If the band ADULT. had a mission statement, it would be "to make music that people will either turn off or like."
That's according to multi-instrumentalist/singer Adam Lee Miller, who spoke by phone from Detroit. "Actually I rather like (ticking) people off with our music. I remember doing a sound check in a bar, and after it was done, some guy called me over and held out some headphones. I put them on and listened. After I was finished, he looked at me and said, 'Now, that's real music.' I looked at him and asked, 'What are you listening to, the Black Crowes?' He didn't find that funny, but I did."
Joking aside, Miller, his multi-instrumentalist/singer wife Nicola Kuperus and a new band member, multi-instrumentalist/singer Sam Consiglio — said on Miller's speaker phone that their music is something that just came out of what they wanted to play.
"When we started the band, it was only Nicola and me," said Miller. "We had this idea of making music of which we had total artistic control."
"Back then," said Kuperus, "the music that was out was boring ambient electronica. We wanted to do more than that and make it more interesting."
Consiglio was added as a permanent band member this past year. Originally he was a hired guitarist for the live shows, but Miller and Kuperus decided to bring him aboard full time. Consiglio's first assignment was to help write songs for the band's third full-length album "Gimme Trouble."
"We basically divided things into three," said Consiglio. "We wrote the songs together."
"It was an intense writing session with us holed up together in a little place during a Detroit winter," said Kuperus. "But it was fun."
"We ended up with 14 songs," said Miller. "One will be released on a Japanese issue of 'Gimme Trouble' and the other song will fall into a black abyss."
ADULT. has total creative control with its music, the distribution and the cover artwork. Kuperus is the photographer. "I don't think too much about the design of the album, except for the pictures," she said. "It's funny because I never wanted to be a musician. I wanted to be photographer."
"But she kind of fell into the music," said Miller, whose influences can be traced back to a friend in the '80s who had a collection of Depeche Mode and Black Flag songs.
Consiglio had a more mainstream influence. "Kiss," he said. "But there was never a time when I had to get a guitar and start a band. I was always obsessed with music and that's why I'm doing this."
With the recent release of "Gimme Trouble," the band is focused on the tour. There is no future, said Miller. "I don't look too far into what's upcoming. I just do things, and if they fit with what comes up, then great."
"We are constantly working," said Kuperus. "The band takes all our time. Sometimes we want to say, 'What's the point?' And other times, when we have a good day, and someone understands what we're doing, that makes it all worthwhile."
If you go . . .
What: ADULT., Genders, OK Ikumi, Taught Me
Where: Kilby Court, 741 Kilby Court
When: Tonight, 7 p.m.
How much: $8
Phone: 320-9887
Web: www.kilbycourt.com
E-mail: scott@desnews.com