An Interview with Adam Chini
Adam Chini is a versatile artist hailing from Southern California. In this interview we talk about his wide range of influences, his music, the impact of his environment (on the music), and much more.

First of all, I’d like to thank you for taking your time to answer these questions. Could you introduce yourself? Maybe tell me a bit more about where you’re from and what got you into music?
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My name is Adam Chini and I reside in North County, San Diego. I’ve lived in Southern California all of my life, so I’ve been blessed to reside in such a great place on Earth. I’ve always grown up in a rural country setting, so I’ve been somewhat of a recluse in nature throughout my entire life. I’m in the city now, but there is nothing like being back in nature when I get the chance to. I was born into music and was directed towards it since the day I was born. My father is a great songwriter and influenced me in a great way. My father would throw headphones on me when I could hardly sit up on my own and blast his 4 track tape demo’s, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Prince, etc.
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Music has always been an integral part of my life, so I joined bands at an early age and was drawn to playing drums at the age of 4. I’ve played drums in all different types of groups that had different genres, so it has really molded me into a diverse player.
For the people that might be reading this and aren’t familiar with your music, could you describe it? Could be in genre, but also how you view your music? What does it mean to you? And how do you hope other people experience your music?
I’d say my music has an early R&B, Boogie, Retro feel to it, with some improvisation built in and sprinkled around. My musical taste is all over the place, but I’ve been heavily influenced on early Boogie and Nigerian Funk music. I view my music as pure feeling, what you hear is what you get. It’s based on the pure enjoyment of getting behind my gear & just playing a few lines that are in my mind at the time.
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I want people to just feel good and enjoy my music. I’m not making albums to impress a certain crowd or mold myself into a certain genre. I find my music to be somewhat flirtatious and moody, so I feel my music can fit into different mood swings in people’s make up and situation. I want my albums to tell somewhat of a story and not have every track have the same tempo or feel. It’s important to find diversity and to just go for whatever you’re feeling during the writing process.
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Listening to your music, it somehow reminds me of California. Can you tell me about how living in California inspires and influences your music? What's it like to live and experience life there?
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West Coast living has been great throughout the years of my life. A lot of partying back in the day, bon fires, music, amazing sunsets, beautiful people and the list goes on. California has its good and bad sides, like anything really. A lot of heavy traffic, busy streets, people on the move, but I’d say the good outweighs the bad. I just find pleasure and comfort being with family, friends and my musical instruments & gear. I’m not sure if my surroundings have brought out the music I make. I feel the music I’ve been brought up on and continue to listen to has put a certain impression and aspiration towards my music, but maybe my subconscious of my surroundings has something to do with it? Who knows?
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I believe that almost, if not all, great art comes from love and the joy, pain and the emotions that come along with it. Your music seems to be heavily influenced and driven by love. Can you tell me what love means to you and how it impacts your music?
Love and all of the things that make up that word come to me naturally when I’m writing for some reason. I’ve always been into writing about love, or making up stories about heartache, pain, and the roller coasters love has to give. I’ve had people tell me my music is flirtatious, and I seem to agree on a certain level. Love has so many different aspects. It’s important to find love for one another, no matter race, color, where you’re from, what you believe in, etc. We are all on this world together, so I find it important to find common ground and love one another as much as possible. We’ve been living in a lot of turmoil, hate, and discourse for several decades now, so I find it important to do as much as possible to do what comes natural and not force any lyrics out of my mouth in which I’m not feeling. I do have some tunes that have nothing to do with love though, and my next album will have little less of a “love” feel to it.
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A couple months back I came across a song of yours titled ''Come On Over'', after that I checked out the rest of your work and was really impressed with the quality and the amount of replay value it had to me. 2017’s ''Virtual Love'' and 2018’s ''Creature Feature, Vol. 1'' been part of my rotation ever since. Could you tell me about the process behind these projects? How did they come together? And what do these projects mean to you?
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Tim Zawada (From Star Creature record label) and I started talking a lot over the internet, he was very impressed by the demos I had up on my SoundCloud. He decided to approach and ask me to release a full length album on his label. I started shooting demos to him and he really dug the direction I was going. The Virtual Love album is an overall blur, I hardly remember the writing process & putting in all of the work. I was in a different state of mind at the time and in another dimension writing the album. I was feeling lonely and kind of down inside during that time and just put my emotions out into the songs and didn’t give it too much thought.
The Creature Feature was a follow up EP on Star Creature after Virtual Love. I was actually writing those tunes during the process of working on Virtual Love. I reached out to Boy Dude (who happens to be my brother “Jordan Chini”) to create “Come on Over”. I give him all the credit for writing that catchy tune and providing his songwriting ability. We got together up at his house in Los Angeles and wrote the lyrics out, we just had fun with the track. The other artist’s contributed a great deal to the other tracks as well. Munir from Midnight Runners out of Indonesia sent me a rough track in which I laced synth leads and linn drum over, Saucy Lady from Boston who’s a powerful female artist put together some amazing vocals on “Stimulation”, and Liquid Pegasus came to me with an idea to remix “Looking for a Lover”, which came out great. These two projects will always hold a special place in my mind and heart. I can’t thank everyone enough for believing in my work and musicianship and putting their talent inside my production. I pay respects to all the artists and labels that want to work with me and I never take it for granted. The EP sold out very fast on Star Creature and it was due to the time put in from the other artists that I collaborated with.
I also saw that there was a limited vinyl colored edition for the first 100 records of your ‘Night Drive’ project. Can you tell me a bit more about this project, as well as the limited vinyl?
