A.D.D. have just released their third full-length album. Grande Rock caught up with guitarist & composer Jeremy Sparta to learn the news from the band’s camp and all about the recordings of their new third album… read below for more…
Hi Jeremy... welcome to Grande Rock...
J: Thanks for having me...
Your new, second album “Core” is already out as we speak. Why did it take you so long to come up with a new album? What happened in the meantime?
J: Actually there were a few reasons for the time between releases. We started recording this album about 2 years ago. We weren’t necessarily in a big rush to release it because we wanted it to be the best album that we’ve done yet. Since we were financing it ourselves money also becomes an issue... then we switched bass players. At times it seemed like it would never get finished but we are more than happy with the end result.
Was the release of the EP “Hear Me Now” in 2011 a way to break that big gap between albums in a way and say to your fans that you’re still here strong and you are working on new music?
J: “Hear Me Now” was definitely something to fill the gap and keep people happy.
What has changed all those years in the band’s camp?
J: We have a new bass player since the release of “Core”. We’ve also changed in the aspect of having everyone involved in the writing process.
Do you think that any long hiatus from discography can have implications for a band? Is there any chance for a band to be forgotten by the majority of their fans especially due to today’s enormous supply of new releases?
J: Because of the power of the internet you really have to be doing something wrong for your fans to ever question what is going on with the band. The delay between albums certainly didn’t mean that we weren’t doing shows and other promotions to keep ourselves in the public eye.
So how did the cooperation with Pavement Entertainment occur?
J: “Core” was actually complete, artwork and all, and we were thinking about self-releasing it like all of our past recordings. Charlie Benante from Anthrax had worked with Jason’s last band. Jason had been giving him copies of the songs as we completed them and in the end Charlie was a huge part of us partnering with Pavement.
And how did you come up the album title “Core”? Is there a “secret” meaning behind it?
J: I had started referring to Dave, Margie, Jason and myself as the “Core Four” because of band member changes that had happened during the recording of the album. The four of us have been through quite a bit together and truthfully quitting would have been a much easier option at times but we are fighters and stuck to what we believe in. We had a couple different title ideas but “Core” seemed to best sum up what the album is all about.
Do give us a hint about each track...
J: “I Regret”: We are our own worst enemies…
“Not My Way”: Stick to your guns when it seems like everything is falling apart…
“Hear Me Now”: Anti abuse…
“Was My Life”: Whether you’ve been there for a while or a short time... thank you.
“Damn Thing”: Helpless feeling after dealing with more than can be handled…
“So the Pain”: Selfishly not letting go of someone/something when their time has come…
“Nightmare”: How life can be if you let it get the best of you…
“Nothing Left”: When it’s truly over…
“So Much (So Little)”: Follow your heart even if it may end up broken…
“Black”: Paying tribute to one of our favorite bands…
Which are A.D.D.’s major pros in comparison to other modern hard rock female-fronted bands of this style?
J: I would say the biggest pro is that there is no gimmick with us. We are extremely straight forward from a musical and lyrical stand point.
The new album was mixed by Tadpole (Disturbed, 3 Doors Down, Staind) and mastered by Grammy Award winner Trevor Sadler. The production is powerful, tight & modern. Are you satisfied with the final outcome in general? Did you get what you had in mind?
J: We are very satisfied with how “Core” turned out. We knew going into the recording process that we wanted to use Wisco for recording, Tadpole for mixing and Trevor for mastering. We’ve worked with those guys more than once and we are all on the same page. We know what to expect from them and they know how to push us to get the best performance we can give.
You have shared the stage with several big names of the scene such as Korn, Chevelle, Halestorm, Sevendust, Alterbridge, and Buckcherry among others. Which are the things you learn from playing and hanging out with those bands?
J: I feel we’ve learned how to transition from being a local band to being a regional/national act. There is a different level of professionalism that comes along with performing shows with the bands that you mentioned. We didn’t want to seem like kids in a candy store, which unfortunately happened a few times, so we upped our game a bit.
Are there upcoming live shows? Would you like to play in Europe at some point?
J: We have shows booked throughout the US this summer. Nickelback, Three Days Grace, Black Stone Cherry, PM5K, Soil... are some of the bands that we will be opening for so we’re pretty excited. We would love to hit Europe sometime. The festivals there are huge and would be amazing to be a part of.
How would you describe your music style to someone that hasn't heard the band's sound before?
J: Heavy rock with lots of vocal harmonies.
What are you future plans with A.D.D.?
J: We will be touring all over to support “Core” and we will be doing another video for the yet to be selected second single.
J: Thanks for having me...
Your new, second album “Core” is already out as we speak. Why did it take you so long to come up with a new album? What happened in the meantime?
J: Actually there were a few reasons for the time between releases. We started recording this album about 2 years ago. We weren’t necessarily in a big rush to release it because we wanted it to be the best album that we’ve done yet. Since we were financing it ourselves money also becomes an issue... then we switched bass players. At times it seemed like it would never get finished but we are more than happy with the end result.
Was the release of the EP “Hear Me Now” in 2011 a way to break that big gap between albums in a way and say to your fans that you’re still here strong and you are working on new music?
J: “Hear Me Now” was definitely something to fill the gap and keep people happy.
What has changed all those years in the band’s camp?
J: We have a new bass player since the release of “Core”. We’ve also changed in the aspect of having everyone involved in the writing process.
Do you think that any long hiatus from discography can have implications for a band? Is there any chance for a band to be forgotten by the majority of their fans especially due to today’s enormous supply of new releases?
J: Because of the power of the internet you really have to be doing something wrong for your fans to ever question what is going on with the band. The delay between albums certainly didn’t mean that we weren’t doing shows and other promotions to keep ourselves in the public eye.
