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Acid Tiger
We speak to Lukas Previn of Acid Tiger, Thursday and more about the former’s storming self titled record, and the importance of having a good time
When we first heard Acid Tiger’s self titled debut a little while ago, we were mightily impressed. The Brooklyn four-piece feature Converge/United Nations’ Ben Koller on drums and Lukas Previn of Thursday/United Nations/The A.K.A.s on guitar, and have come up with a remarkably assured, riff-tastic debut record that collides a multitude of styles and sounds, from blistering hardcore to tripped out psych rock. We checked in with Lukas to see how it all came together, and to talk bangovers, brain – volcanoes and timpani solos.
Heya, thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions for us today. To start off with then, how are you; what are you guys up to at the moment?
I am actually really well thanks. Currently Acid Tiger is prepping for a short run in June to whet the appetites of the east coast before we head out on a full tour to support the record in the fall. We also added Jim Carroll (From Hope Conspiracy, Clouds, Piebald) to play second guitar and his SHREDebut was our record release show with Narrows. He is also my roommate and a riff-bazooka so it works out real well.
Your self-titled debut record has been out for a little while now, so how have you been finding the overall reception to the album so far? In stylistic terms it’s quite a departure for both yourself and Ben, do you know what some of the Thursday and Converge die-hards have been making of Acid Tiger?
The overall reception has been super rad. It’s been amazing to hear so many reactions from such different fan bases. It was just a few days ago that Ben got ahold of me to tell me that when Converge played Austin he was stoked on the amount of Acid Tiger shirts and requests for us to tour there that he got. I’ve experienced similar things on tour with Thursday/United Nations and I’m always blown away by how far it’s already reached. The internet is a powerful/scary thing.
‘Acid Tiger’ sounds like the kind of album that would be a lot of fun to write and record, chock full of riffs and with room to really flesh out your ideas; how did you go about putting the record together? You’re busy guys, have you had any trouble finding time to exchange ideas, record and so on?
Man, it was an absolute joy to write and record that record. We’re all such good friends and really cared about making it as good as possible not only for ourselves but also each other. It was an enormously relaxed groovy atmosphere. We all had known Kurt (producer) and worked with him previously so that added another angle of comfort and trust to the mix (pun intended). As far as putting the record together pre-studio, Ben and I have been finding our spirit animals and playing music together for the better part of a decade. So when he ended up moving to Brooklyn we instantly wanted to start taking the riff train to jam town. The writing process was as simple as "wanna go write some tunes?". "yup". In regards to if it was difficult to find the time to do it? Honestly, not really. We are in constant contact when we tour and sometimes even tour together and in this day and age of being able to record and send any idea you may have within literal minutes, the distance between us sometimes made it better because we were all so anxious to get in the same room and share the ideas that were born from the ideas that were emailed back and forth.
Kurt Ballou produced and engineered the record, how did you find working with him on ‘Acid Tiger’? The album sounds sharp but with an almost swampy, gritty element in the mix, what kind of equipment were you using to achieve those tones?
Working with Kurt has been and will always continue to be an experience where I come out of each session a better player. He does NOT let you phone ANYTHING in, and he is fucking super straight up and honest. If something sucks, or you suck at playing it, you will know...very fast. I work best under that kind of atmosphere because I’ve always hated working with producers/engineers who try and "hollywood" their criticisms. If I’m blowing it lets get down to brass tacks so I can fix it fast and move on. Equipment wise we used a huge huge stack of different gear. None of it straying TOO far from our live set up. Without giving everything away I will say we used one amp that had giant crazy knobs on it and was wrapped in Jeans that sounded like a laser inside a bumble bee that was trapped inside a bag of magic mushrooms.
Can you see yourselves heading out on the road in the near future, and if so could a European visit be on the cards? Do you see yourselves as primarily a live band, or as more of a recording band, given your collective schedules?
We will absolutely be hitting the pavement hard after the summer. Coming to Europe is a huge priority for us and for me especially since I was born and raised in England. We absolutely see ourselves as a live band. I always knew that recording with this band would be like trying to capture a bear in a shoe box. That being said I think we came pretty close...
There seem to be aspects of a variety of different bands, past and present, on the self-titled... Did you go into the record looking to achieve any particular kind of sound, or dynamic? What kind of shared influences do you have as a band, who’s music do you see as feeding into the sound of Acid Tiger?
