it does because it tastes so damn light. The stuff is awesome!
Badger- so what are you listening to currently, CD iTunes vinyl?
Adam- well actually I was just listening to acid bath. Well new stuff or?
Badger- anything whatever you are listening to
Adam- I discovered porcupine tree a few years ago, and it was from reading Opeth’s Hall Of Fame entry in Decibel for Blackwater Park, they mentioned Steven Wilson, and I was like I remember that guy, then I remember he did that project Storm Corrosion thing with Mikael Akerfeldt, and Steven Wilson, and it’s just like very eerily serene at times and I guess you could say like kind of post rock meets Shoegaze which is one of the weirder genres. But yea a lot of porcupine tree and S. Wilson, and something I have been listening to that just terrifies me but it’s so damn good is a band called Dødheimsgard from Norway.
Badger- yea you were talking about them after the Worcester show,
Adam- oh yea I was they are still just so good their newest album is called like umbra omega. It’s just nasty, it is real nasty. I also have been going back on the classics that I used to listen to all the time like older Monstrosity, actually this morning I was listening to Demolition Hammer, a bit more thrash, but it has Alex Marquez, he played with Malevolent Creation on retribution but let’s see what else, newest faith no more album is good, new baroness.
Badger- that is good, I have to get it on vinyl, because I was being a bit picky about vinyl so I wanted to wait to hear it first but it is definitely vinyl worthy
Adam- yea it is I bought it on vinyl they played in Baltimore I saw them and when they toured they were sold out every show, I saw them in Baltimore and it was amazing absolutely amazing. So yea that’s what I have been listening to lately.
Badger- Awesome well it sounds like 2016 will be a great year for you, and the bands you are a part of, for me it’s a great year because that just means there’s some great metal happening, and I am really pumped to hear God Enslavement.
Thank you for your time, and stay brutal my friend.
Adam, – Alright dude, thanks again. Cheers.
The Metal Breakdown 