It's all about the music for California band

was founded in 1998 by Mark Chavez, half brother of Korn frontman Jonathan Davis. In 2004, Chavez left the band to join Midnight Panic, and Luke Caraccioli of the band Rewind Yesterday was chosen to replace him. "You deal with the cards you're dealt," Fluckey said.

"Of course you want to be U2 and go to high school with the guys you played with and go take over the world, you know, but that wouldn't be as interesting of a story if that happened every time." Bobby Reeves is the band's lead vocalist, and second guitarist Ed Faris came onboard in 2006. Fluckey said that in spite of shuffling through musicians, this particular group has been able to bond well and build cohesion through a year of jam sessions and traveling on the road together.

"We're not isolated," Fluckey said. "On a bus or in hotels, you don't hang out with the guys you're with. But when you're in a van or an RV, you have to deal with it.

" Fluckey said Adema's meteoric rise to fame early in its existence left the band exposed particularly when it came to internal struggles. "Most bands get to have their growing pains on the local scene," he said. "We had our growing pains on the national market.

" Fluckey said that the rock-star lifestyle has to be earned, and that he has to balance his time between work and family. He and wife Allison have a 2-year-old son, Abbott. "I've been with my wife for a while, and she gets me," Fluckey said.

"She knows that I'm the sappy dude who's in music." Although many critics, fans and others in the music industry have tried to label Adema -- some say the band is a "nu metal" phenomenon; others classify it as alternative rock -- Fluckey said he rejected the idea of fitting the band into a genre. In the end, for him, it's all about the music.

"Since I was four or five, all I want to do is be on stage, playing music," he said. "Growing up, it's all I had. Music never lied to me.

" Kirk Cooper may be reached at 546-6137. What: Adema in concert, featuring The"Red Queen Effect and Nausicaa. was founded in 1998 by Mark Chavez, half brother of Korn frontman Jonathan Davis.