ADMT

If you are looking for proof of the redemptive and transportive power of song, look no further than ADMT. Born Adam Taylor in Doncaster, the singer-songwriter not only has the knack for creating candid, soul-bearing tracks, but he also makes songs that have changed – and even saved – lives, starting with his own. A teenage drummer whose first role in music misleadingly landed him poolside in Los Angeles when he was recruited for a local band’s American tour, the fairytale was soon punctured when ADMT found himself back home, working in a bottling factory after the group stepped back from playing live. Though he would not have believed you back then, this mind-numbing reset proved to be the start of another story, ADMT’s own. “I was working at a bottle factory and I hated it,” he admits. “There were a lot of amazing people working there, but it just didn’t feed my soul watching bottles go past. Then one of my mates suggested I should sing rather than drum, but initially I wasn’t sure. It’s quite a scary thing and I didn’t want to be – and I still worry about this now – the shit guy who everyone says is good but when they end up on The X Factor they look like an idiot. [laughs] Eventually, though, I gave it a go.” After applying, ADMT’s first show was remarkably for secret gig promoter Sofar Sounds, playing a house in Camden (“In at the deep end!” he grins) before more acoustic sets followed. However, while the switch from drum stool to ‘open mic’ offered the glimpse of a new path, life and bottles conspired to create an inertia that stopped him from taking it as he found himself unable to leave in his childhood bedroom.