We caught up with front man Michael Gossard of the band ACIDIC and discussed the band’s early start, their sound and upcoming projects. The band is made up of guitarist Michael Thompson, bassist Ted Dubrawski and drummer Matt Whitaker along with lead singer Gossard. Keep reading to find out more about ACIDIC.
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| Photo by: Alfredo Luna |
1. How’d you decide on the band’s name?
I decided to name the band “ACIDIC” because I was under a lot of pressure trying to come up with a good band name and I was having no luck in doing so…until I looked at the back of a can of diet soda and saw the word “Acidic.” And for some strange reason it just popped and, needless to say, I was thoroughly intrigued.
2. How did you all meet and how did you develop your sound?
ACIDIC started in 2007 but with a different lineup. It was a huge challenge to find cohesive musicians who could work together in close quarters and with enough in common to get along, and who were serious about it, and really wanted to dedicate themselves to doing this for the long term. The following year, I put up flyers in every high school in town and every viewable place that could be found, looking for a drummer. We had broken drum sticks on the flyers so they’d attract some attention. From that, I found Matt Whitaker, our drummer who has this off-the-wall sense of humor and he’s a ball of fire. He’s also a very proficient musician.
I found Ted Dubrawski by looking into my past. I’ve known him since grade school, yet he was always in my periphery because he was one grade ahead of me. In high school we wound up playing in the same school rock band at football games, and I decided to approach him about joining ACIDIC. He willingly obliged to become the expressive bass player. But we wanted another guitarist and it seems like it took forever to find one who really filled in all the gaps and also clicked with the chemistry of the band!
We finally found Michael Thompson after we’d posted an ad on craigslist.com and we really got a hit from that. And he’s a really solid singer, too. Our sound developed by practicing every day and building on the songs that I’ve written for us. We’ve been influenced by jazz, blues, metal, industrial, and classic rock and I guess we’ve managed to blend all those influences in a way people like a lot.
3. Are you guys working on any projects at the moment?
Songs are always being written and I’m working on new music even now. Sometimes it feels like I’m always writing. There are some amazing things in the works. We’re excited to say that we have multimedia projects waiting in the wings, with two new videos in production from our latest CD, “Getting Lucky.” There may be an online premiere and live chat coming for whichever one is out first. We’re going to be in Europe by the end of the year, entertaining the troops! There are more tours being planned as we look ahead – well into 2011! Looks like we’ll also be playing a lot of colleges all over the west! We’re really excited about that!
4. How’d you feel about touring with Hawthorne Heights?
Touring with Hawthorne Heights is always an honor and a pleasure. They are fantastic people as well as inspired musicians, and we had such a great time working with them. They were really nice to us. That was a real thrill! We toured 12 cities in eight Western states back in July, and it was such a great opportunity for us. We connected well with them and their fans who are just amazing people themselves. It felt like joining a really large family.
5. Are there any bands you admire and wish to work with?
We admire any band who has shown an appreciation for their fans, a willingness to stand the test of time, and create music we love, which is most of them! In the future, if we could make that wish, we’d tour with bands like Green Day, Jimmy Eat World, Paramore, Anberlin, and the Plain White T’s.
6. What inspires your sound?
Their are literally no bounds to what inspires our music to transpire! Everything is an influence. It can range from experiences we have, either positive or negative or frustrating or funny or boring or exciting, it can be other music, specific instances, things in the news, things that happen to our friends, something we read, a dream, everything under the sun. If you name it, we’ll attempt to write about it!
7. What are your musical goals and what lessons have you learned so far?
We’ve learned to never limit yourself, always try to grab and appreciate every opportunity that presents itself with honor and class, always be willing to compromise and to roll with the punches. We hope to become acclaimed for being great musicians and great people, we hope to be appreciated for our stage charisma as well as our personalities off the stage, we always try to be kind and considerate. We fantasize about playing some of the major arenas of the world because we want to see as much of the world as possible and share our music as widely as possible.
8. What’s the best piece of advice someone ever gave you?
Our manager Mary Lyon gave us two pieces of excellent advice: “Be humble and grateful and charm their socks off,” and “Rise above it.”
9. What do you guys do when you’re not making music?
You mean there’s something else to do besides making music? When we’re not making music, we’re talking about it or planning to make music or wishing we could make music, this is our life force.
10. Anything else you’d like to add?
We love our fans, our music and anyone who wants to make music or listen to it. And we’ll give you a truly explosive and unforgettable and just downright fun show. If you see us you’ll be glad you did (and hopefully you’ll tell your friends). Please check us out on Facebook and join our world – there’s lots of good stuff on there all the time.
For more information about the band ACIDIC, visit:
http://www.acidicband.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/theACIDICband
http://www.facebook.com/ACIDICband?ref=mf
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