1. Acid cross has been thrashing for over 9 years now. When you started the band, did you envision you would still be doing it today?
Jon: When I started the band it was just a jam band with friends that was trying to sound like Bathory/Venom. I've always looked at the band as an outlet for creativity so I am not surprised that the band is still around after nine years and keeps evolving.
2. Who would you say are the biggest influences impacting the music of Acid Cross, both as a band and you individually?
Jon: I would say early wave black metal and thrash like Destruction, Sodom, Sarcofago, Sepultura, Bathory, Venom and Celtic Frost. I am very much a fan of the German and South American scenes from the 80s and early 90s. I am also personally influenced by traditional heavy metal bands like Tank, Warfare, Omen, Nasty Savage, Manilla Road and Cirith Ungol.
3. Recently I’ve discovered a whole new side to the Canadian metal scene not known to me before. With the strange population density that is Canada how do you go about building a metal scene and attain followers?
Jon: The Canadian scene in terms of the history of heavy metal has alot of pioneering bands and the scene is very diverse. We are a big country but we dont have alot of densley populated major cities. Most of the known Canadian bands come from Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver which all have large metal and punk scenes. I think you really have to build a scene around like minded individuals and have local promoters and venues that are doing it for passion and not money.
4. It has been a long journey from your first album “Black Moon Rites” to the latest EP “Pil Sessions ”#14 . How do you see the course of the band so far? Have you achieved your initial goals or even surpassed them?
Jon: As I said earlier we started out with the goal of playing Bathory/Venom style metalpunk and along the way we have incorporated a bit more thrash metal and traditional heavy metal influences into our sound. I don't think we had any real goal when starting out other than playing loud music and drinking beer! So, I suppose the fact that we are still making loud music and having fun means we have surpassed our initial goal.
5. How long does it take you all to create a song from start to finish? What is the process Acid cross takes when writing new music?
Jon: It depends on the song. Some songs I can write in a day and some I write in parts over a period of weeks. I mostly write by myself until I have enough songs for the next release and then present it to the band and then they learn their parts and we record. The members all live in different cities so we dont jam very often.
6. Who composes the music in the band? Does alcohol or hash helps a lot to find new sick ideas? Do you have to feel something special in the riffs to be sure it's "Acid Cross riffs"!?
Jon: I write all the music (except for a couple songs on Black Moon Rites that were written by the original drummer) and majority of the lyrics. Eric has written and edited some lyrics on the last three releases. For myself, I don't do any drugs and I drink alcohol but I don't ever use it as a creative tool while writing. Acid Cross riffs need a certain type of evil and grittyness to them. I also like them to have a controlled chaos feeling to them, like a train that is coming off the rails but never fully derails. I love the early demos and first albums of bands like Sodom, Destruction and Hellhammer because they sound chaotic but they are genuine at the same time.
7. I guess even the smaller bands notice that the way people consume music has changed. Is playing live still a good way of reaching the most people or are the more efficient ways?
Jon: Playing live is still the most effective way to make people remember you. I suspect if we played live more that we would be better known. There are so many bands nowadays and many sound similar so as a music fan its can become very over saturated very quickly. I am also not a fan of making social media posts every day to stay relevant. I know the diehards will seek us out and I would rather have 100 real fans than 100,000 fake follows on social media.
8. What originally sparked your interest in topics such as Old horror movies, Zombies, Murder, Death, Gore? Is it something you grew up with?
Jon: Absolutely grew up with horror movies. My father let me watch movies like Childs Play, Nightmare On Elm Street and Friday the 13th at a very young age and I just never stopped. I have also been an avid reader of fantasy, sci-fi and horror novels since I was a kid. Video games like Resident Evil and Parasite Eve were also major influences on me.
9. Is Canada a great place to be an thrash/punk band? What kind of response do you get from the Canadian metal fans?
Jon: Canada has alot of great thrash and punk bands. Even though our country is large in terms of landmass the scenes in the different cities are all known to each other and each city has a diverse selection of bands. We get a great response from Canadian metalheads.
10. In your opinion what are the advantages of Canadian bands? What could be much better in Canada?
Jon: I think the advantage is that we have very tight-knit scenes in Canada and we benefit from the collective likeminded support from all the bands and fans. I think for Canadian bands it is still a bit of a challenge to get noticed in the global scene because we still dont have nearly as many bands as the United States and for Canadian bands trying to get signed to labels outside of Canada it can still be difficult like it was in the 80s. Just like Razor said "Born a Canadian, Didnt come from the USA, The odds are all against me".
11.What kind of music you listen to when you’re not in a creative mood. What can get you started?
Jon: I dont necessarily need to listen to music to get into a creative mood. Sometimes I will be at work or out for a walk and a riff will pop into my head and I make notes of it on my phone and then play around with it on guitar when I get home. This happens for lyrics as well. If I need inspiration for a song I am writing I usually turn to the classic thrash and heavy metal bands of the 80s.
12. Do you think ACID CROSS is a good live band? What do your gigs consist of, and are some cover-songs played in front of the audience?
Jon: We haven't played live since 2015 because of line-up changes and members being in other touring bands. We use to cover Blown to Bits by The Exploited. We may try and start playing live again this year.
13. What do you do other than the band, for fun/work and do you like being in Canada?
Jon: I play in several other bands that take up most of my free time, I write for Noxious Ruin Zine, I play Dungeons & Dragons, I do weight lifting and I watch alot of movies and read alot of books and zines. I have a boring office job that I do graphic design at.
14. Many thanks again for your valuable time and your effort! I wish you only the best! The last words to our readers are of course yours!
Jon: Thank you for the interview! It is always good to see that people still read zines! You can find all our music on all the major streaming platforms and our physical releases and merch at our Bandcamp store. We are working on a new release called UnderDark that should be out by end of 2023.
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