The band Acid King has been sludging along since 1993, and wowing fans across the globe. Known for their dedication—some might say obsession—to their wide low-frequency sound, which bewitches like an ode to Syd Barrett’s soul, Acid King will play a rare afternoon show at Moe’s (courtesy of FolkYeah).
While most artists struggle to lift their creations beyond the static of an oversaturated media hellscape, Acid King has been plowing the fertile underground and living just below the surface for the better part of forty years.
And for founder, sole original member, and keeper of the eternal flame, Bay Area resident, Lori S, living beneath the radar is part of the plan. “I go by Lori S. I don’t use my last name. I like to keep things band related. That’s just one of the things that I like to do. But I prefer to be known as a musician, and an Acid King. People can have their own ideas of what they think I do. Maybe they think I sit around and do bong hits all day. right? I think that’s what a lot of younger people think. But no. That’s not what I do. I’ve got to pay the bills. So I do other things,” says Lori S.
With five full-length albums and a handful of EPs, Acid King was never really about the studio as much as the live shows. Imagine if Pink Floyd never left Pompeii, Acid King swims like a serpent through the bowels of distortion. Perhaps that’s why they never reached mass acclaim. Or maybe, it’s the name.
Back in 1984, there was a grisly murder in Northport, New York. A 17-year-old, Gary Lauwers, was stabbed to death (and other things) by a drug dealer who was known, in the streets, as the Acid King. What stands out about the so-called, Acid King murder, is that the dealer, Ricky Kasso, testified that he thought he was being controlled by satan.
“Ricky Casso killed his friend who’s stealing hits of acid and tried to make him say, ‘I love Satan.’ He wouldn’t say it. Casso was completely messed up on crystal meth. He was totally out of his mind. He had a horrible upbringing and his dad was an asshole et cetera, et cetera. But of course, the media cashed in on the Satan part. And it was just a bunch of stoner kids messed up on drugs. pretending to being Satan. Anton LaVey never did that stuff,” says Lori S.
There’s definitely a subculture that exudes out of their pores the world that Acid King rules in. And there’s most likely a misperception, that Lori S drinks the laced Kool-Aid every day. She does not and hasn’t since the 1990s; even her first time wasn’t exactly mind-blowing.
“I was a teenager. I was with my friends. And I remember having a party at my house and everybody took blotter. Nobody really knew how strong it was going to be, or how it was going to hit. It was cold out. I was living in the suburbs of Illinois, so it was like frosty out, but not snowing. I think I just had a panic attack. I started like kind of freaking out a little bit. I saw my records were starting to get destroyed. So I kicked everybody out. I stayed up all night and looked at the lawn, the next day. And my lawn had all these like hand and footprints marks from everyone I threw out. The whole thing was like funny and not funny, because that’s how acid is,” says Lori S.
The often reclusive, Santa Cruz heavy cats, Mammatus open the afternoon of doom and delight.
Acid King is playing on Sunday, April 26th at 4pm, at Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. Tickets are $34.89 and available here.
