Adelitas Way combine a wide swath of influences into something very radio friendly yet sincere enough that it won’t leave you throwing up in your mouth even when things get really catchy. The band has balls, though, and album opener “Invincible” is such a hard-charging anthem that it was chosen as the theme song of WWE SUPERSTARS (and even played on the CSI:Miami finale commercials on CBS in May).
It’s a great and well earned break for a band who know the value of putting one foot in front of the other, handing out shitloads of demos and living haphazardly; whatever it takes to get to that next opportunity.

I’ve got a feeling these guys are gonna be around for awhile, so check out Adelitas Way while they are bursting out onto the national stage, before you are the last to know.

Read my talk with guitarist Chris (only eighteen!) and you’ll learn that this up and coming band have already seen quite a lot.

CHRIS IORIO: We’ve been working for awhile and for us to be able to finally have it coming out, we’re stoked for it.

MYE: I only found out about the band recently, but right off the bat I was impressed. It sounds marketable, not in a flawed way, but catchy in a genuine sense. You hear “Invincible” and it just jumps out of the speakers.

CI: Thanks, man. That’s what we wanted to do. Me and Rick had been jamming for awhile, a couple years. We just wanted to find dedicated musicians who were willing to work for the music. That’s when we found our drummer Trevor (Stafford) and then everyone else. At one point we were demoing around in L.A. and you have to find tough people for that. We wanna stick with our line-up and we’re glad with what we have now.

MYE: Rick’s voice, it has different influences that come through, but while he is really catchy he doesn’t seem like he is trying to copy anybody. I can imagine you playing with anybody from Motley Crue to 30 Seconds to Mars.

CI: Thanks, man. Rick’s influenced a lot by Soundgarden and Audioslave. I’m influenced by, kind of, Guns’N’Roses and Motley Crue and stuff. We wanted to blend out influences the best we could, even though they are two completely different rock genres.

MYE: There’s a serious and fun side, sort of the best aspects of both things.

CI: That’s what we wanted, a diverse record. We wanted our heavy songs, our dirty sex songs, our love ballads. Rick writes a lot of the lyrics about his own experiences. It’s different sides. There’s some albums out there where every song sounds the same, but we wanted to try to expand and give people different ideas.

MYE: It’s important to try to speak to people that way and not take them for granted. I’ve been thinking, especially since Michael Jackson died…

CI: Oh, I know, man…

MYE: …Y’know, with pop music these days and everything that’s been going on, it’s been interesting to see attention being paid to more well-crafted older stuff. You guys are modern but seem to be coming from an appreciative place. You’re trying to sell records of course, but people a lot of times don’t give a shit what they are putting out there anymore or pay attention to it as a craft.

CI: I definitely agree. We’re all really sad about the passing of Michael Jackson and stuff. We were on the road and every station was having a MJ marathon. People were requesting it and didn’t want it to stop. I think that even though some of his music was from thirty years ago, music like that lasts forever. Some bands now just put things together, but we didn’t want to do that. We’re excited for it to come out and everyone to hear it.

MYE: You guys have played some places in the U.S. that have been hit pretty hard by poverty. I wondered how the fans have been reacting to you coming out and bringing to them what you do?

CI: That’s a cool question, because certain areas have better draws than others and more people. People have been responding very well, though. We bring everything we have to the stage and it’s been awesome. People have been following us from show to show even though we’ve only been touring a couple months now! People have already seen us more than ten times.

MYE: That’s awesome.

CI: That tells us we might be actually doing something right and making an impact.

MYE: It’s great ‘cuz obviously you are doing the major label thing with Virgin and there’s big expectations with that environment.

CI: Definitely. We’re excited about our team. Virgin has been supportive and were the first ones there about a year ago. They found us and didn’t want to change a thing. We’re amazed to have that and have everyone on the same page.

MYE: I was listening to “All Falls Down” which is about making moments count, and the band has really worked hard and come from different backgrounds. Could you recap a bit about the band name, how you met, and even playing already with Chris Cornell?

CI: [laughing] Playing with Chris Cornell was great. The band name, first of all, is a long story.

MYE: You were robbed in Mexico by corrupt police?!

