METAL CHURCH

 

History 

1979:

- At age 14, Adam formed a cover band, Tyrant, with singer Geoff Tate who later formed Queensryche.

1980:

- Adam met Edward Van Halen in a hotel in Tacoma Washington. He asked Eddie to sign his guitar and wound up getting a three hour guitar lesson. Those three hours changed his life forever. Adam later in the year joined a local Seattle band, TKO.

1981:

- TKO few to Honolulu, Hawaii to work with record producer Rick Keefer. Ten songs were recorded for an album titled “In Your Face.”

- At age 16, Adam was asked to audition for Kiss. He flew to Los Angeles and played three songs with Kiss.

1982:

- Adam moved to Hollywood and lived with a guy named Jeff Isabelle who called himself “Izzy.” (A few years later, Izzy started Guns ‘N’ Roses.) The apartment was adjacent to a house rented by the rock band Black ‘N’ Blue. Adam quickly became friends with their guitarist, Tommy Thayer, who suggested to Adam that he should just do his own project and call it Adam Bomb. (In 2003, Tommy took over the lead guitarist slot in Kiss.)

1983:

- Adam recorded three songs with Rick Keefer and a drum machine. Upon returning to Los Angeles, Adam got a contract to shoot the video for “Shape of the World.”

- TKO reformed (briefly) in San Francisco and played the Troubadour in Hollywood.

- Adam filled in for two Steeler gigs, replacing guitarist Yngwie Malsteem.

- Adam attended a Michael Schenker concert at a club in San Francisco where they debuted the video (Shape of the World). In the audience was Aerosmith manager, David Krebs.

1984:

- Adam flew over to Hawaii to record more songs with Rick Keefer for a full album. The producer got drummer Chuck Ruff (Montrose) and bassist Cliff Williams (AC/DC) to play on the album.

- Adam signed a long term management deal with Leber Krebs and moved to New York. He put together a band with former Billy Idol drummer Gregg Gerson, Billy Idol/Riot bassist Phil Feit, and Aerosmith guitarist Jimmy Crespo.

- Adam’s first album, “Fatal Attraction”, came out in Japan on JVC Victor. Geffen records signed Adam Bomb to a record deal, and then the band moved to Los Angeles.

1985:

- The Adam Bomb band rehearsed in LA and continued to play there, opening for bands like Armored Saint and Metallica as they toured the southwest.

1986:

- The band shot a video for “I Want My Heavy Metal” in Louisiana with ex-Rick Derringer guitarist, turned video director, Danny Johnston. Adam, with Phil Feit and a new drummer – Sandy Slavin, then traveled to England to play a show at the London Marquee.

- Adam spoke with record producer Martin Rushnet who recommended his assistants Phillip Tennant and Neil O’Connor to produce the Adam Bomb record, “Pure S.E.X.”

-The band set off to England to record in a farmhouse studio north of London. The band spent six weeks in England recording and did another show at the Marquee. The reggae band Steel Pulse, also recording in the studio, had Adam play a guitar solo on a track called “Hijacking.”

- Adam returned to New York and did a show at L’Amours, Cat Club, Limelight, Danceteria, and other NYC clubs.

1987:

- Recruited Billy Squier drummer, Bobby Chouinard, and they played gigs around the city and a few one-off gigs in Toronto. They toured in France.

- Adam recorded in Vancouver, Canada, and played two guitar solos on the Black ‘N’ Blue album, “Without Love”, produced by Bruce Fairburn with recording engineer Bob Rock. (”Without Love” was the CD that inspired Jon Bon Jovi to work with Fairburn and Rock on their career-making record, “Slippery When Wet.”)

- The band toured Europe and supported The Lords Of The New Church in America. Adam was hired to do a photo shoot for English rock photographer, Mick Rock, for a photo article in Playgirl Magazine titled, “The Bad Boys Of Rock.”

1988:

- On New Year’s Eve in New York City, Adam joined Chuck Berry on-stage, playing Chuck Berry’s guitar while Berry sang “Little Queenie.” Guitar World magazine did an article about the show.

- Adam Bomb went onto a three week tour of England, borrowing the rhythm section from an English band called The Last Of The Teenage Idols. After the tour, Adam stayed in London for two months.

