Adelitas Way’s lead single, ‘Sick,’ off their current full-length, ‘Home School Valedictorian,’ shot to No. 1 on the active rock chart last summer, carrying an in-your-face, sing-along chorus and catchy hard rock character.

With the success of ‘Sick,’ it’s safe to say Adelitas Way singer Rick DeJesus knows what makes a great rock song. What’s his songwriting advice? Focus on working through just a few songs and make them really rock!

When writing ‘Home School Valedictorian,’ DeJesus told Artist Direct that the dudes sat down, jammed out and “before we knew it, we had half of the record done.” He added that the outfit, “didn’t write like a million songs for Home School Valedictorian. That’s too much. It’s overload. You can’t have 100 good songs. Nobody spits them out like that. We wrote 13 or 14 songs, and 11 made it. You have to realize what you should put your energy towards and what you’re feeling. You can’t just say, ‘Let’s write 70 more!’ I believe in writing 10 to 15 really solid songs that are the best we can do.”

DeJesus went on to sing the praises of Adelitas Way’s hometown of Las Vegas. “… I love living in Las Vegas. If you ask me, I’ll sit here and sell Vegas all day. I think it’s the most beautiful city,” he said.” “I love living there, and I don’t plan on leaving. We’re blessed because we can play shows there and people come and support us. It’s not the easiest place for a band. There are so many nightclubs, shows, and DJs. Every night is a good night to party. We finally have gotten ourselves to the point where we’ve become the cool thing to do if we’re there. We’ve built ourselves up to that point.”

Watch Adelitas Way’s video for their new single, ‘The Collapse,’ here.

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