So how did the cooperation with Pavement Entertainment occur?
J: “Core” was actually complete, artwork and all, and we were thinking about self-releasing it like all of our past recordings. Charlie Benante from Anthrax had worked with Jason’s last band. Jason had been giving him copies of the songs as we completed them and in the end Charlie was a huge part of us partnering with Pavement.
And how did you come up the album title “Core”? Is there a “secret” meaning behind it?
J: I had started referring to Dave, Margie, Jason and myself as the “Core Four” because of band member changes that had happened during the recording of the album. The four of us have been through quite a bit together and truthfully quitting would have been a much easier option at times but we are fighters and stuck to what we believe in. We had a couple different title ideas but “Core” seemed to best sum up what the album is all about.
Do give us a hint about each track...
J: “I Regret”: We are our own worst enemies…
“Not My Way”: Stick to your guns when it seems like everything is falling apart…
“Hear Me Now”: Anti abuse…
“Was My Life”: Whether you’ve been there for a while or a short time... thank you.
“Damn Thing”: Helpless feeling after dealing with more than can be handled…
“So the Pain”: Selfishly not letting go of someone/something when their time has come…
“Nightmare”: How life can be if you let it get the best of you…
“Nothing Left”: When it’s truly over…
“So Much (So Little)”: Follow your heart even if it may end up broken…
“Black”: Paying tribute to one of our favorite bands…
Which are A.D.D.’s major pros in comparison to other modern hard rock female-fronted bands of this style?
J: I would say the biggest pro is that there is no gimmick with us. We are extremely straight forward from a musical and lyrical stand point.
The new album was mixed by Tadpole (Disturbed, 3 Doors Down, Staind) and mastered by Grammy Award winner Trevor Sadler. The production is powerful, tight & modern. Are you satisfied with the final outcome in general? Did you get what you had in mind?
J: We are very satisfied with how “Core” turned out. We knew going into the recording process that we wanted to use Wisco for recording, Tadpole for mixing and Trevor for mastering. We’ve worked with those guys more than once and we are all on the same page. We know what to expect from them and they know how to push us to get the best performance we can give.
You have shared the stage with several big names of the scene such as Korn, Chevelle, Halestorm, Sevendust, Alterbridge, and Buckcherry among others. Which are the things you learn from playing and hanging out with those bands?
J: I feel we’ve learned how to transition from being a local band to being a regional/national act. There is a different level of professionalism that comes along with performing shows with the bands that you mentioned. We didn’t want to seem like kids in a candy store, which unfortunately happened a few times, so we upped our game a bit.
Are there upcoming live shows? Would you like to play in Europe at some point?
J: We have shows booked throughout the US this summer. Nickelback, Three Days Grace, Black Stone Cherry, PM5K, Soil... are some of the bands that we will be opening for so we’re pretty excited. We would love to hit Europe sometime. The festivals there are huge and would be amazing to be a part of.
How would you describe your music style to someone that hasn't heard the band's sound before?
J: Heavy rock with lots of vocal harmonies.
What are you future plans with A.D.D.?
J: We will be touring all over to support “Core” and we will be doing another video for the yet to be selected second single.
Time for our “weird questions”!!! How did you come up with your name A.D.D. (Analog Digital Disorder) in the first place?
J: We mix our old school influences (analog) with a modern sound (digital) creating what is A.D.D. (disorder)...
Are there any funny incidents from the recording days that you'd like to share with us?
J: I was recording a vocal harmony for “Not My Way”, when Wisco stopped me to ask what was up with my nasally, Jewish sounding “ahhhh”. I couldn’t hear it when I was singing but when he played it back it was hilarious. I started making fun of myself to the point I had everyone in tears laughing. It took a while to finish those vocals (lol)…
Best 3 female-fronted (hard) rock albums of all time?
J: I’m going to switch this one up a bit and list my 3 favorite female singers... other than Margie (lol). Ann Wilson, Tori Amos and Lzzy Hale…
Which is the record you wish you had written and why?
J: “Appetite for Destruction”. There isn’t a bad track on the whole album. It was a hard rock game changer and arguably the strongest debut album ever released.
What do you think about this “Views, tweets & Likes” mania of our time?
J: I can’t comment on tweets because I’m not on Twitter but I can say that views and likes don’t translate in to sales or people showing up to shows. Dave and I joke all the time that in order to get a large amount of likes for a show posting we need to have a picture of what we made on the grill the day before (lol)…
Is the “free downloading issue” the main reason why the music industry has taken the downhill or there are others, more important reasons for that?
J: It’s a huge part. “Free is for me” is apparently how people like to get their music these days. It’s a double edged sword because it’s getting our music heard but it doesn’t pay the bills and forces artists to come up with other ways to generate income.
Best pick-up line that has worked for you several times in the past?
J: I never really had much game when it came to pick-up lines, but I always joked that I’d like to try “Can I borrow a couple bucks to buy you a drink?”…
What’s the worst thing you can say right after sex?
J: ZZZZZZZZZ!!!
If you could only ever sleep with one Rock Star, who would you choose?
J: Tori Amos, but only so she could sing me to sleep every night with her amazing voice…
Which of the Seven Deadly Sins do you reckon is the one, that’s more likely to send you straight to Hell, in the afterlife?
J: Gluttony…
Were you obliged to give just one album to extraterrestrials that would represent the whole human music, which album would it be and from which band/artist?
J: Our album “Core” of course…
Imagine that your girlfriend/wife is selling your whole album-collection just to buy an expensive ring for herself. How would you react?
J: I would probably flip out but then realize that she deserves it for all of the support she has given and crap that she has put up with for so many years.
Thx for talking to Grande Rock Jeremy. Wish you & your band the best for the future... take care!
J: Thanks!!