I think working up to the record we all had it in our heads that we wanted it to be an actual album. Not just a single track that will be promoted, followed by a bunch of other "filler". The records we all keep close to our hearts are an experience from start to finish and I think we wanted to show our respect for the records that made our proverbial collective musical dicks hard. We all have a shared love for writing tunes, being friends, going to our local, touring, spliffs, Zeppelin, Pantera and Sabbath.
The overall presentation of the record is pretty stunning, with some awesome, mind bending artwork... How much did you guys have to do with the artistic direction of the sleeve, the disc and so on? Do you guys like to retain overall control over all of the aspects of Acid Tiger, the merch, record presentation, all of the peripheral aspects of the band?
We actually had quite a lot to do with the art considering our singer and bass player did it! haha! Working with a label like Deathwish is such a pleasure because they encourage the creative process from top to bottom. Allowing us to be the band we want to be and present it in a way we feel represents us (I.E: a blue volcano erupting brains).
What’s at the top of your personal playlist at the moment, are there any records or bands that have really blown you away recently?
The Latest Bands to absolutely blow me away not only as musicians but as some of the raddest mother fuckers out there are in no particular order...
La Dispute. Trash Talk. Touche Amore.
All three of those bands are doing it THEIR way and succeeding. It gives me faith that there is a shift happening where sincerity and passion will overtake the saturated landscape of half hearted bullshit we all seem to be wading through artistically lately.
Are Acid Tiger the kind of band to set goals and look forward at what you’d like to do in the future, or are you just seeing how it goes for the time being? As mentioned earlier this sounds like really enjoyable music to play, is it all about doing something different and having a good time for you guys?
Hahaha. This question rules because it’s all of the above. Yes we set goals, we are planning on touring our faces off on this record, and then we are going to write and record the next one. We have a bunch of songs already written so it’s just about getting this first one out, creating audiences full of bang-overs (headbanging so hard it hurts the next day) and having a time. Come out, party, go nuts. We never set out to try and do anything different. The record is literally the result of us just playing the way we wanted because that’s our version of having a good time. Maybe the next record our version of a good time will be nothing but violins and harp with timpani solos. Time will tell.
You’re a member of a very diverse bunch of bands... do you tend to approach each band in a different way, as regards writing and live shows? Your playing style is quite different in, say, United Nations and Thursday, not to mention on the Acid Tiger record...
Well each band is certainly a different beast and of course alterations have to be made, I don’t know if I tend to approach them drastically differently because at the end of the day i put my heart into them all.
Each band absolutely represents a different portion of my personality so I think it’s just about tapping into/being inspired by that specific portion of myself.
Stylistically of course they are extremely different. Acid tiger is a prog-riff psychedelic intensive experience that really allows me to get weird with my playing and writing . United Nations lets me get really really spazzy/angry in terms of my playing/writing and also lets me pay homage to so much of the "hardcore" I loved growing up (Portraits Of Past, Saetia, 400 Years, Swing Kids) and Thursday lets me really get deep. super deep pockets of riffs and super deep pockets of thought. After all is said and done though getting to make music with people I love is fucking rad and I feel incredibly lucky to be able to do so.
With your experience of life on the touring circuit and as a recording artist, what kind of advice might you give bands entering into the music world in this day and age?
Whatever you are doing, do it harder... that’s what she said.
Finally, do you know what your plans might be for the rest of 2010? Will you be focusing mainly on Acid Tiger for the time being?
Well, In June Acid tiger is doing a small tour, then I will be heading out to play guitar for a U.S. tour with Touche Amore the day the Acid Tiger tour ends. In August I’m going up to record with Thursday, and then in the fall both Acid Tiger and United Nations will be touring a bunch to support both of the records and after that the new Thursday record will come out at some point and a lot of touring surrounding it I am sure. Once that’s all done I plan on hanging out with my Chihuahua and working with shirts and destroy in their new home in Brooklyn and maybe installing a train horn in my car.
Thanks again for your time, and all the best; love the album!
Thank you Rob!
Acid Tiger’s Self Titled debut album is out now on Deathwish Records.
Thanks to Nicole Hollis-Vitale for organising the Q&A.
Rob Sayce
