Mark Chavez

Mark "Marky" Anthony Chavez Jr. (born November 15, 1978) is an American-born singer of Mexican descent. He was the lead singer for rock band Midnight Panic and is best known as the lead singer for alternative metal/nu metal band Adema.

Early life
He was born and raised in Bakersfield, CA. He attended and graduated from Garces Memorial High School, a private Catholic School in 1997.

Adema
Mark Chavez formed Adema in 1998. The band originally started out with Chavez, Tim Fluckey, Mike Ransom, Dave DeRoo, and Kris Kohls. They maintained that lineup from 1999 to 2003. In 2004, while the band was at work on their third album, Chavez had a falling out with the band and departed shortly thereafter. Since departing the band, he has gained a somewhat rabid fan following, possibly because the fans preferred his voice and hard rock singing style over the second lead singer of Adema, Luke Caraccioli's softer style. After Luke's departure from Adema, the band announced LEVEL's singer Bobby Reeves as the new lead vocalist. Meanwhile, Mark caught up with his former bandmates, and was once again on good terms with them. They have reformed "THE REAL ADEMA", and are planning a tour and then a new album release in 2010

Midnight Panic
Though there were rumors that he was working on a project dubbed "State Of Mind," which formerly featured Geno Lenardo and Frank Cavanagh, the guitarist and bassist of Filter, these turned out to be false. Chavez's former band, which does not feature the aforementioned musicians, is called Midnight Panic. These are his comments about how Midnight Panic was formed:

"MIDNIGHT PANIC started on an afternoon out at my studio in Bakersfield. Matt Low started working with me on programming different loops and music, which got things off the ground! I found Matt while producing a band that he was in, we worked really good together. Things just kept getting better and we decided to do a band. The first name we had was STATE OF MIND, but then we found out that there was already a band that had that name so we changed it to MIDNIGHT PANIC. My cousin, the guitar player, Peter Shubert started coming around and we got some songs together. I liked what he brought to the table because I always wanted a punk feel to the music and that's what he brought! We had a lot of music together but we needed a strong bass player. I called my longtime friend Mike Montano and he came out to check out the music! He loved it, and ironically Mike was the very first bass player that I had in ADEMA back in 1998. We disbanded that ADEMA in '99 but everything happens for a reason!"

The band line up included Chavez himself, his cousin, Peter Shubert, and the former Adema co-founders, Mike Montano and Cesareo Garasa. The band had released their debut album in 2005 and a follow up LP was expected out in the later part of 2007. The band formerly featured Matt Low as their drummer from 2005 to late 2006. He has since left the band to return to SWAG 667. During the summer of 2007, Mark had been working on a solo project.

Ironically David Silveria of Korn disappeared from the music scene. Korn and Adema were major bands in the "nu metal" era, and both bands had close ties with each other.

Return to Adema
On August 7, 2009, Mark updated his Myspace page, making his first official report in a long while. He will appear in the upcoming Adema DVD.

On August 13, 2009, Mark posted a blog on his official Myspace page stating that he has returned to Adema. He also went on to say that the band plans to write an album and begin touring before the release of said album. The blog read:

"Hello to all. Marky here letting my fans, friends, and family know that I'M BAAAAACCCCKKKK.... Real quick, the original band has not sat in a room together in 5 years, however we have all been in touch and are excited to reform THE REAL ADEMA. First comes a DVD full of Adema shows, backstage mayhem, and rare experiences found nowhere else.. Next we write a great record and hopefully tour before we drop the new record. I want to let my band know that I am thankful that God has brought us back together and I'd like to extend my thanks to everyone that has been behind Adema. Stay tuned 2010 is our year to wreck some shit. God Bless everyone who reads this. I am truly excited about these unexpected plans.....

-    Marky Chavez      ...."

It has also been confirmed that Mike Ransom has also returned to the band.

Mark Chavez abruptly left Adema once again early in January 2011 before the start of the 2011 tour to pursue his solo project.

The reason behind Chavez's departure was that he had another conflict with the band over a decision to bring his wife, Kimberly Crisp, with him to their 2011 tour. The band didn't appreciate Chavez with that decision.

Personal life
Mark is the younger half-brother of Jonathan Davis of Korn, both of whom were raised together. Davis helped promote Adema's second album Unstable. Chavez was married to a woman named Brandi, but split up in June 2007. They have a son, Marky Chavez III, born March 18, 2003. He is good friends with Linkin Park frontman, Chester Bennington (who appeared in the music video for Adema's single, "The Way You Like It").