Eve to Adam Waking Up the Rock World

If you’ve been waiting to wake up from your Top 40 coma induced by mediocre singles and listless live performances, look no further. Eve to Adam, a New York-based rock quartet full of raw and spirited sound is primed to get your fists pumping. Again.

“I’m glad to see people still get rock and roll, because I was worried,” said Taki Sassaris, Eve to Adam’s lead singer. “They just needed somebody to come along and wake them up and that’s what we’re doing. There’s a primalness to what we do, it’s very stripped down and there’s a sexiness and a combativeness, and people react to that.”

Since the June release of their album “Queens to Eden” with indie label KDS, they’ve already outranked some major label bands like Incubus and My Chemical Romance on radio play with their evocative single “151”.

“I have a great sense of pride in that because it’s kind of a big middle finger to everybody,” Sassaris said of their recent placement on various national active rock charts.

“We set out to make an album like the bands we grew up with in the late ’80s and early ’90s,” Sassaris continued. “Not like the bands today that can fake it. There wasn’t a question back then, you knew they were rock stars. Today, you don’t know if they’re an accountant or a lead singer, it’s weird. Our passion is for live rock and roll and we want to bring that back to the standard it belongs.”

Their drive for a rock and roll restoration is hard to ignore on and off the stage.

“We can play with nothing. Certain bands need a light show, but we make it happen with energy and adrenaline,” Sassaris said. “That’s our bare bones approach people are applauding, because they’re tired of feeling cheated.”

Sassaris, Eve to Adam’s chief song writer speaks from experience, launching the band in 1997 with his younger brother and drummer Alex after attending the University of Miami’s School of Music. After walking away from a less than appealing record deal that included plans of molding them into pop-rock poster boys singing someone else’s songs, they decided to move on with their own style of music.

“I met producer Desmond Child while I was in college and we got our first development deal with his production company…but you know we started out at the top and worked our way to the bottom, as they say,” Sassaris said with a chuckle, referring to the frustrations endured at the beginning of their career.

After parting ways with Child, the Sassaris brothers met guitarist Gaurav Bali and Eve to Adam became official in 1999, recording two albums under label Mikendra. Continual setbacks, however, ensured anything but a smooth road, and like every rock band they paid their dues. But now with independent Florida-based label KDS and bassist Riv, this foursome has found their niche and is busy melting faces every night of the week.

So far they’ve toured 48 out of the 50 states, and they’re not about to slow down. For them, performing live is more than just part of their job, it is their job.

“We’re a rock and roll band, and rock and roll bands are built to tour,” Sassaris said. “Quite frankly, in today’s atmosphere if you can’t entertain thousands of people, you’re not going to make a living anymore. My record label wants to make a video and I’m like, ‘Why? Why should we spend $30-40,000 on something that’s gonna end up in the broom closet at MTV?’ ”

Entertaining thousands with their fiery energy is Eve to Adam’s magnum opus. Their live show has people talking, and that’s the best form of marketing on the planet. Who cares if they’re not on MTV?

“We’ve had so many jump on the rollercoaster with us,” Sassaris said. “We call them multiple offenders — there’s a nation of ’em and it’s building very quickly.”

Eve to Adam rolled out this year with around 7,500 friends on their official MySpace page, but less than six months later the number has jumped to more than 24,000. Their fan base is not just building quickly, it’s ablaze.

And not just MySpacers are noticing. Earlier this year, Eve to Adam was given the opportunity to open for “American Idol’s” Chris Daughtry. Although it wasn’t an obvious fit, Sassaris and the guys kept an open mind.

“For us, it was a very interesting opportunity because it was one of great exposure that could help launch our record. But it was definitely a bit of an artistic quandary,” Sassaris said. “To some extent, that entire thing goes completely against everything we stand for, but having spent seven years trying to make it, we decided to go along with the endeavor and see what happens.”

Reality TV rocker is definitely not something you’ll find on Eve to Adam’s resume. Regardless, giving thousands of fresh faces a taste of something raw and unparalled was more than worth it for them.

“We weathered the storm and once we made it through the first maybe 15 shows, we started breaking the ice with the crowd,” Sassaris said. “They started to warm up to what we were doing and I think the tide started to turn a bit. People were like, ‘Wow, I came here for Chris Daughtry and leave an Eve to Adam fan.’ ”

From day one, they’ve always known what they’re really after.

“We want to make sure the hierarchy, the tradition and the beauty of rock and roll is never forgotten and never gets mistaken with the parodies and the falsehoods that are parading around as rock and roll today,” Sassaris said. “I’m not gonna name names, I don’t need to. Everybody knows who they are and even those bands know who they are.”

Influenced by early Soundgarden, Guns N’ Roses, Stone Temple Pilots and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, these guys are not about to lower their standards for themselves or anyone else.

“We fight for ourselves and for a lot of different causes we believe in,” Sassaris said. “It all stems around music and truth and heart, and it’s about being an underdog and challenging the empire. The empire is coming down and we want to be a catalyst in why it needs to be exposed. There is great music out there, it’s just not being heard.”

Eve to Adam takes the label of underdog name to heart, gladly taking on the challenges armed with their cutting melodies and undeniable edge.

“There is a lack of artist development and an inability to get seen by record people who really couldn’t give a shit, because they’re looking for the quickest buck,” Sassaris said. “The final thing that moves this business is greed, and it kills real art.”

“There just aren’t many great bands out there anymore, because no one put the time in to develop them,” he continued. “I mean artists don’t just spring out of water overnight. There wouldn’t be a U2 today if Blackwell hadn’t given them three records to develop.”

But with a supportive label like KDS powering their message forward, Eve to Adam can do what their most ardent about.

“The only reason we still do this is because we love performing. That’s what we live for, what we need,” Sassaris said. “If we don’t have that we don’t feel well, I get sick in the head. I need that 45 minutes in front of a crowd to sweat my demons out. It’s not about fame or fortune, it’s about getting that fix and unfortunately nothing comes close to it.”

“We’re rock and roll junkies and we’re hooked on it,” he continued. “We can’t stop and now we’ve got other people hooked on it that don’t want us to stop. That’s what music’s always been to me and I’m proud to do it. If I can vent my demons and at the same time inspire someone to do something in their own life, that’s a beautiful exchange.”

For Sassaris and the rest of the band, living life stage to stage, dive bar to dive bar is all there is. And if the crowd gets off on that as much as they do, that’s even better.

“There’s no reason why you should even give a shit about us except maybe that you heard we destroyed Chris Daughtry.”

For more information on Eve to Adam, be sure to visit their official website — EvetoAdam.com