- Adam spent ten weeks in Stockholm. He was playing every night at a bar called Pipeline, with New York Dolls guitarist Johnny Thunders. Returning to New York, again, Adam did five shows at clubs in Manhattan. The band recorded at the show at the Ritz for a live album and video. Adam opened for Thunders at the Limelight and did a club tour of Texas using local musicians. He returned to Paris and did more concerts across France.

1989:

- Adam started writing songs and making demos with Billy Idol guitarist, Steve Stevens. Adam went on tour in France, Belgium, Denmark, and Holland. Adam made a video for Pure S.E.X. with director Hart Perry.

1990:

- Adam recorded with producer Jack Douglas at the Record Plant, where Jack had recorded Aerosmith and John Lennon. Along with drummer Bobby Chouinard and guitarist Steve Stevens, they rearranged the demos and started what would become the album “New York Times.”

- Jack wanted to make a very broad production, so he brought in Nicky Hopkins and Mick Taylor (who played with The Rolling Stones), and Flo & Eddie, who were backup singers for Marc Bolan. Adam had Steve Stevens play on six of the tracks. Bobby brought in Billy Squier keyboardist Alan St. Jon and bassist T.M. Stevens. Twelve songs were completed but they were yet to be mixed.

- Adam’s second album, Pure S.E.X., was finally released by Musidisc in France and FM Revolver (BMG) in the U.K. and Europe. Adam went to London, Munich, and Paris in March for a three week tour. When he turned to New York, Jack Douglas had only mixed three songs, and then the studio went bankrupt and all the studio equipment had been repossessed by their creditors. The New York Times master tapes were also missing.

- Adam wound up writing and recording six new songs with producer Rick Keefer before supporting The Dogs D’Amour on their European tour.

1991:

- In April, Adam went back to Hawaii to record another seven songs. Adam got a call about the death of his friend, Johnny Thunders. Adam decided to rewrite and record a song he’d demoed years earlier, called “Johnny In The Sky.”

- Dogs D’Amour bassist Steve James contacted Adam about doing a summer U.K. tour. The two had written songs together and decided to form a band called The Last Bandits. It was rock with loud acoustic guitars. The band did around 40 dates across the U.K., ending with a sold-out date at the London Marquee.

1992:

- Adam recorded three more songs with Steve James in Hawaii. Adam escaped death in a car accident midway through the recording session. Driving alone, the rented Mustang convertible flipped into a ravine and, fortunately, Adam walked away without a scratch. Manager David Krebs has started a Sony distributed record label called Rockworld.

- Adam was briefly being courted by Little Steven (Steve Van Zandt) to be just a lead singer in a band that Little Steven wanted to form. Little Steven got a hold of a cassette copy of Adam’s lost New York Times recording sessions. He thought Adam had the “ultimate rock ‘n’ roll voice.” Adam was given a demo tape of songs Steven had written. Adam sang on Van Zandt’s demos, although the music was a bit too ‘New Jersey’ for Adam to get into.

- Adam did photo shoots with Mick Rock again, for Grave New World, and made videos for “Magenta Sky” and the Thunders tribute song, “Johnny In The Sky.” To add to the video, Adam got home movies of Johnny Thunders, from Johnny’s sister, and footage from a filmmaker who did a movie with Johnny in France.

1993:

- Grave New World was released on Sony Rockworld in America.

- Adam spent a lot of time hanging out in New York clubs and a place called the Loft. The Loft was an empty ground floor, one-room warehouse in Soho, turned rehearsal studio that was home to about five people. Everyone would go there at 4:00 AM and there would be these jam sessions that lasted until noon the next day.

- One night, Adam was playing at The Loft when Axl Rose walked in about half-way through a song and just started to sing with Adam. Axl told Adam that he and Izzy saw him play at the TKO gig in ‘83 at the Troubadour in Hollywood. Axl recalled the way Adam moved on stage and remembered that they were going to ask Adam to join the band they were starting but thought Adam would have turned them down, so they never asked.

- Another night, on the ninth anniversary of John Bonham’s death, Adam got a call to come down to The Loft and play Led Zeppelin songs with John Bonham’s son, Jason Bonham.

1994:

- Adam returned to Europe for more dates every three to four months. At Joey Ramone’s birthday bash at the Ritz in New York, Adam played guitar for a short set with Lemmy (Motorhead). Adam also did a two-show Hendrix tribute in New York as a power trio, with Jimi Hendrix bass player Noel Redding, and drummer Bobby Choiunard. Adam Bomb supported Yngwie Malsteem at the Ritz but played very little in New York after that.

