Dias & the Lokals: Two new albums, one night

Jonathan Glen/The Times-Standard

Article Launched: 08/16/2007 04:30:16 AM PDT

Adam Dias is truly a local musician.

Having grown up in the Fortuna school system while learning music from his father John Dias, who played in many local bands over the years, Adam's roots run deep.

Without his father's guidance, he probably wouldn't have become a musician. He was into sports when he was young and said he probably would have focused more of his energy in that direction if it hadn't been for his dad.

�I played my first venue when I was 11. At the Angelina Inn,� he said.

He sat in with his dad and performed a set of Chris LeDoux, who was his hero at the time, he said.

�From that point on, I wanted to perform live,� Dias said.

But Southern Humboldt doesn't have the kinds of venues that young musicians can play, so his young bands started playing parties.

�Our drummer's dad wasn't too keen on parties, so we had to start playing school events,� he said. �We ended up getting to do our junior prom. We were like the first band in 30 years or so to play junior prom. And the next day the band broke up.�

Dias moved on to other projects and took with him the knowledge that bands generally don't make it and breaking up is a common

theme in the music industry.

�When I came back from Austin, I stopped playing with bands because they always break up. The reality of a band is some quit before they get off the cutting floor, and some quit when they're right about to make it,� Dias said. �That's the only reason why I use my name -- because I know I'm never going to quit.�

The Lokals formed behind Dias recently as the backing band for his live album, which will be available at his CD release show at the Gilded Rose on Friday.

�They're basically just local artists, and anybody who ever comes and plays with me is a part of the Lokals,� he said. �I just had to have a name.�

The current group consists of five members.

�Chris [George], the bass player, I've been playing with on and off since I was a kid. Johnny [Hoppis] the hand drummer works with CDF so he's not at all the shows, but he's really become the star of the show,� Dias said.

In addition to George, and Hoppis Dias has a trio of drummers backing him -- all of them seasoned musicians -- Aaron Sousa, Ernie �Spencer T� Ernshaw and Tony Dominick.

The group really isn't about making money, and when asked whether he'd want to sign a record deal with a major label, Dias replied, �I've been asked that question before and the last time I said, 'As much as I don't want to I probably would, because I know what that means.' And it's been a goal of mine for so long. But, now I would answer, 'No, I wouldn't.'�

He said that to sign a deal with any type of label he would need to be sure that the company realized his artistic direction and was willing to work with it, and if they weren't then he would need to be able to get out of the deal.

This is important because the music of Dias & the Lokals doesn't fall into one traditional genre. It dances between rock, country, reggae and folk equally.

�When I make a record, I try never to put all the same genre on one record,� Dias said. �I don't ever sit down and think, 'Listeners are going to want to hear all rock and roll this time' or 'all country this time.' I think that's annoying.�

Dias has a real problem with the way that major media outlets spin information. Having worked in television for Fox, he said he became disgusted with the way the truth wasn't valued.

�I woke up one day and realized I'm just a part of the machine,� Dias said. �So I left. I wasn't a journalist. I didn't write for television; I didn't write for a newspaper. So I didn't have that feeling that I could change anything.�

Now he uses his music as a tool to help spread what he sees as the truth.

�I'd like to do it more, but I also believe that music is entertainment -- so whatever comes out. One of the songs on my new album is called 'More Love,' which is a pretty provocative song.� Dias said. �That song is all about our distorted view on love.�

But that isn't all his music is about. The next few songs after �More Love� include a love song and a spiritual song. Overall, Dias has just always known he wanted to make music but it's never really been about the money.

�You can commercialize anything, but if the intent of that music is your sole purpose then I don't think anyone can ever take that away from you.�

Dias and the Lokals will be playing a CD release show Friday at the Gilded Rose in Loleta. Two new albums will be available, �Raw From the Rose,� the Lokals live album, is available for $8 and �More Love,� the Lokals studio album, is available for $10.

Jonathan Glen is the editor of Northern Lights. Contact him at jglen@times-

standard.com