California Bass Player Debuts at South By Southwest

Covet bassist David Adamiak and lead guitarist 
Yvette Young on stage during a SXSW event 
Photo by Amy Drozdiak

By Amy Drozdiak

The streets of downtown Austin have been abuzz this past week with energy, filled with more than 30,000 out-of-town visitors gathering for the internationally known SXSW Festival. On Wednesday night, David Adamiak and his Mathrock band called Covet made their SXSW debut.

Adamiak, 24, is the bass player for this Northern California based, three-member band, and acted as the band’s spokesman during the show at The Hideout, a funky, after-hours coffeehouse featuring an intimate acoustic stage.

He prompted the audience for song titles, shared some of the band’s background history, and even threw out a few comedy bits.

Donning a pink t-shirt and a costume wizard hat covered in silver moons and stars, Adamiak got into the groove of providing the bassline to the alternatively ethereal, atmospheric and dynamic guitar sounds of Covet’s music.

Even after the show, he was still clearly smitten with the excitement of the experience. “It was such a boon, you know? It was a really lucky thing for us to come out here,” he said.

The band heard about the SXSW gig only just about a week before, when their booking agent called to say, “Wanna play at South by Southwest? An opportunity came up,” recalled Adamiak. “And I was like, no, why would we want to do that…Um, YEAH, of course we want to play South by! That’s only like, one of the best music environments ever!” he laughed.

Covet band members from left: Drummer Keith Grimshaw,
guitarist Yvette Young, and bassist David Adamiak
Photo courtesy of Covet's Facebook page

 Adamiak, along with Covet’s lead guitarist Yvette Young and drummer Keith Grimshaw, thus traveled from San Jose, California to Austin, being one of only three musical acts from the Bay Area invited to perform.

Just like that, Adamiak, a recent University of California-Riverside graduate and bass player since childhood, is now living the “rock star life” that he had never expected.

“I’ve always played, and always loved to mess around and experiment with bass,” Adamiak said. “I didn’t really have much of a plan, other than to just keep playing.”

The band hasn't just kept playing; it has grown into something bigger. “This whole thing with our band, it kinda just fell together,” he shrugged. “We have these opportunities, so we’re riding them. And we’ll see how far that goes!”

“David’s great, isn’t he?” said the band's guitarist Young. “He’s such a team player. He’s really held us together, and helped us keep sane on our [first] tour.”

The show, though held in a small, café-style theater, captivated the audience. People were enthralled by the show, many of them clearly “losing themselves” in the music, whistling and applauding enthusiastically.

After the show, a fan came up to Adamiak, “I’ve been following you guys for months now, on YouTube and Facebook,” he said, shaking David’s hand. “You guys have a fantastic sound, keep it up man!”

“[That] is a good sign,” Adamiak said of the excited fan, winding up cables as he took them out of his bass’ amplifier.

After Austin, the band will continue on to other Texas stops over the next few days, including the “So What?! Music Festival” in Dallas as they are on tour with the band “Tides of Man.”