SEARCHLIGHT

Its 2005 when singer/songwriter Adam Michaels decides to become a stalker. Alright, maybe not a stalker, but a very persistent man with a mission. That mission – pace about the front of well-known manager John Reese’s summer home in Lake Havasu, waiting for the man who at the time was working with rockers, The Used. On a fateful summer day, Reese appears.
“I approached John and introduced myself ‘Hi, I’m Adam Michaels, I’m a singer/songwriter and I would like to play for you’ – I think he was slightly surprised,” recalls Michaels. “He thought for a second, asked me to help him take out some trash and then I was performing on an acoustic guitar for John, his brother-in-law and his mother – it was pretty surreal.”
Reese told Michaels to reach out to Branden Steineckert, former drummer of The Used and currently drumming for legends Rancid, he had recently begun to produce bands in his studio in Utah. Michaels, maintaining his drive, headed to The Used show in Phoenix where he made his way backstage to find Steineckert.
So began a friendship and working relationship that would change the direction of Michaels’ career. Steineckert encouraged Michaels to start a band and keep in touch.
“It was amazing to have someone like Branden listen to my work and give me advice. I’m a fan of The Used and it meant a lot – he was very genuine,” Michaels said.
Knowing his dreams were most likely not going to grow in Lake Havasu, Michaels approached friend and future SEARCHLIGHT bass player Kevin Abdon. The plan was easy – pick up and move to Vegas. OK…not that easy. They needed to finance the move. Both Abdon and Michaels are huge comic book and video game fans – having memorabilia, game consoles with tons of games, and tattoos of their favorite characters to prove it, but they also had a great feeling about the move to Vegas and it was time to take their lives to the next level. Painstakingly, together they went through their various collections of Star Wars and Lord of the Rings memorabilia and hit eBay.
“It was more than painful,” recalls Abdon. “The house was covered with toys and one by one we shipped them out – I’m still trying to rebuild my collection.”
Weeks later, they were headed to Vegas where they experimented with a couple bands that were destined to stay put in Vegas – not quite what they were looking for.
“Kevin and I knew we wanted something different and dreamed much bigger than most of the people we came in contact with – the other bands just weren’t a great fit,” said Michaels.
Eventually they met guitarist Matt Hopkins and drummer Ricky Torres and SEARCHLIGHT was complete.
“When we first met Ricky, he had to leave the band meeting early because he promised his mom he would take her to the movies. That sealed the deal!” laughs Michaels. “We’re all very close with our family and friends and it said a lot about his character.”
Michaels kept his promise to keep in touch with Steineckert and by 2007, following several phone calls and meetings, SEARCHLIGHT headed to Utah to begin recording with Steineckert as their producer. One of the first songs recorded was a track called “Contagious.” A driving-heart pounding rock song written as the band became addicted to the video game Resident Evil 4.
“It meant a lot to me. Some people write about relationships. I write about what hits me hard,” Michaels told LV Weekly in 2007.
Abdon lost a job due to the countless hours playing the game, calling in “sick” a little too often – he apparently came down with the Resident Evil “virus.” But was it worth it?
“Oh yeah! Our lives have been turned inside out in a good way – we’ve made such great connections and amazing things happen to us since we recorded that song,” Abdon said.
The most amazing tentacle to the “Contagious” recording was where the song ended up – right in the middle of the Resident Evil: Extinction soundtrack and a spot on the closing credits. Steineckert, who previously performed with Milla Jovovich – supermodel turned actress and star of the Resident Evil series of movies, sent her the track to listen to in the middle of a recording session. Within 24-hours, the song was heard by producers who decided to place the song on the soundtrack, and to close the ending credits with the song.
“We were totally freaking out – it was the most insane thing that had happened to us up to that point in our career,” said Hopkins. “Even when we walked the red carpet at the premiere and stayed until the end credits to hear it – it was still hard to believe it was us.”
“We performed and did a signing at Zia (record store) when the soundtrack came out – it was cool. The soundtrack was the top selling CD for a couple weeks,” recalls Torres.
Since the success of “Contagious,” SEARCHLIGHT continues to appease fans bringing their driving, alternative-rock sound to headlining shows around Las Vegas and sharing the bill with such national acts as The Goo Goo Dolls, Flyleaf and others.
Bringing a new, fresh breath to rock music, Adam Michaels (vocals/guitar), Kevin Abdon (bass), Matt Hopkins (guitar) and Ricky Torres (drums) are currently writing, recording and kicking ass at Devil May Cry 4.
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