Scott Gould - Vocals / Guitar
Drew Reindollar - Guitar
Kenny Varner - Bass
Matthew Reindollar - Drums
A gathering storm looms on the horizon. It's something legions of passionate music lovers have longed to see reemerge: bands that meld melodic emotion and raw power with classic rock inspired licks. The masses have long awaited the return, the reclamation, and the resurgence of earnest rock music.
Madam Adam is here to deliver with Madam Adam, the band’s Roadrunner Records debut.
With a palindrome for a moniker, Madam Adam is a band for the people. If you're in love, in lust, broken-hearted, scraping by 9-to-5, this is your band.
"We spent a lot of time writing the songs on our album. There are a lot of emotions," explains frontman Scott Gould. "The songs have depth to them. The album is kind of a story of our progression through life so far. It's like a big journal. We just had to lay it down."
Equal parts driving and melodious, with refreshing catchiness and body moving rhythms, Madam Adam conjures forth a debut album thick with stadium-worthy anthems recalling the brightest spots of the Seattle grunge movement, the sexual bombast of '70s AM radio rock and the exuberance of four people who live, breathe and devour music.
Produced by Skidd Mills (Saving Abel, Sick Puppies, Skillet), Madam Adam's debut is rich with diverse dynamics, touching on significant moments in rock history without belonging to any one in particular. It's an album you can play at a party, but it's also a record suited for contemplative nighttime drives.
Think Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age with an extra coating of polish and a dash of indie rock nuance. There's something to love no matter what you're into; if you like music that comes from a place that’s real, then Madam Adam is for you.
Gould's voice is distinct—warm, inviting and smooth—a croon that will sit easily on rock radio, while cutting through the speakers with noticeable depth and power. Both he and guitarist Drew Reindollar know when to shred and when to hold back, with bassist Kenny Varner locking into the grooves laid down by drummer Matthew Reindollar, both adding some flash. These guys are great musicians, but they maintain a supreme focus on the song itself rather than showing off.
"Sex Ain't Love" is a fun, rocking song with a sense of humor. Matthew's drums were recorded and put through tape in an effort to recapture tones that have been lost on modern records. "Our approach to making this record was inspired by our love of Smashing Pumpkins and old Nirvana albums," says Gould. Tone plays a part in "Art of Lying" as well, particularly in the airy bridge. "Time Wounds All Heals" takes its name from something John Lennon said leaving a courthouse, which Gould picked up while watching the documentary "The U.S. vs. John Lennon." And what's a real rock record without a bombastic ballad? "San Francisco" makes good use of strings, the melody soaring to incredible heights.
It's hard to believe the guys in Madam Adam have played together for over a decade, considering their relative youth. But the fact is, they had a head start, assembling in middle school in South Carolina and managing to maintain the same lineup from the very beginning.
"We were pretty angry punk kids," Gould says. "But we started taking music theory on Saturday mornings. We could only pay the guy like $20 a session, and sometimes we didn't even pay him, but he kept teaching us. Our music progressed from three chord punk stuff to the more elaborate. We studied jazz theory. We found our own way to rock."
It certainly would have been easier for the band to catch a break had they formed in New York or Los Angeles, but their geographic isolation helped them to incubate a now finely tuned sound. "Charleston is really small and we didn’t have too many distractions,” points out Gould. “That helped us develop what we were doing at home, which really shows when we play elsewhere. We were big fish in a little pond, and we really grew into our talent in Charleston."
Flying the flag for melodic, inventive and emotion-stirring rock, Madam Adam benefit greatly from the musical closeness they've developed as players, perfectly in sync in the rehearsal space, in the studio and on the stage, where they are a formidable unit. "I've heard horror stories about people in bands getting upset when their idea isn't used, but when we write, we say what we feel," says Gould. "We all got tattoos of our old band name on our right arms, from when we were 16 and playing in a trailer. We're a tight knit group. We’re brothers."
