ACIDIC Embarks on Second Tour as US Cultural Ambassadors

ACIDIC rings All-American Rock Music From Southern California To Central Asia, Rocking Kazakhstan's Capital City Of Astana As Only Americans Can, All Throughout The Fourth of July Week.

ACIDIC are on a tour organized by the United States Embassy in Kazakhstan, putting Southern California's favorite young indie rockers to work at art and popular music events all over Astana. They'll be interacting with student groups, jamming with local bands, and spreading their catchy alternative-rock from one end of the capital to the other, both in electric and acoustic sets.

ACIDIC represented the U.S. as Cultural Ambassadors of Music all over Eastern Europe last October/November as part of the 2016 "American Music Abroad" Program. The U.S. State Department-sponsored AMA Program last year took the quartet to five nations: Bulgaria, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Latvia, and Tbilisi, Georgia. The band charmed old and young alike, sharing the common language EVERYONE speaks - music - ranging from contemporary rock/pop to local folk songs. Indeed, ACIDIC made such a great impression last Fall that the American Embassy in Kazakhstan came calling for a follow-up tour.

Q-and-A W/ ACIDIC Front-Man, Michael Gossard, About The Current Kazakhstan Tour.

Are there any differences between the American Music Abroad Tour ACIDIC did last year, and this year's tour?

MG: American Music Abroad is an organization that works through the State Department. We are working more directly with the educational and cultural affairs department of the State Department for this one. The goal is the same, though. There is one interesting geographic difference. Last fall, our itinerary took us around the Black Sea, among other places. We didn't go farther east than in Baku, Azerbaijan, which borders the Caspian Sea. This time takes us across the Caspian Sea into Kazakhstan. We've never before been that far east as a band. Thirteen time zones!

With Donald Trump in the Oval Office inflaming many countries around the world, do you see ACIDIC's role as 'Cultural Ambassadors' being even more vital during this upcoming tour?

MG: We don't represent any particular president. We are cultural representatives sharing American culture with the world for the benefit of America and her interests. We are out here to be ourselves and share ourselves with the world. Regardless of who is President, America will always support freedom, democracy, and human rights.

Do you foresee feeling any sense of danger or apprehension on the upcoming tour due to Trump?

MG: We expect this trip to be completely safe and productive. This is a non-political adventure. It amazes me to see how, no matter where we are, no matter what part of the world, what languages, what beliefs, everybody everywhere speaks fluent music. It's like math, it's universal. It's like the ultimate common thread. It really is a language everyone can speak.

What have all the members of ACIDIC been doing recently? Any new material, etc?

MG: We have been writing and recording new material lately. Lots of practice sessions getting ready for this one. High-intensity tunes, that are already going over really well when we've tried them out on friends and in local club dates. I also write music for television and cable shows.

My guess is the band will do "Come Together" as their encore most nights. Any other songs you might be working into the mix along these lines?

MG: We are definitely going to play "Come Together". It's a big crowd-pleaser no matter where we go. People really seem to like our bluesy take on a longtime favorite, and everybody knows the words. Never fails - the crowd starts singing along and totally owns the chorus. We are throwing in some of the new original songs we've been working on, and adding some very carefully-curated cover favorites into the set as well.