A.C.I.D Interview (Exclusive.)
A.C.I.D is a Southend based band that are showing the rest of Essex their unique and engaging sounds. Part of Cool thing records, a local label showcasing the best Essex has to offer, their popularity is growing. We speak to Liam Watkins, frontman of A.C.I.D to talk about his inspirations, experiences, and everything creative.
Q. What got you into writing and performing music? A. I taught myself keyboard from age 14, and then studied music performance and production at college and this helped me to start playing guitar, singing and writing songs. This then progressed into playing the role of a frontman on-stage, which was pretty liberating, so I'm still doing it with A.C.I.D.
Q. Who would you say your biggest influences are at the moment? A. PJ Harvey, Nicolas Jaar, Holly Herndon, Autechre, Tim Hecker, Portishead, Boards Of Canada, Carly Rae Jepsen, Burial.
Q. How would you describe your music to someone that had never heard it before? A. Electronica being played by a punk band.
Q. How did the band meet? A. We all knew each other throughout college, and after we left Owen and Dom both really missed playing music, so we decided to start the band as a way to have fun and use as a release.
Q. What made you think you would work well together? A. We have different tastes in music and all come from a different musical background, but we have a big cross-over in what music we find inspiring as well, so I thought that the balance of difference and similarity in our musical styles could produce some interesting results.
Q. What inspires you when writing a song? A. In terms of writing the music, I usually have a visual scene in mind that I try and re-create via chord progressions and soundscapes. I always write lyrics in a stream of consciousness style, and then work them into a chord progression if the mood seems right.
Q. Where do you see the band in 5 years’ time? A. Hopefully we will have a couple of records out, be touring/playing festivals and mainly, still enjoying it.
Q. What is it like being part of the Essex music scene? Have you had any bad experiences? A. For the most part our experiences have been positive. Playing Village Green was great last year, and the folks at Cool Thing Records are creating a nice creative community and building up a lot of exciting talent. The main issue is that getting gigs locally is a challenge as there are so many bands competing for a handful of good venues every weekend, but this isn't a deal breaker and there is more going on in Essex than say, Dorset.
To keep up to date with the band and other acts signed to cool thing records, check out their Facebook page here.
Photo credit: Niki Cornish