CI: [laughing] Yeah. We were robbed of all our stuff and then went into a bar called Adelita’s, just figuring out what to do. Rick met a girl and the bar happened to be a brothel. That happens a lot in Mexico and the girl came up to him and he asked her why she lived like that. She broke down and poured her heart out to him about how she can’t support her family and her dad was handicapped and her mom had to care for all the kids. That’s when Rick wrote a song for her and after that we decided Adelitas Way was a cool band name. Rick came up with the band name, which is awesome. It feels good to know it is a meaningful name.

MYE: After this crazy adventure you had to being robbed.

CI: Yeah, other than that, we started off demoing around and playing local shows. Me and Rick started writing some songs and sleeping in a van in L.A., trying our best. I grew up in Vegas and he moved there. He lives right down the street.

MYE: The last time I was in Vegas it was 107 degrees!

CI: [laughing] That’s what it is right now.

MYE: It’s soggy and rainy in New York.

CI: I gotta be honest, that sounds better than this right now! I went to my house on our first day back from tour and of course it is during the summer where you don’t even want to step outside unless you’re going to a pool. Vegas is a cool place, though. There’s a lot of people that come through. There was a point when we were handing our demos and you never know who you are handing it too.

MYE: The demo thing, you guys passed out so many on the band, which is important to do on a DIY level. What do you think is more important, that or the internet?

CI: Both. A lot of bands wait for things to come to them and we wanted to get our name out quickly as possible. We’d pass out demos to everyone and get more and more people coming to shows. It was an important part to being humble and makes me remember that little more than a year ago me and Rick were living in a van, like I said. Buying little four dollar fans to help us keep cool. Experiences like that, I wouldn’t trade them.

MYE: You’re the youngest in the band, right?

CI: Yeah.

MYE: You’re the youngest but who do you think is the most immature?

CI: [laughing] I gotta say, I’m eighteen and everybody else is a little older than me, but probably our bass player Derek (Johnston). He’s twenty one and in the party phase and stuff like that.

MYE: It must be awesome already at your age having a solid band touring as a unit and doing something you’ve wanted to do.

CI: Aww, man! I just graduated High School a couple weeks ago, taking it online. Being eighteen on the road, it has downfalls. Some clubs get on the age thing, but just to be out here is an awesome experience. Some of my friends are getting jobs and deciding what to do with their lives and I’m already getting to live my dream.

MYE: You’re gonna already have a bunch of experience on the road by the time you hit twenty one!

CI: Yeah, it has good and bad parts, being on the road, but that’s what it’s all about.

MYE: Besides home, what’s been your favorite places to play so far?

CI: Probably Knoxville, Tennessee. There’s such a great music market out there and people flock to shows. We played here a few times and there’s always a sea of people. Everybody wants to go to a rock show. On this past tour the winner would have to be Augusta,Georgia. Believe it or not, that was probably the rowdiest crowd we’ve played in front of. People were reaching and grabbing and crowd surfing and moshing. Some big cities you think it’ll be crazy but then you have little cities outdo them sometimes.

MYE: I know you’re a big fan of Wrestling, so how did it feel to get “Invincible” on WWE Superstars?

CI: I gotta say, for “Invincible” to be on WWE is amazing. I remember being little and seeing the entrance themes and always thinking it was awesome. We played the Bash in Sacramento a couple of days ago and WWE sat us ringside and all of a sudden you hear “Invincible” cranked and a promo for the band. We love the WWE. They’re treating us like family. We met all the wrestlers backstage.

MYE: My friend Dave Daw who runs the music studio Darkworld Studios used to also be a top masseuse for wrestling and he always tells me how cool and down to earth a lot of the wrestlers are as people.

CI: I know! The Big Show talked to us!

MYE: He’s fucking HUGE, man!

CI: I know! He’d heard of our band. He asked one of the ladies backstage who we were and he was like, “That’s Adelitas Way?!” And he came over and talked to us for a long time. This is coming from The Big Show who destroys everybody in the ring. It was awesome.

MYE: Ask him if he can help you guys as a bodyguard. You can go back to those clubs that gave you problems about your age and saym, “What now, bitches?!”

CI: I’d never worry about anything if he was security!

MYE: “That’s right, I’m eighteen, motherfuckers!” [laughing]

CI: [laughing]