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Night Drive is my latest album released in November 2018. Most of the tracks on this album are several years old, but I took each track and diagnosed it by re-mixing, re-structuring, and put finishing touches on it. Some of the tunes needed a lot of work done to them, so I basically took the stems of the tracks and reworked them by adding new instruments, live drums, vocals, etc. Amadeo and I have been talking for many years about releasing an album on his label, so I was pleased at the outcome and artwork that he created. The first 100 limited colored copies sold out within days and it was really amazing to see them sell so fast. There are some black copies still floating around on bandcamp, so people still have the freedom to pick it up before it’s gone.
I read that you are the keyboardist for Brian Ellis's Reflection band, could you tell me a bit more about this and your other music ventures that you do aside of your solo projects?
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I’ve known Brian Ellis for almost 20 years now. He’s been a very close family friend of mine for many years and I’ve also played in a few bands with him throughout the years. I played drums in his group “Los Machos” which was a heavy metal band that sang about Pirates, Rubber Duckies and Mike Tyson. Lights And Sirens was also a 3 piece progressive rock group that I played drums in as well, which you can find on bandcamp! Brian and I started toying with synths back in 2008 and we began to jam a lot together. I started working on tunes with him after his “Brian Ellis Reflection” record came out on Voltaire. We took a few trips up to Los Angeles and played Funkmosphere which was put together by Modern Funk Founder “Dam Funk”. We also played a few shows up in San Francisco, which was pretty memorable and I was able to connect with Randy who is the founder of “Hobo Camp” records.
When I’m not doing solo music, I’m making lathe cut records for bands. I own a 1940’s mono cut record lathe, and have a business called “PETRA FI RECORDS”. I do small runs for groups that are looking to have records cut, it’s a great outlet and hobby to have when I need to take my mind off work and my busy schedule. You can check my side business out on Instagram @petra_fi_records & www.petrafirecords.com.
Prior to this interview, you mentioned that you were working on a new full-length and that new music is slated to drop this year. Can you give me a bit of an insight into the new project? What is it going to sound like? What were you inspired by going into this new project and during the process of making it?
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My new album is currently in the works and it will be released on Omega Supreme Records based out of Portland, Oregon. We are looking at a late summer or early fall release. I’ve currently upgraded my setup extensively, required an Original Prophet 5, set my drum kit back up, and have gotten back into the fluidity of making an album. James Vance from Omega Supreme has always been a supporter of my music, so it was very exciting when he approached me to get a full length album going for his label. He’s put out some great releases, so I’m excited to be on his catalog in the near future. Expect more live drums, a few artist collaborations, white noise, and Prophet 5 to be heard a lot on the next album. Not sure which direction this album will take me, but my plan is to make it my best yet.
You have quite the record collection. I’m a vinyl collector myself, so I was wondering which records inspired you the most and what some of your proudest possessions are?
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So much music has inspired me over time and I have somewhat of a vinyl collecting addiction that has been going on for a few decades now. I was lucky enough to acquire my grandfather’s record collection which had a good amount of great early jazz guitar albums and bossa nova, but I’m all over the place with my genre of collecting. I acquired an Original pressing of “Deep Fantasy” from a group called Surfing, which is going for some money now. I hold dear to my James Pants records, Kamasi Washington, Thunder Cat, Ariel Pink, the list goes on. It’s great to dig through my collection and see how much time, money, and energy I’ve put into this side hobby. I hope to pass them onto my son when he’s older and to keep it circulating for many years after I’m gone. If not, thrift store diggers are going to love what they find digging in those dusty shelves.
Prince is a huge inspiration to you, right? Can you tell me what he and his artistry means to you and what, in your opinion, Prince has meant to the world of art in general?
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Prince embodies so much creativity, passion, and musicianship. He wrote so many great tunes, played in some funky groups back in the day. He was a trend setter, cared about culture, played so many instruments, his voice was amazing and guitar playing was great, dance moves, the list can go on with him. I’m a big fan of his music and life story. He’s done a lot for the music game and he’s a big influence of mine. I saw him do a private show in San Diego at House of Blues a few years before he passed. The place wasn’t even sold out and it was great to see him play in an intimate setting. He played “Purple Rain” & “Nothing Compares 2 U” on Piano which blew my mind. It was an unforgettable moment in my life to watch a legend in such a close setting. He’s missed, but his music is bumped in heavy rotation at home and in my car.
Most people can agree that it’s important to learn from the experiences life throws at you and the people you meet along the way. That’s why I was wondering if you’d like to share with me the best advice you’ve ever been given? This could be within the music industry, but feel free to give your best life advice in general.
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Just be yourself. Treat others the way you want to be treated. Life is short, so try and spend as much time with family and friends as much as possible. I’m 34 and still trying to better myself in certain degrees of life. It’s not easy, but I keep striving to be a better human being.
What music do you currently have in rotation?
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Ivan Avenue, James Pants, Sun Ra, John Carroll Kirby, Liquid Saloon, Magma, Chet Baker, Asal Hazel, Stimulator Jones, Psychic Mirrors, Nina Simone, I could go on and on. I’m all over the place. My music taste is very bi-polar, but I like it that way.
And the final question; If you could make a song with any artist that has ever existed, who would you choose? Who’s your dream collaborator?
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I’m going to have to say Marvin Gaye. I keep falling deeper in love with his work, the more I discover his collection. I love his voice, recording style, structure, movement, and overall feel. Maybe I’ll get a chance to jam with him in my next life.