Acidburp is someone that I’ve been championing since I first heard his glorious sounds last year and since I first posted about him and having had him play in Ireland over the summer, I can honestly say I’ve grown to love his stuff more. Organising an interview with him was always going to be inevitable really and there’s no better time as now, in preparation of a new release and his inevitable return to Ireland when he plays Bourbon Street in Cork next Saturday the 12th November. If his set during the summer in a field in Clare was anything to go by then he’s absolutely gonna tear the roof off the place. If you’ve never seen him live then this comes highly recommended. I personally cannot wait anyway and he was kind enough to answer a few questions ahead of it.We’ll start with the old familiar question. How did you get started making music?

I really wanted to play the drums, badly, after watching bands like Mötley Crüe and Guns and Roses on MTV. Yep, I used to love hair metal! So in 1993/4, myself and some friends started a band. But we ended up doing Counting Crows and Radiohead covers as most garage bands did.Anyway, I went to college sometime later and joined a few bands there, one of which was with my good friend Mark Jones. Mark pretty much introduced me to Electronic music. I actually remember the first time I heard Roygbiv by Boards of Canada blasting out of the college PA, and I think it was right then that I wanted to make music like that. So I got a copy of Fruity Loops and made some
absolutely awful, distorted dance/gabba! But I stuck with it and I started to really enjoy making electronic music.

How did THEM records come together?

THEM was started by my friend Eric in 2008. We been friends through Myspace a few years before that. I forget if I asked him, or he asked me, to release something on THEM. Either way, I did. I always tried to promote the label as best I could, because I genuinely love everthing thats been released on it. So last year Eric asked me to help run it, and I jumped at the chance! We have some amazing stuff coming up! I urge everyone to download everything off
THEM, its all free too!

How do you approach the tune writing process? Are you the kind to lock yourself away for hours on end?

I used to do. But I went through a (very long) period of not being able to make anything and it really got me down. So nowadays I just make music when I’m in the mood to do so and I dont try and force it. This approach is really working for me and its become less like a job and more like something I absolutely love doing again!

You also release stuff under the Rat Faced Boy moniker. How do you feel it differs from the Acidburp stuff?

Erm…Its ironically more acidy than my Acidburp stuff! I am just trying some new things out and it seems to me that the stuff I have been writing recently has moved in a really different direction than my Acidburp style of writing. I’m really trying to focus on bass at the moment, been messing with some really nice VSTs and trying to get sounds I’ve never used before. Also, going back to the writing process, as weird as this sounds, I am much more productive when I am writing as Rat Faced Boy than when I have my Acidburp head on…

Manchester has a well known history in music. Has it been an influence on you?

Not at all! I was too young to be a part of the ‘Madchester’ scene, and as I said, I was rocking out to GNR and stuff when bands like Oasis emerged! Those swaggering, neanderthal-like, mad-for-it, tossers!!

What producers are you listening to at the moment?

I have been completely rinsing the EOD ‘questionmarks’ EP and Diabrotikos’ new release, ‘Sensitive Invaders’ for months! Really top quality releases. Some others that are never off my ipod are Mrs Jynx, Wisp, Bibio, Oxynucid, Missqulater, Mitch Murder, Bon Iver, Bowerbirds, and Caribou. Some other great artists I’m excited to hear more from are Kristine, Aech_Rom and Hautlle. I’m sure there are loads more, but my brain wont work.

You’ve played out in Belgium at The Once upon A Festival. What’s the reaction like over there?

It was mental! I really enjoyed it, and I think my set went down really well! It was the biggest crowd I’ve played to so far and they were great! The Electronic scene in Belgium is HUGE!! Everyone really seems to get into it and there is always something going on. I really love the Belgian people too, they are always friendly. I cant wait to go and play there again.

You’re releasing your new album ‘Hello Again’ on Complex Sound Sagacity on the 28th November. How did that deal come about?

Well I was originally going to do a Bandcamp CD release on my own. But I decided it would be good to have a label behind me, so I asked Christian if he might want to release it through his label via Juno and Amazon and other online stores, and
he had a listen and he loved it and it’s going to be out as an mp3 release.

What does the future hold for Acidburp?

I did a remix of Chris Lilley’s hilarious character, ‘S.Mouse’, under the name ‘Isla Phisher’. Apparently Mr Lilley heard it and wanted it to be on his album! So its going to be out on November 4th as part of a ‘Angry Boys’ Collectors Edition CD/DVD set!

Also the Acidburp/Rat Faced Boy EP I released a little while ago on Bandcamp has
been snapped up by a really nice label called Auditory Cortex Records, and I think that will be re-released in November. And I have another Acidburp EP, ‘Dust Covered’, that will be re-released on Pendrive Records sometime this year too. I’m going to be focusing on getting an album together under my Rat Faced Boy name hopefully early next year, and I’m giving Acidburp some time off…for now, well apart from gigs.

BIG UP TO ACIDBURP FOR THE INTERVIEW AND MAKE SURE AND CHECK HIM OUT IN BOURBON STREET IN CORK NEXT SATURDAY, THE FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE IS HERE