This Thursday, May 10 at the Westcott Theater, Southern California rock band Acidic will be appearing with Seattle-based grunge band Candlebox as part of an East Coast tour.
“We’ve never played in Syracuse before,” lead singer and guitarist Michael Gossard said. “In fact, we haven’t played outside of NYC before this tour. So I’m really looking forward to it.”
According to Gossard, Acidic was formed a few years ago under unusual circumstances.
“It was very sporadic,” Gossard said. “[Drummer] Matt Whitaker, [bassist] Ted Dubrawski and I played in high school together and we wanted to keep going, explore our horizons. We found [guitarist] Michael Thompson through Craigslist. After we played a show, he made a post telling us, ‘that was f—ing awesome!’ We asked him, ‘you want to play?’ And the rest is history.”
Although three of the four band members played together in high school, Gossard noted each one of them has his own musical influences.
“I listen to everybody from the Beatles to the Foo Fighters to Mötley Crüe,” he said. “Ted grew up listening to surf rock while Matt listened to emo and alternative music. Apparently, Mike [Thompson] only listened to Nine Inch Nails. So we all kinda meshed together and created this unique sound that’s unlike anything we’ve ever heard.”
The band has released three albums to date, the latest of which, “Chronic Satisfaction,” was produced by John Ryan (who has worked with artists like Santana, Styx and Lynyrd Skynyrd).
“John Ryan was an incredible mentor,” Gossard explained. “He said we had something nobody else had and wanted to produce our next album. When we met up with him, he said we needed to capture the band’s pure energy. We ended up recording the entire album live. There’s much more energy to it. I’m very proud of it.”
In addition to their current tour, Acidic has traveled across the country with bands like Warner Drive, Marcy Playground, Filter, Hawthorne Heights and Alien Ant Farm.
“Opening for Alien Ant Farm was interesting,” Gossard said. “They’re rock ‘n’ roll stars, but they’re also nice guys. We’ve even managed to maintain a relationship with their drummer. It’s just been a blessing to work with bigger bands and to learn from the best.”
Acidic’s future consists of more tours and a fourth album, but Gossard acknowledged another potential project.
“I think it’d be great to start a studio,” he said. “It’s something I really want to do.”
Unlike other bands, Gossard pointed out that Acidic interacts with their audiences quite a bit.
“We’re very approachable,” Gossard said. “We usually hand out flyers and we try to meet every person we play to.
“If you want complete passion, come to our show,” he added.
Acidic will be at the Westcott Theater (524 Westcott Street, Syracuse) with Candlebox on Thursday, May 10 at 7 p.m. For more information, check out their Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and YouTube pages or visit acidicband.com.
