An Interview with the UK Metal Heads

'Black Acid Souls'

that took place on 3rd March, 2013.

Interview by Glenn Milligan

Where did your interest in Rock & Metal come from and what led to you forming the band?
A friends older brother had played some AC/DC to Chubbs when he was 10 from then on he was hooked. Over the years he had slowly converted his Brothers Flakey and Gruff into it and that was it, Metal was in the family. Tweek was a friend as a child and got drawn in too.
Chubbs had previously been in bands playing covers but always had a passion for writing his own music, which his brothers shared. After playing in a couple of bands with Flakey and Gruff that had split, Black Acid Souls was born.

Where did your band name come from and what made you choose it?
At a rehearsal in the first few months we decided to throw names in a hat and draw out the band name. Black Acid was drawn but we were a bit unsure so decided to draw another, turned out to be Acid Souls which must have been fate so we added the two together. A quick search on the net and no one had it, Black Acid Souls was it.

Introduce the members of the band and what made them the ideal choice for the band?
Chubbs plays Guitars and started the band with his two brothers Flakey and Gruff. Needless to say they argue a lot over writing the tunes, probably due to their passion for a sound and style they want lol.
Flakey started out as our Bassist but after a short time the singer left and Flakey took over which had to be his best decision ever.
Gruff was our other guitarist, however after Flakey moved to Vocals we needed another bassist. The bassist we wanted no longer played Bass and was now playin guitar so Gruff decided to moved to Bass and Tweek came in on guitars and he jelled straight away so Tweek was in to join Chubbs.
Dover came in just over a year ago to cover for a festival due to our original drummer leaving for family commitments. With only a couple of rehearsals he did the festival and we were really impressed. We then auditioned numerous people for the job as Dover was already in a Band, however decided that if we wanted him he would love to join, it was a no brainer really he was in. Together we feel all members bring numerous things to the table which complete the band.

Who are the wildest members in the band and why would you say that?
Chubbs and Flakey without a doubt. They are the ones that bring the laughter and pranks to the show, rehearsals and general get together’s and are always messing around.

What songs are you most proud of writing so far and why?
Steel and Thunder cause we wrote it for a mates website of the same name. But we love them all really.

How would you describe the style of the band?
Well that’s a hard one as all our tunes tend to fall into different sub-genres of Metal but probably more Classic Metal with Groove Thrash Grunge NWOBM thrown in. Does that help?

What were your first shows like and where were they held and what are your best memories of them?
The Vic in Coalville was our first which was hard to perform, with only one person their lol as it hadn’t been publicized. However it gave us an understanding of how well thing should be advertised. He enjoyed it though and we bought him a beer for staying. We did loads of gigs in the start and we have enjoyed all of them really.

What revs you up before a show and how?
We listen to Psychosocial by Slipknot and can’t gig without that before we walk on. It’s always been a tune you can get a nod of the head on and then you think we need to do that to the audience and we go for it.

What are your favourite parts of your show, with regard the show presentation itself and the songs featured in it too?
When the crowd start chanting BAS BAS is always good but when we all get to the front and start head banging together in Precious Possession and No Man’s Land and the crowd join in what a felling that is.

What songs seem to go down best and why?
Wasted seems to be one everyone sings along to. I Think it’s all down to the lyrics lol. Deadly Sins is one that has a really melodic groove at the start which everyone loves.

What's the most ott song you have ever covered in your set and how did it go over to the audience?
We did a cover of MJ’s Dirty Diana once which was a giggle and everyone loved it, but covers aren’t something we do very often.

What have been your biggest attended shows so far and how many people?
Corn Exchange in Bedford with around 1000, And a couple of festivals with around a few 1000 each.

What do you find your age range of fans to be and what's the percentage of male to female in the audience and for what reasons?
We get all ages from teens to OAP’s and there’s generally quite a mix of male and female so can’t really answer that one.

What are your best road stories so far?
We did a gig in Birmingham and then at around 1am we headed off for one in Scotland, at around 4:30am we decided to pull up and have a kip. It was quite foggy so pulled of the road onto the grass verge and wham asleep. Waking up the next morning and wondering why there was so much traffic about, exited the van for a good old stretch to realise Garfield had stopped on a roundabout with everyone driving round it wondering why a van was parked in the middle.

Album-wise, what are you most happy with and why? Also what memories do you have of recording and promoting that said album?
That’s a hard one cause you always find things wrong with the way it sounds, however the tunes on it are all really good tunes and we have found that people who have listened to it or bought seem to like different songs. The album has a raw feel to it, we didn’t want it to sound like it was over produced like a lot of albums these days, and we have learnt a lot on how we want it done next time we go in to the studio for the next album. Best memory was the Cream Egg Moment, you know who you are lol.

What have been your most eventful tours so far and for what reasons?
We had a tour a while ago and you know when it’s that cold you wake up with ice on the inside of the windows it must be cold well we had one of them tours. Bloody freezing snow and ice, technical issues at every gig, things breaking and you just think to yourself…………………………………man I could do with a Cream Egg and all things are forgotten well it didn’t happen. However we learnt that Tea generally does the same thing so it’s all good.

What concert and tours do you have coming up soon and what are you most looking forward to?
Hammerfest is in a couple of weeks and we are really looking forward to that one, Hopefully sorting a tour for around July- August time even though we never really stop gigging anyway. Then Rock and Metal Circus festival in September and next Year Alt-Fest so all looking good. Hopefully New Album by the end of the year but who knows…………….

Who would you like to tour with if you had the chance and for what reasons?
Machine Head, Testament or Evile. Everyone will always mention the biggest but we would be over the moon to tour with any of the for mentioned. They are similar in style musically and think that would really give us a learning experience as well as making new friends on the journey.

What makes you stand out from the rest of the bands out there today and why?
We don’t tend to follow the trend or one style, anyone can listen to our tunes and say that’s BAS that is. We write in a way that we find exiting. Some of the tunes we have written never make the set or an album because we feel that it’s not there yet. So you know when you’re listening to our tunes that we love it and its gonna be different to everyone else. We have a style all of our own.

What is the funniest thing that has happened to you guys so far both on and off stage?
Onstage a few years ago the guy decided that smoke was in order but he had a smoke machine for a fog film. Needless to say everything disappeared and when the smoke settled Flakey was hanging off the stage upside down with his belt buckle holding him from falling off. Off stage when Dover did his first tour with us we had a bit of an initiation and let’s just say deep heat was involved lmfao.

What could you see yourselves doing if you weren’t in this band?
Being bored stupid and playing tiddlywinks.

Who has been the coolest artist to work with outside of the band and why?
Can’t really say some of the bands have been awesome so can’t really point to one.

If you could feature a guest member in your band, who would it be, what song (s) would you want them to perform on and why?
Corey Taylor and Rise up cause it’s a good thrash tune to bang your head to. Rob Flynn and Deadly sins, think adding a third guitar to it would be awesome. Rob adding backing vocals now that would be an awesome thing to experience.

In general, what will you be up to for the rest of the year and beyond?
Gigging getting more gigs and playing loud music. Is there anything other than that to do??????

What would you like to say to any fans out there reading the Interview?
Thanks for reading hope you enjoyed it and learnt a bit more about us. But most of all go to a gig and support live music it doesn’t cost much and you never know what you’re missing. The Music Scene need you……………………………\m/_(-.-)_\m/

Thanks Guys!!