In today’s society, I’d say having good people skills are a true gift, and for many being an entertainer is a dream job, but a dream not all can fulfill, but for those who do, there’s never a dull moment. Over the past 15 years of his life, Adam Ill has worked hard to establish himself as a brilliant and original MC. Pursuing his career, while traveling the country interacting with thousands of people, Adam graces stages and is setting a standard of quality and is always having a damn good time while combining the two things he loves most, cannabis and entertainment! In this exclusive interview we talk about Adam’s ascension as the entertainer he is today, we also get to hear about The Secret Sesh and what he feels about “dabbing etiquette.”

 

  1.    You’ve been working hard for years to be where you are today, with that being said, can you give our readers a glimpse into the start and rise of the infamous Adamacadocious a.k.a Adam iLL a.k.a Mr. Luscious Locks?

 

I’ve gotten to where I am today by combining two things I’m passionate about; marijuana and entertainment. I began working at the CBS radio station 97.1 KLSX (now AMP Radio) in 2001 as a street team member/”brand ambassador” and, since I’ve been smoking marijuana since I was about 13 years old (and have never been shy about admitting it), I quickly became the resident stoner at the radio station. I’ve always enjoyed meeting new people and finding ways to entertain them and, over the course of my years at the station, they came to recognize this. That’s when they started bringing me on-air for different shows as their “stoner character.” This led to me doing a segment with Tim Conway Jr. and Arsenio Hall once a month called “Pot Talk” and I was eventually tapped to be the voice of their HD station. Unfortunately the station decided to change their format shortly after that and I don’t think the new station really felt it was appropriate to keep a stoner personality. This was in 2009. At the same time this was going on, a great friend of mine was just putting together his own podcast which actually featured a few of the former show hosts from KLSX. He invited me to start my own show as part of their “network” and one of my old street team partners and I joined together to form “The Potcast.” It ran for about 4 years (during which time I worked at and managed several different dispensaries), until my co-host and I decided to part ways, at which point I began my current show, “Getting High With.” I think timing had a lot to do with it because the marijuana movement really picked up while I was getting more involved with the cannabis community and it opened up a lot of opportunities for me to utilize my background.

 

  1.       Who are some of the greats who’ve influenced your work to date?

 

Working alongside some of the best talk radio hosts really influenced me and shaped how I work. I think Howard Stern is one of the best interviewers out there and I’ve tried to emulate that by doing my best to constantly keep things interesting. I don’t like covering basic topics when I interview someone and I typically go through a great deal of research to find relevant and interesting material. Some might laugh at this but I also consider Ryan Seacrest a pretty big influence. Working as a host, you come across all different kinds of personalities and situations and I don’t think many people realize how difficult it sometimes is to keep on-topic and maintain the direction of a show. I think he handles it incredibly well, always managing to keep things relevant and moving in the right direction. And when you look at how many projects he’s involved in, you can’t help but admire his work ethic. Remaining poised under pressure and being willing to really put in work are important attributes when a large part of your job entails promoting yourself.

 

  1.       Have you always been outgoing and comedic? What brought you into radio and becoming a 420 personality, do you have any tips for people who are interested in pursuing such a career?

 

First I’ve got to say thank you for referring to me as “comedic.” I’m always surprised and extremely flattered when people say I’m funny because it’s not something I do intentionally. I’ve always been outgoing and I knew that I wanted to work in entertainment. But getting into radio was purely by chance; it was an opportunity that came up through my brother and I’m grateful that I took it because it really helped me determine the path I wanted my career to take. My background in radio has been really useful in developing myself as a 420 personality and I consider myself incredibly lucky to be able to do this as a career because, at the end of the day, I’m really just a friendly, talkative guy who likes to get high.

My advice to anyone wanting to pursue a similar career is that you need to be willing to work at it. A lot of people think I just grabbed a microphone and jumped on a stage but I really did put in quite a few years learning how things worked and developing who I wanted to be as a personality. I would also tell others to be original. Find what really interests you and take the time for a little self-exploration so that you can present those interests in a way that’s unique to yourself. Being original not only helps you stand out, but it also gives people the opportunity to relate to you on a very specific level and if your ultimate goal is to be a personality of some type, it helps you to identify your audience.

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  1.        What has it been like for you personally being so heavily involved in the formation of the flourishing 710 culture that is taking place in the United States right now?

 

It’s been really exciting being part of the whole 710 movement and watching it grow. A lot of people perceive it as being a “new” thing within the cannabis culture but in actuality, it’s been around for a while. I’ve met quite a few older hippie-types who have given me the “you guys think you invented everything” lecture and I fully recognize that our generation wasn’t the first to consume concentrates. BUT… within the past decade or so, it has become a major part of cannabis culture and while those in the industry now may not have “invented” concentrates, I would definitely say that we can take credit for popularizing it and making it more mainstream. I think that this is a really revolutionary time for the 710 culture specifically as well as the cannabis industry as a whole and seeing the evolution of the whole community and getting to be a part of it is really inspiring.

