Me Nd Adam began with a pair of friends who found each other in the throes of nihilistic debauchery and breakups. The world turned its back, and Adam and Vince turned to music. Known to their fans for their heartfelt anthems, their accessibility, their merch giveaways, and their rambunctious behavior, Me Nd Adam are the original trash-wave trail-blazers.
The beginning of the Austin, TX-based duo started in 2020 when lightning struck for their single “Heartbreak Kid” which quickly garnered over two million streams. The success attracted the attention of darkhorse Las Vegas-based indie label, Handwritten Records. After signing with the label, the band went on to release a string of singles leading up to the release of their debut album American Drip Pt. I (ADP1). Rock icons The Killers gave ADP1’s single “The More I Grow Up” a nod, shouting out the track on their social media. Unprecedented support from The Killers’ fan base led to arena opening slots for Me Nd Adam in Dallas and Austin. The mentorship culminated with a direct support slot for The Killers’ 2022 New Year’s Eve party at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.
Now, Me Nd Adam are unveiling American Drip Part II (ADP2). The sophomore album lays claim to a new musical identity for the project, folding their many beloved influences into a sound that is uniquely their own. The duo share, “On the music side, we made an effort to utilize more organic instrumentation, dialing back the electro-pop elements that decorated ADP1. For each song, we developed an individual sonic thumbprint, in some cases a specific sound, like the Juno-106 in “Who’s Gonna Want Me Now?”, in others a defining guitar tone, as in “Runnin’ on Fumes.” The overarching idea was to operate with intent.”
While eclecticism remains a tenet of their project and they continue to incorporate elements of Americana, alternative rock/pop, and country, they don’t want their influences and their musical conventions to guide decisions within each song. “In ADP1 they were driving us; now we are driving them. To put it another way, ADP1 was an exploration; ADP2 is an expression of what we found.”
Lyrically, ADP2 revisits themes from the previous album, including heartbreak, love, hope, dissolution and disillusionment, unifying them with a throughline — a focus on relationships. If ADP1 was about the self, ADP2 reaches for the other. The duo confide, “Our songwriting process involves confronting a serendipitous but often savagely unmanageable existence and finding solace in putting it into words, speaking with specificity from a particular place and cultural moment. It imagines an audience of seekers, like-minded and only slightly embittered dreamers, still yearning for love, transformation, and harmony. Many of us haven’t found what we are looking for, and most of those aren’t even sure what that should be. ADP2 offers a soundtrack for the quest.”
Sonically, Me Nd Adam’s sound is reminiscent of classic American songwriters like Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen with a contemporary twist of alternative rock and pop production. The band’s influences range from Willie Nelson to Meek Mill, Jason Isbell to Blink-182.
Me Nd Adam has recently appeared at SXSW and Austin City Limits Music Festival, Shaky Knees Music Festival (Atlanta), and Float Fest (Austin). During ACL, the group sold out Antone’s Night Club, Austin’s most iconic venue. They have also garnered support from prestigious media outlets including The Line of Best Fit, Wonderland Magazine, Rolling Stone, Alternative Press, American Songwriter, Atwood Magazine and Earmilk, to name a few. Hot off their largest national tour yet, spanning 23 cities, Me Nd Adam are entering their next chapter with their sophomore album, American Drip Pt. II.