Transcript
Adem Tesfaye is back with new album in May and performing Live in the Lair
Max Ink Radio · Sat Mar 29, 2025
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A Dem Tess Faye.
He's an award-winning singer, songwriter, MC and hip-hop guitarist whose music fuses
funk, reggae, blues and hip-hop, known for his compelling storytelling, commanding stage
presence and baritone voice.
With a new album coming out in May and a show at the Burroque in Madison on April 3rd,
a Dem is here in the studio to perform a few songs live in the layer on Maxi Inc.
Radio.
A Dem Tess Faye.
Welcome to Maxi Inc.
Radio.
Thank you.
Thank you for having me.
It feels great to be back once again.
Get to see you rocker.
How's it going?
How's it going?
Oh.
I think your third time actually playing here in the layer, but the first time over here
on our state street studio.
Yeah.
I like it.
It's nice.
It's a change of pace for sure.
This is your first time to stay street.
Yeah.
I thought you were here one other time.
No.
This is it.
That's it.
All right.
University Avenue.
That was the last time we had them in.
Right.
That was like two years ago, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
That was a couple of years back.
A Dem, your journey.
It began in Madison where you co-founded the hip-hop band.
The Black Poets Society.
And it took you to Seattle and New York City.
Tell us a little bit of your background.
I grew up here.
I went to West.
I'm a West guy.
So for all of my East Side friends.
Regents.
Yes, you're a region too.
I went there for a bit.
All right.
All right.
I have a large family.
My uncles are dancers and musicians as well and my grandmother had like eight kids.
So there was a lot of us, so we were all dancing around and having fun together growing
up.
So it was a big family thing.
We started the Black Poets Society High School, me and my uncle-al-core and my friend
Ben.
And LaTone Heart was a part of that.
Greg Dobby helped us do our first recording.
I don't know if you know Greg Dobby.
I think I do.
Yeah.
Regime records.
And that's how we started in the recording business.
And then from there, we started a band because we wanted to do something live, which was
really cool.
And then the band broke up.
Yeah, of course, right?
And then from there, I started a solo project called Diazile where I went out and did
some rap and produced a track, a record, which you can get on Spotify as well.
And then from there, I moved to Seattle.
And then Seattle, I had a jazz hip-hop band.
And then I came back to visit one time, and this is before I played the guitar.
And I came back to visit.
And one of my uncles had a spare guitar, and I was like, hey, man, do you mind if I take
this with me?
So he loaned me.
He said, you can borrow it.
So he didn't let me just have it.
Is that it that you had?
No, no, no, no.
This came afterwards.
Is the guitar still on loan?
No.
I gave it back to him.
Okay.
As soon as I got a little bread in my pocket, I was like, I'm just giving this back.
So I could have my own, I wanted to go, and I wouldn't pick out a classical guitar.
So I started off my journey on a big neck classical guitar with nylon strings, because I
wanted to rap and play guitar.
So that was my thing.
I wanted to be able to be free to move around without having to have a band if I didn't
need to.
Right.
But also building the tools to be able to have a band.
And that's a tricky thing in itself.
I don't know how many people have bands, but I don't, I didn't go to school for music.
So like, you know, communicating what I learned to get people to play was always an interesting
challenge.
Well, you did go to school.
You were a badger.
And no, I was not a badger.
You were not a badger.
No, no.
I thought you were a part of UW basketball.
That's what it says here anyway.
No, I didn't play hoops, man.
All right.
I didn't play.
I played hoops at West.
We won state.
Oh, maybe that's what it is.
The hoops.
I played hoops at West.
We won state.
I see.
No, I'd never, I missed the basketball boat, man.
It was kind of sad, actually.
I was pretty good.
We played state, though.
Or you got to go to state.
We won.
Nice.
Yeah, we won.
We went three years in a row.
I was on a team with like Alex Compton and Mike Dom and Alec Mosier and Gus Doyle, you
know, the governor's son.
And yeah, we won.
We were pretty good.
You know, we went three years in a row and we got one victory out of it, which is good.
Brought it back home to Wisconsin, Madison.
And then I came back from Seattle for about five years and started the Soul Wrap Movement.
It was like a kind of like a hip hop rap band.
And then from there, we released the Soul Wrap Movement and then I moved to New York shortly
thereafter.
And I was there for 15 years.
Wow.
And then, and then you came back during the pandemic to Madison.
Well, do you know, that's a funny story.
I don't know if you want me to go into it now, but well, it made me really, really
briefly.
All right.
So like, I was done with New York and New York was done with me, so I put my stuff.
I was going to travel to country.
I put my stuff in storage the last week of February in 2020 and I had a show in Milwaukee.
And I was going from Milwaukee to Austin to Phoenix, San Diego, and then back to Madison
and in New York to get my stuff.
But that first weekend was in March, everything shut down.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And then there was no more travel.
Yeah.
No, there wasn't.
And then I was like, oh, what do I do now?
Because what I was seeing on the screen in New York was not a scene I wanted to go back
to at the time.
Right.
Right.
I'm not going back to that.
I don't even have a house.
You know, so I decided to, you know, set some roots back home and five years later,
I'm still here.
So let's get to some live music in the layer with the Demtests Fapers,
and by the Aaron Weber group, the first song you have for us tonight, it's called
In the Eyes.
Is this a song about perception?
It is.
It's a song about just being present, you know, working on being present and not broadcasting
too far into the future or getting stuck in the past.
That's most of my challenge being, you know, digging to, you know, Buddhism and Taoism
and things like that.
So it's been a lot of time, philosophizing and trying to be cool, you know how it is.
Yeah.
Demtests Fapers, he's live in the studio right now.
If you got a question, if you want to say hello, you can do that right now, 844-967-2789-844-964 party,
call or text from the Civic Media app.
A Demtests Fapers live in the layer.
If I told you my story, but you forget it, if I showed you that I loved you, would you
take that for granted and why, do I, do that in which?
My life this world, one hill of a dynamic, they say right those songboys, now run and
try and sell it and why, do I, do that in which?
And so when people ask me about things that I believe, I say anything's possible, so
I have to get by and live in the eyes of today, not tomorrow.
And if I live in the past, I'll be asked today, what happens now is the thing that matters
when you want to make a change.
Does it make you uncomfortable that I see you and me?
And I feel that it's actual how it really means we share, the same, hmm, hmm, hmm,
now I must stay up thinking of your star, it doesn't really matter where you are, it
doesn't look close, but it sure ain't far to see who you are, who you want to be, who
you want to be, and so when people ask me about things that I believe, I say anything's
possible, and I know, and I know, and I know, and I know that life must change, and
the feeling from outside they fade away, they fade away, so I have to get by and live
in the eyes of today, not tomorrow.
And if I live in the past, I'll be asked today, and what happens now is the thing that matters
what happens now is the thing that matters, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, what happens
now is the thing that matters, what you want to make you change, there's anything that's
possible.
Very nice, a dumb test day live in the air here on Maxine Gradio, 844-967-2789, if you
want to ask a dumb question, a dumb, I got a question for you, we were talking about
you living in New York, stuck back in Madison, ultimately making Madison, you're home again,
do you have any plans to go back east at all, or, I don't need to visit, I've gone to New
York a couple of times as a tourist, and I personally could not imagine living there,
it was just so big, so many people, and always buzzing with something, you know.
It's an acquired taste, yeah, it takes a lot to get used to the, it's like an opposite
of this, almost, which is kind of like an interesting thing for me, it takes me a long
time to get back into moving at this pace, I felt like I was running 100 miles per hour
when I got back, and then now I'm like, okay, I kind of have a better grasp on how to
like move at a different pace, slower pace, and I like it, you know, it's, you know, there's
things I miss about New York, but there's things I don't want to experience about New York
anymore either.
What's the, what's the one thing about New York that you missed the most?
Pizza?
No, no, definitely not, I like the New York pizza, but I, you know, I miss the, I actually
miss just the, the variety and culture, you know, just like being able to go up to Harlem
and being able to go to Brooklyn and just get culture that, that, you know, all the different
food and just seeing just so many different people speaking so many languages.
I think that was always cool, like you get on a subway and you'll hear 10, 15 languages,
you know, and of course, 15 minutes and that's very beautiful, it made me feel very, it made
me feel part of the world, you know, where we're here, I can feel very marginalized because
you know, it's a little more, I don't have to say this, it's not as diverse, I'll just
use the word.
Yeah.
You're not wrong at all.
As far as you, my, my favorite thing in New York was the different neighborhood as you
walk through and the different cultures rocker, it was really cool.
You could walk, you know, a mile this way and it'd be totally different from the mile
away from her.
It's pretty cool.
Yeah, it's a trip.
It's definitely a trip.
You get used to it though.
I'm not, I'm not excited.
I don't miss all the like the subway dancing as much as people think it's cool, it's annoying
when you're tired and you sleep and you want to go to bed.
Showtime, it's showtime.
You know, these kids come with a boom box, start spinning all around, they're doing good
stuff, but when you're tired, you don't want to do it.
Adam, you have an incredible band and the Adam Tess Bay band is nominated for a Wisconsin
area music award, a whammy award for the second year in a row for a best band.
And your drummer is the mighty Joe White.
Yes.
Tell us about your band and give the drummer some.
Give the drummer some.
All right.
Well, you know, Anderson Taylor, Joe White, we could go back to high school.
These fabulous, he can do anything.
He's such a talent, not only just in his drumming, but his ear and his ability to write.
I can't wait until he puts some of his music out as well.
I mean, he's such an incredible musician, like, you know, when we're rehearsals and stuff,
he can hear it all.
He hears all the little subtleties and stuff, which is really great and just a great spirit,
great person.
And just to keep going, talking about other guys in the band as well, La Coria and Tess,
my uncle, bass player, he's the first person that really turned me on the live music.
He plays on all my records, he's, you listen to most of my music, there's a couple of songs
he doesn't play bass on, but he plays bass and all that stuff.
He's also a great writer and musician and he's putting out some new music as well.
And then Doses, Alberto Gloria, he has his own act, you can check him out too.
He's online, young guys, he's got some great music, keyboard players, always in the studio
working on things.
So make sure you check him out too.
I think he's playing at the Gamma Ray on the 11th and then Amani, she's the newest member
of the band.
She's from Brooklyn, funny enough.
Oh, nice.
And when she was young, we lived on the same block, but I didn't know her.
No, I didn't know her.
She was a little kid, you know what I mean at the time and then when we met here in Madison,
she was like, yeah, I used to live in Brooklyn.
I was like, where?
And she was like, Park Slow?
And I was like, oh, no, we're at, we lived on the same block at the same time.
Wow.
Full circle.
Yeah, so it's cool.
The band that we rock, and you're real lastly as well.
He has drum circle, I mean, drum power, amazing african drummer, percussionist, you're real
lastly.
And we're going to rock it.
It's going to be real fun.
Well, let's get back to live music and the layer with the Demtest Faye presented by
the Aaron Weber group.
The next song you have first tonight is called Magnetic, yes.
Is this just another silly love song?
Is it another set?
You know, I don't know if I should do this on the radio.
It's a little, I'll keep those swear words out, right?
Yeah.
Yeah, no curses, please.
Thank you.
Uh, it's, it's, it's more of, um, you know, I've never been married to have kids, so it's
more of a, from a perspective of, uh, as a single guy when I wrote it, you know, just
kind of like a fun, you know, nice to meet you type of song.
I love it.
It's a great song.
We played every once in a while.
I'll do the additive version.
But that's all right.
A Demtest Faye, he's live in the layer.
We're maxing on civic media.
Go ahead.
I'm not sure that we can call this love, but I know this from first sight.
I want to give you a hug, girl, maybe kiss on the first night, you and me, I gaze in,
damn your eyes so amazing, picture us still in the show, walking in the front door, dancing
a sand under moonlight, keeping it close because it feels right, holding your hand because
it feels right, keeping you close, because we just might take a chance to romance, doing
it, because we can't take a chance to romance, it can't help it, girl, until I see you again,
because, you know, my magnetic intoxication, I can't help it, and I can't keep concentration,
I can't help it, I can't help it, because you know, my magnetic intoxication, I can't
help it, and I can't keep concentration, I can't help it, I can't help it, I want to
see you body, naked girl, and bathe them by the ocean sun, I love the way you shake
a girl, no mistake in that you're the one, two, three, four, sophisticated, not a door,
don't have to but I give you more, don't have to but I want to know, who girl the way you put it down,
who girl the way you make me, you make me make me make me make me smile,
because you're my magnetic intoxication, I can't help it, and I can't keep concentration,
I can't help it, I can't help it, because you're my magnetic intoxication, I can't help it,
and I can't keep concentration, I can't help it, I can't help it, until I see you again,
until I see you again, until I see you again, until I see you again,
because you're my magnetic intoxication, I can't help it, and I can't keep concentration,
I can't help it, I can't help it, because you're my magnetic intoxication,
I can't help it, and I can't keep concentration, I can't help it, I can't help it,
until I see you again, until I see you again, until I see you again,
until I see you again, until I see you again, until I see you again n until I see you again,
until I see you again, until I see you again, until I see you again, until I see you again,
yes magnetic and dumb test pay live in the layer. I love that song. That's one of my
favorites that you on the last album. But now you have new music coming out soon, right? Yes,
I do. You own your album. Tell us about this album. Well, this, you know, it was funny because when we
went in the studio, we recorded all this music. And some of it got left behind. And so like,
what we're releasing, what I'm releasing now is some of the stuff that we're finally getting
around to finish it up. So it's not as, it's not as new as I'd like it to be because I wrote
two records. So I have another record coming right after this one. So there's two albums that's
coming up, that are coming out two albums, but the first one is going to be of stuff that I did
with the band like last year. Okay. And now it's ready to be released. And the first
single is called coasting. And I'm actually really proud of this. Me and Scott, I got to give a
shout out to Scott. The engineer and producer we work in a studio. And he's been with me working with
me on and off through all my ups and downs, you know, studio. What is God? I don't know the name of
this. It's in his basement. His basement. He's got a name for it. He's got a name for it. It's
just slip loose, you know, it's just, sorry, Scott, I know you're going to kill me when you see me.
Here it is. You're next show is coming up April 3rd at the Burrow Kid Madison. And it's kind of
a release show because you're going to be releasing that single. Yes. How do we keep up with
a demo test for you and your music? And I'm coming shows online. You can find me at ww dot
a dim test fay.com. That's a D E M T E S F A Y E dot com. I want everyone to go to my dot com.
And then everything after that is the same. So you can find me on all the other, you know,
everything from insta to I won't say X, but I just did. So we got three minutes. We want to play
your brand new song. Okay. All right. Let's check it out. Let's do it.
See I'm a thinking man.
Just like the little engine. I think I can. Then I'll blink again.
Get weak and play this thinking game. I can't stop thinking down. It just goes to show. I need a
rap. The rip tide is rolling too fast. It feels like I'm drowning. I'm in too deep and the water
still rising. But I won't live my life like I'm trapped on a button that won't float in the ocean.
The watchtower life is shining too bright. I can't live my life like my truck's on flight. No
treading no forward motion. I'd rather be coasting. I'd rather be coasting. I'd rather be coasting.
I'd rather be coasting. Can I see through the eyes of lies? My eyes of lies drift to the sea.
Polluting, promoting these lies seducing for sexy corruption consumption. Lusting for hump and
panting and hunting, chasing, facing that hardest equation. I pray for this nation
because life's so amazing. It's days and and some days I feel like I'm crazy.
All right. A Dem Test Fade here live in the Lair on Maxing Radio.
Adam, thank you so much for coming in tonight. We really appreciate it. It's really awesome
hearing your music. A Dem Test Fade dot com April 3rd at the Burrowkin Madison 7 p.m.
tickets at the Burrowk Madison dot com. Yes, sir. Thanks for having me gentlemen. Ladies,
appreciate it. Thank you. I'd appreciate you. Hey, we're going to talk about the Mama
CARES ball. This happening tomorrow plus a double dip of the Jimmy's. This max ain't got civic media.