1995:

- Adam traveled to England and took a three day boat ride and arrived in Bilboa, Spain, with only a little more than $100 in his pocket, his guitars, a Marshall head, and a press kit. Adam caught a bus from Bilboa to Madrid and wound up jamming and getting a gig that night. Madrid was an inspiration for Adam. He kept booking more shows and returned to Spain, spending over a year there, playing over one-hundred concerts. His time there was such a whirlwind that Adam wrote a 300 page book about his experiences there, titled “The Rain In Spain Falls Mainly On My Brain.” He has never tried to get it published.

- He returned to Hawaii for a week to record two songs he had written over in Spain, “Saluda A Lola” and “Kick It Out.” He pressed up copies of the two songs for radio stations and returned to Spain to start three months of gigs. Saluda A Lola was getting radio play in Spain even though it wasn’t available for sale.

1996:

- The New York Times tapes had been recovered, for a $5,000 ransom. Adam collected the tapes from a desolate warehouse in Brooklyn (in a scene that could’ve been in Goodfellas!). Adam, Jack Douglas, and engineer Jay Messina went into Manhattan Center Studios and mixed six songs.

- Adam contacted drummer Bobby Chouinard, who just finished a stint with Peter Wolf and was now looking for a project. They recruited former Billy Squier/Billy Idol bassist Kenny Aaronson, and former Billy Squier keyboardist Alan St. Jon. The band and Jack Douglas went into a private warehouse recording studio that was called “It Is What It Is” (IIWII) and recorded five new songs.

1997:

- The band rehearsed and played a flew club dates in New York while finishing and mixing. Krebs had a European deal and tour in the planning stages.

- When the New York Times album was finished, Adam spoke with Bobby Chouinard on the phone for an hour the night before the mastering. Both of them couldn’t believe after all these years the album was finally going to be finished. Bobby was ecstatic over how all the tracks came out in recording, and couldn’t wait to hear the finished versions. They recalled some of the crazy times in the studio and Bobby wanted Adam to come over the day after it was finished to play it for him.

- Adam went into Masterdisk and eight hours later walked away with a CD of an album he started working on so many years. The morning after mastering, Adam was startled by a phone call of devastating news. Bobby Chouinard had died.

1998:

- After Bobby had died, Adam got together with Alan St. Jon and Kenny Aaronson a few times after the funeral but they didn’t want to continue the project without Bobby. Adam survived by doing odd jobs for his manager. After wrecking Krebs’ Mercedes as an innocent bystander in a police chase carjacking incident, Adam was on thin ice.

- Adam then got an offer to open for Chumbawumba in Seattle at the Paramount Theater and at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, which once hosted Jimi Hendrix on the Monkees tour. Adam opened for a Japanese metal band called The Alfee. 10,000 Japanese rock fans flew in for the event.

1999:

- Adam decided to go with a new direction by calling his new band Get Animal. He recorded a full, twelve-song album in two days in the studio in New York and sent the tapes off to Rick Keefer to be mixed. Adam earned the nickname Pink Gibson (after his bloody pink Les Paul guitar). Get Animal toured, supporting WASP, for thirty dates across Europe including a few big festivals.

- Get Animal went back to Spain at the end of the year to open for Metal Church. The most eventful thing that happened on that tour was that a dog on the street attacked Adam’s pink guitar, dragged it out of the equipment van, and broke it into two pieces.

- At the year’s end, the band got together in New York to record Get Animal 2. It was done in three days instead of two, and this time Adam brought the tapes to Hawaii. This album had a bigger guitar sound and the songs had evolved from the debut Get Animal album.

2000:

- Adam’s drinking buddy, Verne Troyer – better known as “Mini Me” of Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me – agreed to pose for the cover on Get Animal 2. The band toured Spain, supporting Ronnie James Dio. After a Barcelona show, Adam went to a free outdoor concert. with Hanoi Rocks singer, Michael Monroe, was the headliner. Michael was surprised to see Adam in Spain and invited him back to the hotel. A Spanish journalist had Adam interview Michael for a magazine. During the interview, Adam and Michael talked about their old friends in New York.

