Music: The Acid

Jeff Hemmings drops in…

Brighton resident Adam Freeland may be familiar to many as a ‘breaks’ dance pioneer, having set up the Marine Parade label back in the late 90s and from there on in becoming something of a legend in that world, DJing around the globe, on some of the biggest stages, he eventually exhausted himself.

“I did it a lot,” says Adam over a coffee near his long-term Brighton seafront home. “For 16 years, I didn’t stop. I always said I would do this until it felt like a job. I never wanted to be that guy who is going through the motions, and not having fun. I want it to be an artistic passion, not a job. And I was knackered.”

It took a while to adjust to a ‘normal’ lifestyle and to get his body clock back. “For six months I didn’t like music, I had a bit of a crisis! But I got my energy back, and my clarity back, and started loving music again with a whole new perspective. And I started putting together mixes on my sound cloud and the reaction was awesome, back to where I started.”

Whilst visiting Los Angeles, Adam called producer Steve Nalepa and booked some studio time, but before that, he bumped into Ry X, producer and singer, at a dinner party. “He told me he had done this track called Howling with some guys called Arm in Berlin. And that was literally my favourite track at the time. So, we just started messing around, drones on guitars. And then because I had booked studio time with Steve, we went to the studio the next day and recorded four tracks in four days, which became an EP. We put it up on sound cloud and didn’t tell anyone about who was behind it. We knew it was good, and it started getting some momentum, and promoters and labels started getting in touch. Infectious got in touch late last year and we signed with them.”

The Acid’s Liminal album is truly a band effort (Freeland, Nalepa and Ry X), a wonderfully tense, emotive, intricate and yet chilled affair that flows from beginning to end. “It was quick and refreshing, such a revelation creatively for me. I wasn’t trying to be anything, and he’s (Ry X) got a great voice. I think it’s the best album I’ve done.”

The Haunt, Tues 3 June, 7pm, £10
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