By: Brett Hoag
Photography: Adamantis
Hail Metal Heads! I am sitting here at the Garden Amp in Garden Grove, CA, with a band from Boston that just lit up LA Gates of Metal Festival III with a superb set of thundering riffs, intricate solos and soaring vocals that have come to be the epitome of American Power Metal. Say hello to Adamantis!
Hey, thank you for sitting down with me. Who's who and how long have you guys been together? Who are you?
My name is Jeff Stark. I am the singer of Adamantis.
Evgeny Gromovoy, I'm the drummer. You're a beast, dude. Thank you.
Javier Estrada, I am a guitar player
I'm Alex Scofield on base
Vance Simmons on guitar
Okay, the joke is, How many guitar players does it take to change a light bulb? One to change the light bulb and nine to stand around and say how much better they can do it. LOL Who's changing the bulb and who is standing around saying they could do it better?
Ja- We haven't changed the light bulb in years. V-Light bulbs last longer than bass strings. They can stay up there. It's no problem. LOL
You guys sound pretty international. The band is billed from Boston. How did you all get together? (turning to Evgeny) Where are you from, Sir?
Well, that's a long story. I was born in Moscow, Russia. I moved to Spain when I was eight and yeah, I eventually grew up in Europe.
Javier, you are from Spain?
Yes. We met (indicates Evegeny) at a Spanish gathering in Boston.
Where are you guys from?
A- Vance and I are from Rhode Island. We're the new guys in the band. We just joined for this most recent section of shows. Wait. How long have you been in? Because you guys are hella tight. About a year? Yeah, a year or so. That makes more sense. I thought you were going to say two days. LOL
You're the original guy from Boston, then?
Je-No. Evgeny and Javier are the original guys. I joined in 2022. I lived in a town outside of Boston at the time called Worcester.
How much music do you guys have out?
A- I put some extra CDs out by the merch booth and I market myself as "Alex, Bass Sl*t," and I play for as many bands as will take me. LOL
E- With this line-up, we are working on some new music. The band has three records out. Two EPS and one album.
And you're signed with a label?
E - Yes.
Who with?
Cruz del Sur Music out of Rome, Italy.
Are they good to you?
Yeah, man. They are great. They represent some of the best acts in the Metal community, like Smoulder and While Heaven Wept. Enrico (the head honcho) speaks Italian and Spanish because he grew up in Argentina. It's the name of the label, Cruz del Sur. It's the cross you see in the Southern sky. He treats us like Kings.
How many languages do you speak?
E- Only three. No one likes a show-off, Sir. LOL
Who's the newest member?
V & A - We are. We joined about a year, maybe a year and a half ago.
How did that come about? Did you answer an ad posted on a college board like Brian May?
V- I actually go to an obscene amount of local shows and it was through a mutual friend. E - Yeah, we had a guy dropping us off and we were looking for a guitarist and bassist for some shows and he said, "Vance is your man." So, I asked Vance if he would like to play with us and he said, "Eff Yes! I was just at one of your shows and it was great!" "Oh, well, in that case, you're in. By the way, do you play guitar? Do you know a bassist?" LOL
You said you were working on a new album; what's the writing process?
Je- We are really a collaboration outfit. Usually, Javier and Evgeny work on a song for a bit and then bring it to the rest of the band. Then we keep jamming on it, over and over and over again, until we massage out all the parts. It's cool that we do it as a group. In this age, everyone sits at home and emails their parts in. It's just not the same as getting five dudes in the same room and playing it until it sounds right.
Who's got the Ego? Are we able to kill our Egos?
All - We all have an ego, LOL
You know what I mean, though. You get five musicians in a room writing and someone is like no, I want this in there and someone else is like, no, not that this piece I came up with fits better...
E- That would be Javier. LOL No, he's just a perfectionist. You get two people doing the same thing and one will be better. So, that's the approach. You compose something and bring it to the guy in the band who can do it best. It's like, guys, "Put this together." And the music gets constructed.
Jeff, do you play any instruments as well as sing?
No. Just vocals. V- He plays guitar and brought a song to the new album. Je- Thank you. LOL. We all contribute.
Were any songs you played in your set today new from you five?
Je- Yes, the first song we played will be on the new album.
I loved the energy you guys had on stage. You can see the crowd, I can see the crowd (Pathetic Los Angeles!) and you guys were like, we are pumping up this crowd.
Je- Well, we play the same whether it's a crowd of 200,000 or 20.
Yeah, that's what I was getting at. That is so professional of you and something to admire. I am a fan first and it's professionalism, it's engaging the crowd. Is the band having fun?
Je- We were having so much fun up there because of this festival. They are treating us like kings. It's fantastic.
How did you get this gig?
Je- Paul called Evgeny.
Oh, that's right. He told me you put on a similar festival in Boston, correct?
E- Yes, the Stormbringer festival.
How did that work out for you?
It was great. I brought all the bands I like and all the bands I want to be friends with. LOL This year, we had Visigoth, Destructor, Traveler, Solicitor and others. These great bands are up-and-coming strong in the new wave of traditional heavy metal that is sweeping across the United States and Canada right now. And it's named after a sword. Who wouldn't want to play a festival named after a sword? LOL
So, on top of everything else, you're telling me you're an Elric fan?
Oh, yeah!
Has anyone else in the band read the books?
*crickets*
Just Evgeny? I am sad now. LOL
E - I read a lot of that stuff and write lyrics in that vein. But these guys are gamers. Je- I play World of Warcraft.
You said you played World of Warcraft? It better not be Alliance!
Je - Oh, hell no. For the Horde! Are you currently playing? On and off, I'm pretty busy now.
Vance, what do you play?
I'm pretty into Diablo.
And you, Sir?
A- I like strategy games, so I play games like Starcraft and Total War or Civilization. But Civ takes about 12 hours to play, so I can't do it until we finish the album. LOL
What do you play?
Ja- I play guitar, LOL
Right, the perfectionist, LOL What kind of guitar were you playing today? I've never seen one like that before.
I had my Strandberg today. I bought it mainly for traveling. It's probably not considered a traditional heavy metal guitar. Who cares? It looks cool AF! Thank you, it's easy to travel with and it sounds great.
Javier, you grew up in Madrid. Did you start on a classical Spanish guitar learning flamenco or jazz?
No, actually, I was a bass player for a long time and then when I moved to the US, I decided to switch to guitar. It was so fun as it was something different.
When is the new album out?
We will have to get back to you on that. LOL
Anything else you would like to say?
Ja- Thank you for coming to La Gates of Metal Festival III today!
A- Come out to Hell's Heroes Fest for more heavy metal!
All - Yeah!!
Thank you so much for your time today, gentlemen. I really appreciate it.
Thank you!
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LOL that was funny and interesting! Thank you!