A Finnish promoter offered Adam a few dates in Finland that following week. Adam did a show in Turku, Finland and met up with Michael Monroe. Michael played harmonica with Adam onstage. A few days later, Adam did an acoustic set opening for Michael Monroe at a small club in the middle of nowhere. After the show, Adam and Michael went to a small pub that opened just for them, and started talking about music. The two started playing guitars and wrote a song called “If This Is Love, I Want My Money Back.”

They continued writing and making demos, all while sitting in at each other’s gigs. Adam and Michael stayed in hotels all over Finland, writing and recording during every spare moment. At a rock festival thirty miles from the Russian border, Michael told Adam that there was going to be some concerts in Germany supporting Iggy Pop. Back in New York, David Krebs got very excited at the prospect of Adam and Michael working together. He started talking with Jude Wilder, who was Michael’s wife and manager. Jude wanted Krebs to help out, as she was becoming less interested in management.

Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones attended a one-off Get Animal show at the London Borderline and was so impressed with Adam’s guitar playing that he invited Adam to record in his studio the following weekend.

Adam traveled to Germany to do press for Get Animal and meet Michael in Berlin. Adam got on stage for the last song, a version of the MC5 song “Looking At You.” Adam thought it was very rock ‘n’ roll to travel halfway across the globe to play one song with just two chords and burn his guitar.

Get Animal supported Michael Monroe on a Spanish tour, and after the tour it was worked out for Adam to join Michael’s band for an American tour. Adam did his first official gig as Michael’s guitarist in a club called “Bluestock” in Turku. Adam and Michael continued to write songs and make demos. There was a lot of pressure in the air between David Krebs and Jude Wilder and the American tour was postponed for a second time. Adam returned to New York and Krebs sent him back to Finland to play a New Year’s Eve show. The tour had been rescheduled to February.

2001:

- Adam performed as Michael Monroe’s guitarist, New Year’s Eve at a show in Turku. Adam returned to New York to find that David Krebs had gotten into a disagreement with Jude Wilder and dropped the project. Michael Monroe canceled his February US tour for the third and final time. Adam went to Helsinki for a final show as Tavastia. With a little help from some friends, Adam raised enough money to record some of the music he had worked on with Michael. With Joan Jett/Billy Idol drummer Tommy Price, they recorded basic tracks for thirteen songs in New York, then went to the west coast for a few quick club shows and off to Hawaii for four weeks to finish the overdubs and mix.

Adam headlined a rock festival in Hawaii. After Adam finished his recording, he got into a bitter feud with Michael. Adam didn’t feel right about releasing his own version of the album he wanted to make with Michael. Things came to head when tragedy struck. Michael’s wife was found dead. All of a sudden, the canceled tours, the songs they wrote, and the disagreements all seemed very unimportant. Adam promised Michael that he would not release any of the material they wrote together until Michael’s album was released.

Michael started working with his old Hanoi Rocks guitarist, Andy McCoy. Adam worked on getting Fatal Attraction re-released through an independent metal label. Adam also set up New York Times to be released.

In September, Adam returned to Spain briefly to visit friends, and went to Finland to see Michael. Adam flew to Helsinki on September 11th. After arriving in Turku, a two hour bus-ride and checking into a hotel, Adam called Michael. He told Adam about the terrorist attacks in New York. After Adam turned on the television and called his family, he went to visit Michael. While the rest of the world started war, they made peace.

The John Paul Jones Thunderthief CD was released in Japan in November. John Paul Jones had built a song called “Angry Angry” around Adam’s guitar solo. Along with Robert Fripp, Adam Bomb is the only other special guest. Adam considered it quite an honor to play guitar on a member of Led Zeppelin’s solo album.

2002:

- The Thunderthief CD was released worldwide in February. Adam performed as Michael’s guitarist in Helsinki for two shows. They also recorded the album “Whatcha Want” and four other songs that wound up on the Hanoi Rocks album.

- In August, Adam recorded Third World Roar, a concept album about 9/11, terrorism, and the climate in which we live in. The album was completed on September 11, 2002.

2003:

- After forming a new live band with a New York drummer & a bass player that was the brother-in-law of the guy that wrote “I Love Rock And Roll” Adam Bomb toured England in April with Swedish Rock Band The Diamond Dogs, and also supported The Damned after a playing 5 warm up shows in New York City clubs.

- The band was set to return to the UK for September, this time for 30 shows. Two weeks prior to the tour the drummer quit to deal with personal issues & the bass player decided he didn’t love rock ‘n roll and decided to quit music altogether.

