INTERVIEW: ADEMA IN CONVERSATION WITH TIM FLUCKEY

Interview by Cecilia Pattison-Levi

Tim Fluckey, the guitarist and singer for the gold-standard nu-metallers, ADEMA, caught up with No Barriers about their upcoming “first ever” tour of Australia with the guys from ILL NIÑO.

“Yeah. It will be our first ever visit to Australia,” said Tim Fluckey. “We had a tour that we were going to do in Australia maybe 23 years ago. Then, whatever happened back then… just something else came up that we had to do. I can’t even remember what it was, but we always thought, oh - we’ll just reschedule, or we’ll find a way to get back to Australia in the next couple of months, and it just never happened. The years rolled on…you know. So, we’ve always wanted to go and couldn’t be more excited about finally getting over there. We are looking forward to playing the classic ADEMA songs that our fans have never seen live”.

It is sure to be a great concert as fans will get two fantastic bands with ILL NIÑO and ADEMA pairing up for three select shows, starting in Sydney on 12 September, before heading off to Melbourne the next night and then up to Brisbane to play The Triffid on 14 September. “We had such a fun time together when we were playing in Mexico last year,” explained Tim Fluckey. “But it’s strange because our paths hadn’t crossed for such a long time. Everyone was touring but different places, different times...but now is our time to get together and come to Australia. It just happened to work this time. The band are really looking forward to it. The places we are playing sound awesome as well”.

There have been changes with ADEMA as Tim Fluckey explained with him falling into the role of lead singer: “I don't know if everybody knows, but everybody in the band is original members. I was always okay singing backup vocals. That was cool. I liked just being over in my guitar world, and I loved doing that and being able to jump around, move around and interact with the crowd in that way. I wasn’t sure I wanted to be the singer in ADEMA but it has worked out that way. It just came by necessity. One tour, our singer Mark, we couldn't find him for days and we had got behind with the tour. We missed a couple of shows and we were, like, ‘Are we gonna get sued?’ And the other guys were like, ‘So, can you, do it?’ and I said ‘Well, I'll try’. And that’s what happened…now I am the singer and we are about to finalise it with a new album”.

The exciting news for AEDMA fans is that a new album of music is on the way. “So, we really want it to be just an all-in ADEMA record where everybody goes: ‘Yep! That's ADEMA’,” stated Tim Fluckey. “We've strayed a little bit over the years with our sound, because we had different singers, but I think now that we're back together, recording together, it's gonna be back to those days of the real ADEMA sound. We're trying to finish up our new record right now. All the songs are written. We have recorded drums, bass and some guitars, and we just have to record a few more vocals and clean it up, and hopefully it will be ready when we get back from touring in Australia”.

Tim confirmed that the new music retains the classic ADEMA sound with contributions from all the original members. “We aren’t sure if we want to deliver the new songs live yet,” said Tim Fluckey. “We want to put out the best version first and then see. So, when fans come to the show, we will play them our older music with a few deep cuts like ‘Planets’. We will also bring some CDs like the live show only release EP ‘The Cerberus’ for fans”.

It is an exciting time for ADEMA with their first ever tour of Australia, new music and a band really hitting their sweet spot as they maintain the chemistry they have built over the last 25 years of playing together.

The new, and still untitled, ADEMA album will be released by the band's new label, Cleopatra Records later in 2025 – so watch out for it. There will be a vinyl version for fans.

The tour kicks off in September 2025 when ADEMA tours with ILL NIÑO. It’s going to be a lot of fun!

September 12 – Sydney – Liberty Hall
September 13 – Melbourne – Max Watt’s
September 14 – Brisbane – The Triffid