Unsung Melody - Soldiering on. An interview with Adrian Patrick from Otherwise.

Casinos, shows, girls, buffets, lights, Otherwise….Well, if Adrian Patrick has anything to say about it, that’s exactly what you will think of when you think Las Vegas. Adrian is the vocalist for Otherwise and the band is proud of their Vegas roots. After signing to Century Media, the band dropped their debut album True Love Never Dies back on May 8th. The first single, Soldiers, has been tearing up the charts ever since and has earned them some great slots on recent tours. Their current single I Don’t Apologize is now at radio.

Joining the Unsung Melody Family today is Adrian Patrick. Adrian is the lead vocalist of Otherwise. First and foremost, thank you so much for joining us. The first single, Soldiers, really kicked up some dust on the charts. I’m sure there are a ton of fans singing it back to you now. How’s the journey been so far?

Yeah, it’s a very indescribable feeling. When you are in a town that you’ve never been to and you see people singing the words of your songs back to you. I don’t know how to explain it. I don’t know how to describe it, it’s just unbelievable and it’s still growing. We’re really excited by our own potential right now.

This song is initially what got you your break. Tell us a bit about that.

There is a lot of serendipity in the story. I had met Jose, the program director from Sirius Octane, in 2010 on the Mayhem Festival when I was touring with In This Moment. Two years later, we were invited to open the main stage at the first ever 48 Hour Festival in Las Vegas and it was a huge success. Jose and the Octane crew happened to be there that day. We broke down backstage during Sevendust’s set and Jose was like, “I caught your set, I was really impressed by what I saw. Do you guys have any music?” I gave him a 3 song demo that we had recorded in our drummer’s garage. I didn’t tell him what song to listen to, I was just like, here ya go man. He called us the next day and said, “I’m going to add Soldiers to regular rotation.” The funny thing is that the 48 Hour Festival was the last show that we got to do with our cousin Ivan Patrick. He was on our crew, he was our drum tech. He had his own bunk on the bus. He had actually came into the studio and sung on Soldiers. He sung on the big group chant at the end of the tune. So, his voice was on the song. Well, long story short, Jose added the song to Octane and our cousin tragically passed away on his Harley on Halloween night. Then, shortly after that, the song just exploded all over satellite radio. The first song in the history of satellite radio to go number 1 by an unsigned band. Then after that, record labels came calling and we signed with the one label that believed in us from the get go, Century Media. We’ve been on a fast track to where we are at now. We found a booking agent. We found a record deal. We found our producer. We recorded the album, then went straight from the studio and out on tour. To here I am sitting here talking to you from downtown Denver right now.

I know the album title is kind of tied back to Ivan, True Love Never Dies is the name of the album. Care to fill us in on the story of that? What it means to you guys as a band.

Our cousin had a tattoo across his neck that said those words. It said, “True Love Never Dies.” He was such a big hearted guy and such a teddy bear. Despite how many times he had his heart broken by some stupid Vegas girl, he never gave up on the idea of true love and finding that true love of your life. No matter how badly he got hurt, he was always ready to give again. When the time was right. It’s kind of what the album entails. Our music is aggressive and kind of dark in some spots, but the overall message of everything is hopeful. One day, it just made sense. We were actually on-air, doing an interview at a radio station back home and it just kind of came out that that is what we’re going to call the album. It was like, yeah, that’s it. That’s the title. When we went back and actually looked back at the subject matter of each song, it kind of tells a story from start to finish of love and finding love. Then losing love. Then eventually, getting some kind of redemption at the end. It’s a very powerful album, for us especially. We hope that it translates and comes across, come May 8th when it drops.

I saw you guys open up for Pop Evil back in March and I could tell right away that you guys were not wet behind the ears. You knew you belonged on that stage and were not afraid throw out a little swagger. How long have you guys been a band and how did you become Otherwise?

Well, my brother and I have been jamming together since 2004 or 2005. I’ve been playing for upwards of 10 years with different guys in and around Vegas. You know, trying to find the right fit. When my brother joined up with us, he’s a classically trained guitarist and that really accelerated everything about the band. It’s funny because when my brother joined the band, it elevated the talent level of the band. Then, at that same time period is when real life started happening. People were dying and relationships were ending. Life got very real right around the same time that my younger brother joined the band. Since then, we’ve been rallying to be heard. We’ve been fighting to get our message out there and it’s taken us a long time to finally find the right fit. This lineup that we have now is incredible and it’s never felt better to be a part of this band. We haven’t had a stronger lineup since I can remember. So, it feels good. It feels really good right now.

The brother that you mentioned, his name is Ryan. That dude can shred by the way! (laughter) For you personally, who is your biggest influence vocally or lyrically?

I would say vocally, I have always been very partial to Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots. His tone and his personality that comes through in his voice. I sort of found my own timber and tone to my voice by singing along to a Stone Temple Pilots song. But lyrically, I would say Stephan Jenkins from Third Eye Blind. That guy’s a poet. He graduated Valedictorian from his class at Berkeley with a degree in English literature and it really shows his knowledge of the English language. Third Eye Blind had a way of having their songs sounding very poppy and bright, but the actual subject matter, what he was writing about, was very dark. Where as, we’re kind of taking the opposite. In the sense that some of our music is aggressive and dark, but the message, the lyrics themselves always come out being hopeful or being positive. Those two probably influenced me the most as vocalists.

Alright, I always end on a random question. Being from Las Vegas, what’s your favorite casino?

Oh wow, my favorite casino. It’s funny because in Vegas, there’s a new casino almost every other month coming up. A lot of times, the new ones are everyone’s favorite. So, right now the newest one is a place called the Cosmopolitan. Absolutely incredible facility, but I’m still very partial to the Mandalay Bay. I love the way that place smells. I used to work there. I was a Jr. Executive in casino marketing, so I might be a little biased. It’s a beautiful layed out casino floor and the pool is just absolutely amazing. The suites are incredible at that place. You know, it’s over 10 years old and it still hangs with the coolest, youngest cats that are coming up on the strip right now. The Palms is pretty cool too. That’s kind of a staple as well.

I thank you so much for joining us, and we wish you and the band nothing but the best out there on the road!

Otherwise members:
Adrian Patrick-Lead Vocals
Ryan Patrick-Guitar/Vocals
Flavio Ivan-Bass/Vocals
Corky Gainsford-Drums/Vocals
Vassilios Metropoulos-Guitar/Vocals

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Check out the video to Soldiers by Otherwise below: