I personally have been on a few musical trips with the band Wild Adriatic. By using the word trip, I mean a spiritual and euphoric experience, both sonically and emotionally. I was convinced a long time ago that this band was destined for greatness. Success driven by a family oriented -hard work ethic, Wild Adriatic return with a new self-titled record and a show to celebrate. Friday, April 18 at Putnam Place in Saratoga Springs with friends Reese Fulmer & The Carriage House Band opening the show. WABY had a chance to catch up with Dustin DeLuke (keys) of the band Wild Adriatic
RR: OK, let’s get right into it. New album, release show on April 18. Your own Coffee?
DD: Yes! We are psyched to get this album out into the world and play new material for everyone.
We love playing home shows. The energy is always super high, this one is going to be a
guaranteed rager. We thought it would be awesome to offer some interesting and less traditional options when it
comes to purchasing our album. So we teamed up with Stinky’s Coffee Co and Barkeater
Chocolates to create our own custom roast and dark chocolate bar. Both those can be
purchased on our website and at the show along with a download card for our album. It’s cool to
support local businesses. Now folks can buy something physical and they can enjoy it while
listening to the album they bought.
RR:You just played a cruise too. That looked amazing. do you have any good memories from
that funny stories? Did anyone puke from sea sickness?
DD: Oh man, I have a lot of amazing memories from that festival. If I had to pick one I’d say that
having Walk The Moon join us on stage during the superjam we hosted for an impromptu cover
of David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” to close out the festival was a pretty epic moment. The Rock
Boat is awesome. I believe it’s our 5th time playing that festival. The crowd is always fired up
and ready to party. I actually get really sea sick but wore a motion sickness patch that saved my life on that cruise.
So I didn’t puke....but one guy in the band did and I won’t say who it is, but I will give you a hint.
His name rhymes with “Mateo”. Draw your own conclusions lol.
RR : Wild Adriatic has some big shows on the horizon rock the dock any tours planned
DD:No tours planned but we do have a lot of exciting shows and festivals coming up. We will be
announcing these after the album release show.
RR: How do you balance a job, band, daddy duties, it must be tough?
DD: Ha, my kids (twins) were barely 1 yrs old when I started playing with Wild Adriatic. So it’s just
normal for me to balance studio work, teaching, gigs, etc...with being in the band. I don’t really
know what it’s like to not keep all those plates spinning so I have nothing to compare it to. I will
say, I love what I do and I love my family so it doesn't feel tough to me.
RR: What are you rocking these days? New bands? What records are you into this year?
DD: I listen to music constantly. There’s literally always something jamming in the background at my
house. Lately I’ve been listening to White Denim and King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard
RR :Tell us about the new record
DD: The new record is a great representation of everyone’s individual personalities and some of the
things we do best. I wouldn’t say it wrote itself but it definitely happened very organically without
any directing from anyone. We would just get together at various times and in various locations
and tackle an idea someone had. We’d mold that idea and cultivate it until it became a finished
product.
RR:I like to cook do you like to cook? If so, share a recipe a short one?
DD: I love to cook. I cook a meal everyday. I don’t really follow recipes though. I learned to cook
from watching my mom and Italian grandmother. Their recipes are all like “a pinch of this and a
handful of that”. I love making Sunday sauce.
RR: Give me three reasons why Wild Adriatic works so well as a band?
DD: I don’t think it’s always possible to explain why a band works well together musically. If I had to
guess why Wild Adriatic works well together it’s because we all respect each other and play our
instruments with a strong sense of sincerity. When you can feel comfortable and play like
yourself you get an amazing sense of freedom. That allows great things to happen. We also
come from very different musical backgrounds. I think that element helps keep us inspired by
each other's ideas.
