Guy Keltner
Acid Tongue
Guy Keltner is the founder, songwriter and the singer of Acid Tongue, a Seattle-based rock band, formed in 2015. They have released three studio albums and four EPs on Seattle independent label Freakout Records. He is also the founder of the Freak Out festival, a must-see on the Seattle rock scene, and a talented DJ, bringing us forgotten treasures from the 60s and 70s. We immediately thought of him to wear these lebaldesoublies suits, which are also strongly inspired by the silhouettes of those years.
Guy is wearing LEBALDESOUBLIES
How did you start playing music and what are your principal inspirations? Can you give us an idea of how you became Acid Tongue?
I’ve been obsessed with music and making music for as long as I can remember. My parents were taking me to see blues and rock concerts as an infant, and I have really wonderful memories of seeing John Lee Hooker, James Brown, Dr. John, Black Sabbath, you name it. I might have had a really chaotic childhood, but I was exposed to my fair share of music and my parents always made sure I had my guitar with me to deal with any trauma I might endure. I had a great teacher as a teenager, a man named Al Kaatz that has played as a session and touring guitarist since the late 60s. He got me started on guitar with a heavy dose of soul, reggae and surf music. Rhythm was of the utmost importance, and it’s something I still really focus on in the music I create today.
When I created my persona of Acid Tongue, I really wanted to capture the more soulful and punk rock elements that I enjoy about rock & roll. I will forever be obsessed with old 60s & 70s records by Gladys Knight, The Stooges, Joe Tex and The Velvet Underground. But I’m also pulling vocal inspiration from a more wide array of artists such as Jonathan Richman, Bob Dylan, Timber Timbre and even Al Green when I’m making my own attempts at singing falsetto. In terms of guitar playing, I’m inspired by Keith Richards, Teenie Hodges, Dave Davies, George Harrison, and even Jimi Hendrix. The Seattle boy in me is always going to have a little taste of Hendrix and Nirvana and all that stuff.
The band’s sound is really an amalgamation of all these musicians, and so many other artists that I consume on a daily basis. I will forever try to insert my often childish, sarcastic and hard partying energy into this music. The lyrics are so introspective yet I also see them as an indictment of our generation and the many mistakes we make in our daily lives.
Can you describe to us the importance of your style? Do you think it reflects your inspirations and your personality? Do you dress differently to perform?
I use my style as an extension of my personality. Some days I am a dirty grunge boy, cruising the streets in my flannel hi-top sneakers and Levi 550 jeans. When I’m performing, I turn up the sleaze factor - skimpy tank-top, tight-fitting 70s pants, bouncing off the drum set and onto the stage. This outfit works at my DJ sets and could easily be passable at a Euro-trash techno club.
I can also enjoy the importance of dressing in a nice formal suit, though. I own a few of these for really special shows or events and I love to don a suit and feel clean in some ways.
You are the founder of the Freakout festival in Seattle, an immersive, multi-day event that has become a cultural touchstone stone for underground psychedelic rock and punk music in the United States. Can you tell us more about it and how it started ?
The very first year, Freakout felt more like a big party than a full-on festival. I started the event with three other friends from various backgrounds. One of them used to run an underground DIY club in Seattle, so he had a lot of experience throwing punk gigs under the radar. I was working for a much larger venue at the time, and I learned most of what I know about booking bands and marketing shows during my tenure at the club. I had also met a ton of really incredible rock bands while touring throughout the United States, and I wanted to curate a unique event featuring some of these artists sharing stages with my favorite local Seattle acts. That year we hosted the festival in a gay club, a heavy metal club and we used a dance studio for the main stage and built the stage ourselves.
This November will mark our 12th year as a festival. The event has gradually expanded to include 9 stages, and our lineup will include over 100 artists. This curation features psychedelic & garage powerhouses such as The Black Angels, A Place To Bury Strangers and Black Lips. We also are lucky to host punk rock legends Lydia Lunch (of Teenage Jesus & The Jerks), Martin Rev (of Suicide) and Love Battery (a seminal Sub Pop grunge band from the early 90s).
We’ve taken this festival so much farther than we ever expected. This thing has gone from a drug soaked, dirty, rainy, beer-drenched mosh pit party to a much bigger, drug soaked, dirty, rainy beer-drenched mosh pit party. US pop singer Kesha showed up last year to see Viagra Boys play our spring event. Actor Michael Imperioli from the Sopranos played a couple years ago with his post-punk band Zopa. Kid Congo from The Cramps, The Bad Seeds and The Gun Club has played, and loved it so much he’s going to do our big Halloween party in Seattle this fall. We get to live this crazy rock and roll dream.
What would you say if we ask you for 5 musical recommendations? Any records that you can’t stop listening to right now? Anything classics that you will be spinning forever?
The latest record from Sextile, «Push», is absolutely phenomenal. I’m spinning it constantly these days, it has so many cool elements of techno, drum and bass, and even 90s hard rock like Nine Inch Nails. The song «Contortion» makes me feel like I’m on molly at a Berlin nightclub.
I, Jonathan» by Jonathan Richman goes in a completely opposite direction. Jonathan’s voice and guitar playing is just so sweet all over this album, and it really helped me grow as a songwriter. I found a way to relate to a forgotten era while pushing my music into new territory.
Isaac Hayes’ «Hot Buttered Soul» gave me an education on psychedelic soul. Stax basically gave Hayes full control in the studio and he made this incredibly trippy opus with The Bar-Kays. It’s 4 songs total and it continues to blow my mind.
«Cumbia Salvaje» by Sonido Gallo Negro might be the most played thing on my headphones lately. The Freakout family loves Cumbia. It’s the fastest way to get us all dancing and in the best mood in the world.
Oh, and the self-titled debut record by Davila 666 is probably my favorite garage rock album of all time. ¡Soy basura total!
We’re such huge fans of the song “Blame it on the youth” here at Wiper Magazine. It really captures something about our current times, yet there’s a timeless subject matter when you sing about adolescence and aging. What is the story behind it?
Personally, I still feel like a 15 year old in my head. I am motivated by many of the same things - music, food, love, sex, entertainment. We experience so much at such a young age, and then we carry the good and the bad with us for the rest of our lives. I wrote the song in the middle of the forest in Washington State, a few hours outside of Seattle. I was feeling particularly connected to my teenage self, and I was starting to draw some parallels with my current mindset and struggles in life. The words spilled out of me, and the melody flowed just as easily. I co-wrote the chorus with this great musician from Los Angeles, Erik Janson. I write songs often with other musicians, but very rarely do I co-write the material I use with Acid Tongue, so this was a really beautiful moment of opening up with another artist and creating something profound together.
What is next for Acid Tongue? What’s next for Freakout? Tell us about your future and what you have in store for the world.
I just finished recording another new Acid Tongue album. I spent a lot of time listening to The Jesus & Mary Chain during a depression last year, so a lot of the songs came out really dark. It’ll be a lot different than «Acid on the Dancefloor».
Despite my best efforts, Freakout continues to grow and become increasingly legitimate. We’re a non-profit now, so I sure as hell better behave myself these days! We’re going to be doing more events in Los Angeles, and we continue to host a stage at Treefort Fest in Boise each spring. Maybe we bring this shit show to Paris?