- Adam contacted two friends from Spain, drummer Kiki Tornado, & bassist Gorka Alegre who quickly agreed to fill in and tour the UK. Adam Bomb played 30 shows in 30 days on The September Smash And Burn Spectacular Tour.

2004:

- After building a reputation in England for over the top live shows, Adam followed up in the UK by booking a 54 show tour which took the act to new areas including Scotland. The Third World Roar 2004 UK tour ran from January to March. Adam appeared on the HTV Wales Television show “The Edge” opening the show in studio with a firework guitar solo. At three of the shows, Adam invited special guest British Wheel Clamp Vigilante “Angle Grinder Man” to join him on stage during “I Want My Heavy Metal” and attack Adam’s Pink Gibson with an angle grinder. Pink survived.

- The band visited the Marshall factory in Milton Keynes where Adam met Jim Marshall. According to Adam it was like meeting the Pope. The Marshall people also repaired Adam’s 2 Marshall 50 watt heads that he’s used exclusively since he started playing guitar.

- Immediately following the UK tour, Adam flew to Spain to play another 10 shows. During the third day in Spain, a terrorist attack occurred. After the shows in the north, Adam chose to cancel 2 shows in Madrid and return to New York.

- In September 2004, Adam Bomb started the Get Animal 2004 Tour. The tour was 35 consecutive shows in the UK, with 4 headline shows in Spain, then another 20 shows in the UK, with short Italian tour November 11th, then another 5 shows in Spain, and a 20 date solo acoustic tour across the UK through December.

- In Italy, Adam played an acoustic show at Cafe Blue in Venice, Italy, a rare feat for any artist to get a show in the center of Venice due to the canals. Then Adam did 5 electric shows.

2005:

- Together with the Italian rhythm section, Adam Bomb did a 12 date UK tour before heading out on UK/European tour supporting Hanoi Rocks.The band tore through Europe & was unstoppable. Even the van breaking down on the Autobahn in Germany with 226 kilometers and three hours until showtime, didn’t stop them from missing a show. The band rocked Holland, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland & Germany, gaining a continent of new fans. – Adam Bomb recorded a few new tracks for a studio record with Rick Keefer in Hawaii during March & April. A live album called Welcome To My Disaster that was recorded at Nottingham Rock City was available on tour in limited edition. – Adam Bomb returned to England in May/June 2005 for another UK blitz. In true Spinal Tap fashion, The Welcome To My Disaster Tour had lived up to it’s name for the most part. During summer there were a few USA club dates, & Adam Bomb rocked UK and Europe non-stop from October 2005 on the Shit Hot Winter UK Tour continuing on playing live throughout 2006.

2006:

- After a January show near Zurich, Switzerland, Adam was invited by a promoter to open for Guns ‘n Roses drummer Steven Adler in Germany. After the show Adam started talking with Steven Adler which ultimately led to Steven firing his band & road manager and hiring Adam to road manager & be the support act for his tour of the UK, Italy, and Spain. The bass player hired for Steven’s Italian shows was a young bass player named Paul Del Bello. – During the Adler UK tour, Adam struggled to keep his own band together while, organizing Steven’s musicians & travel arrangements. It eventually became too much to take on & Adam left the tour after the final UK show, and went back to his own UK tour which ended in March. – To fulfill a previously booked European Tour, Adam was offered the services of some Italian musicians to perform on small tour of Europe and the support act in Italy was fronted by Paul Del Bello. Shortly thereafter Paul joined up with Adam Bomb as a permanent band member.

2007/2008/2009:

- The Dangerous When Lit Tour turned to be 102 shows in just as many days. Adam Bomb performed over 200 concerts in 2007, over 250 in 2008, has performed at festivals in Europe opening for Twisted Sister & Hanoi Rocks and has shot 2 videos, one for Rock Like Fuck in Glasgow, and Je T’aime Bebe in Paris. – Adam Bomb continues to tour breaking new ground in eastern European countries and music venues all over Europe. Adam Bomb is the hardest working guitarist in rock today and he’ll continue on into the next decade with a show that keeps rocking harder than ever.

Albums 

• Fatal Attraction (1984)
• Pure S.E.X. (1989)
• Grave new world (1993)
• Get Animal 1 (1999)
• GET Animal 2 (2000)
• New York Times (2001)
• Thrid world roar (2003)
• Acoustica (2004)
• Rock like fuck (2005)