 

  1.        Do you think the concentrate industry needs more regulation? How has working with Vader Extracts and The Secret Sesh changed your life and do you feel as though cannabis social events should be treated the same as bars and clubs who serve alcohol?

 

I do think the concentrate industry needs more regulation. Everyone who consumes should be able to have access to safe, clean medicine and I don’t think that can be done while people are manufacturing in their homes with questionable techniques and materials.

Working with Vader Extracts and The Secret Sesh has changed my life by giving me exposure to a much larger group of people than I normally would have encountered on my own and I think its helped me to gain some perspective on how I hope to influence the direction of the marijuana movement. Vader and Paris have put me on their stage at multiple Cannabis Cups and being able to speak to such a large audience has made me want to set an example to those who are anti-cannabis; I want to represent myself and our community in such a way that those who are anti-marijuana can look at us and say “These people aren’t criminals. They’re not doing anything worse than what I do when I go to a bar.” And The Secret Sesh allows me to interact with others in the community on a more personal level and to really get to know them and their thoughts on where our culture needs improvement. I really hope that gatherings like The Secret Sesh will one day be treated like clubs and bars. We try to run our weekly event with the same level of efficiency and rules and hopefully this helps to project the idea that what we’re doing isn’t harmful and doesn’t necessitate us being labeled criminals.

 

  1.       Getting the opportunity to host your own segment on Breal.tv must be a true honor, what is your favorite part about getting to be around these professionals and explain the format behind your show “Getting High With.”

 

Having my own show on BREAL.TV has been incredible and they’ve really helped me out by giving me a platform and allowing me to reach different demographics. But I think my favorite part of hosting there is that I get to interact with a wide variety of personalities and learn from them first-hand. You never know who is going to be in the studio on any given day and having the opportunity to speak to them and soak up the knowledge they bring from their experiences is really inspiring. I mean, there are people who come in that I’ve looked up to for most of my life and getting to meet and even work with them has given me some real “stoner boner” moments.

“Getting High With” doesn’t really have a format. I don’t consider myself an activist or an expert on anything; like I said earlier, I’m really just a friendly dude who likes to get high. When I record a show, the only thing I’m really trying to accomplish is to entertain my audience (and of course get my guests high).

 

  1.       What is your biggest pet peeve when it comes to “dabbing etiquette” and why?

 

My biggest pet peeves when it comes to dabbing etiquette are dab size and hygiene. I know I’m guilty of ninja dabbing or giving people larger quantities than they’re expecting. But I do have boundaries and only do that type of thing when I know an individual is an experienced smoker and can handle it. I’ve witnessed people giving others huge dabs because they think it’ll be funny or even when it’s their first time and I think it’s kind of cruel. Nobody wants to be over-medicated or have a bad experience that ruins it for them. But my biggest peeve is really the hygiene aspect of dabbing. It’s gotten better with the creation of individual mouthpieces and I see many more companies supplying alcohol wipes at events than I used to. Unfortunately there are still some who don’t bother with these things and I see it as irresponsible and, quite frankly pretty gross, to not protect others from spreading germs when its so easily preventable. I’ve definitely been a victim of “Cup Cough” before and it’s not a good experience.

 

  1.       Where can ReLeaf reader’s check you out, catch some free dabs or ninja dab you for the remainder of the year?

 

You can check out my show every Thursday at 8 pm PST on BREAL.TV and a couple of times a week on The Dr. Greenthumb show, which airs weekdays at 4 pm PST. If you want to get high with me in person, I host The Secret Sesh every Sunday and have been hosting at least one night a month at The Headroom Gallery. I actually stop in there fairly frequently to hang out and support friends. I’ll also be at the Cannabis Cup in Jamaica this November. But the best way to find out where I’m going to be next is to follow me on my social media accounts (IG: @gettinghighwith, FB: Adam Blunts, Twitter: @gettinghighwith , Snapchat: GettingHighWith , Periscope: GettingHighWith). I post regular updates there on where I will be appearing next and, even though I’m not permitted to say anything yet, I do have some exciting announcements coming soon so stay tuned… WHAAAAAT!

 

 

Adam Ill has continuously risen to higher heights (no pun intended) and is keeping quite busy these days. After his long stood run with “The Potcast” his reputation has been forever solidified in the industry. Adam has already begun forging an undeniable legacy as a veteran, charismatic and confident 420 personality. This has resulted in leaps and bounds of personal development and lead to opportunity, such as his successful “Getting High With” segment on Breal TV and stacked interviews under his belt with some of the biggest names in the business to date. One thing for sure, is no secret, Adam Ill is here to stay and we’re eager to see what he has in store for the future!

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