Interview with Rick Dejesus from Adelita's Way at Welcome To Rockville

I have listened to Adelita's Way since 2009 when their first album came out. I have now seen them four times since then, counting this weekends show. I had the opportunity to interview Rick Dejesus, their singer. I was the most thrilled about getting to talk to him about my favorite AW song, which I never thought I would get to do. I hope you enjoy reading this interview as much as I enjoyed giving it!

What can we expect with the new album?

RD - I don't want to use the phrase "chip on my shoulder", but I really came with the mentality of where I wanted to be as an artist and I want to be at the top. I want to be headlining all these festivals. I don't want to be on the main stage opening. I want to be the guy at the end. So I came in with the mentality of making this record of knowing what I'm capable of and what we're capable of and we really pushed ourselves to do something so special. That's what people can expect from the whole record. It's all of us, man, it's everything I have in me for rock music right now.

How will this album be different than the previous two?

RD- I like the previous two.

I love the previous two.

RD - You know what? We're Adelita's Way and we didn't change that. What we did was we made sure we made an album and that there were 13 songs that people could get lost inside of.

Thirteen?

RD - That's what I gave them. I delivered 13 tracks.

Usually albums now are too short. It drives me crazy.

RD - We made it a long experience. There is something for everyone on there. There's songs where we jam for seven minutes and we just fucking rock. Then there are songs when people are going to listen and they are going to be like "Oh my God. This is my song. This is the song he wrote for me. I'm sure."

Backtracking to Home School Valedictorian, Somebody Wishes They Were You, that is my song!

RD - Yeah, man!

That is my "I'm in my car, screaming my guts out, crying my eyes out song."

RD - I wrote that. Whenever I start complaining about the littlest things, I catch myself, and I remember that I am so blessed to even be in America. I'm so blessed to have the family I have. I try to go back to the roots. Somebody Wishes They Were You is a song that takes you back to the roots of the good in your life. Somewhere out there, there is someone who is really having a hard time and it's not us, you know?

How has the response been to your new single, Dog On A Leash?

RD - It's been good. I think people get shocked when they hear something new, but they don't know what to expect. They try to do too much digging and figure out if this is the whole tone of the new album. No! it's just one song!

People do that with Linkin Park and it drives me crazy. They are one of my favorites.

RD - It's just a song. We made a song. We released a song. There will be another one coming. And another one and thirteen more to follow. Do I think it's the best song on the record? No. I love our record. I do think that people feel like a dog on a leash. Everybody. Whether you're married, you're in a relationship long term: boyfriend or girlfriend, whether you have a job, you always have to ask somebody "Am I allowed to do this? Can I do this?" Everybody's a dog on a leash. It's you. It's me. It's every man that walks in. When people connect to the song, it's not a song that's like this pop song that you listen to one time and you're like "Oh, that's a pop song." No. You have to be deep with me. You have to listen to the lyrics. You have to understand what kind of guy or woman writes that.

Unless you're Top 40 and you don't write your own songs.

RD - You have the same chorus, you don't have verses or bridges. You can't even really sing it, honestly. If you're a pop person, you don't even really sing they just give it someone and say "This is it." That's bad.

I'm kind of hesitant to ask this next question...

RD - Don't Be.

How has the band adjusted to Derrick leaving?

RD - I LOVE him. I love the experience that he was on this journey with me. But the band is alright. I feel like we're better than ever. Music isn't what it once was. It's not the rewards it used to be. You don't sign million dollar bonuses. You've got to love the music. You've got to come out here and you've got to love the fans and love the music. That's the only reason you come out here. The glory is all but gone. For us, nothing is going to stop us continuing forward. If other people don't continue or however it goes down, I love music. I'm going to go until the day that I decide people are going to get the last Adelita's Way record.

NEVER!

RD - [Laughs]

Anything else you want to add?

RD - I just want to thank the fans and thank you, and thank every body, for supporting us: keeping rock alive. It's all about the community right now that is still here. The rest of them are running. People who said they love rock are now changing their radio stations to Alternative. People who used to love Rock on TV, now they aren't playing any rock on TV. We're the ones that are still here. Everyone else is bailing. Thank you to everyone who is still united with us.

Roll Tide!

RD - Roll Tide, baby!  [High Five] Just don't say that in front of our merch guy. He is a Vols fan.

Well not everyone is perfect. 

Welcome To Rockville Metropolitan Park Jacksonville, FL April 26th and 27th, 2014

Welcome To Rockville was the first music festival I covered in my career. I did everything on my own: applied for press passes, set up band interviews, planned my entire trip, on my own. 

My first band of the weekend was Digital Summer. I had wanted to see them for a very long time and I was fortunate to have an interview opportunity with them later in the day. The band following them was Rev Theory and I had an opportunity to interview their guitar player as well. 

The bands setlists are as follows:

Upon my interview with Adelita's Way, Their performance included several new songs from their upcoming album. 

Chiodos always delivers the best sets for their audience. Half of the people there had no idea who they were, but they still played the show like it was their last, as they do every show. They played

Right after Chiodos, I finally got to see Alter Bridge. They never came close enough for me to get to, but now I finally could. Myles Kennedy is a wonderful performer. They played almost all of my favorites too, which made my first AB experience wonderful. There were people flipping out when they played Blackbird. I was surprised at how many people had Blackbird tattoos because of that song.  

Chevelle is one of those bands that I enjoy, but has always been a little too "Art Rock" for me to understand. That does not mean I do not enjoy their live show, though. Their super fans were cracking me up the whole time too. They kept screaming the lyrics to certain songs. At the time of their set, I was honestly just ready for A Day To Remember, one of my favorite bands of all time.

A Day To Remember, as I said earlier, is one of my all time favorite bands. It was the first time I had seen them since their acclaimed album Common Courtesy was released and the band was on point. Not to mention, it was basically a hometown show for them. This was my favorite set of the weekend, not because I'm biased, but because I had just met Jeremy McKinnon earlier in the day and I was on cloud nine. The energy that this band brings to their crowds is unmatched by any band I have ever seen. My only question is what kind of monster puts We Came As Romans and A Day To Remember at the same time? Both are two of my favorites, but I had to choose. I had recently seen WCAR, so I went for ADTR. The choice was not easy. ADTR played a wonderful set.

I walked over to meet WCAR after the ADTR set and caught part of The Cult, but I do not think they are really worth reviewing since I did not particularly enjoy them.

The last band of the night was Avenged Sevenfold. I like A7X, but I was exhausted and I left after Bat Country, since the first time I saw them, they did not play it. The rest of their set included

And that concluded Day 1 of my first music festival coverage experience. 

Day 2 of Rockville was underway and I was fortunate to see Birmingham, AL favorite, Within Reason. It made me feel a sense of pride for my home state and I was glad to have that sense of normalcy so far away from home. Of course they rock, but I am biased. They played

Following them, I saw The Pretty Reckless, Sick Puppies, and Lacuna Coil. GIRL POWER!!! Their setlists are as follows

It is always an anticipated show when one of your favorite bands is about to release a new album. It is also exciting when you get to interview them as well. Theory of A Deadman always brings it live and their new album will be amazing. They played 

When I found out Staind was going to be at this festival, I was so excited. I could finally cross them off my bucket list. They do not tour as much anymore so I was happy to be one of the few to witness the performance. They played

On the way out of the festival, I saw Five Finger Death Punch. I know you are probably thinking, "Why did you leave before Rob Zombie and Korn?" Well, it was exam week at the University of Alabama and I had a final the following Monday on top of an almost 10 hour drive home. Luckily, I had the excitement of everything I had just accomplished to carry me home. Until next time, Jacksonville.