Outside Folk
The Acid Tree
The Acid Tree kindly invited Coyote up to Manchester to play some tunes this summer. We had such a good time we want to spread the word. We asked Nick some questions and he answered. The boys were also kind enough to let us have a mix recorded live @ The Acid Tree this November. The tracklist and link can be found below the interview
Top gaff, top chaps and great music.
Muchos Gracias to Nick and Justin.
1.what/where is the acid tree..?
It's a night I started nearly four years ago now. I wasn't really playing anywhere regularly and wanted to do something with a kind of balearic, laid back feel to it. The original venue was a vegetarian cafe bar in Withington, Manchester called Fuel. We had the upstairs floor which was a compact space with quite a basic, DIY feel to it. Moonboots, who's a good friend of mine, did the very first one and we had some pretty good guests during our time there but it was quite restricting in many ways - sound wasn't great, the bar was downstairs and they used to have different music playing down there too, so we never fully achieved the vibe we set out to create.
After an extended break and a couple of false starts we finally ended up in Folk. Folk is a cafe/restaurant/bar in West Didsbury owned by Justin, my partner in crime. It's a unique place with an amazing vibe and a great terrace that gets the sun all day (occasionally!). We've been doing The Acid Tree there for the last 18 months and I feel like we have found our spiritual home...it feels like the night is part of the fabric of the place and I can't really imagine doing it anywhere else now. We've had some amazing guests recently - Moon, Balearic Mike & Jan Hammered, Mudd, Phil Mison and the Coyote boys, and there's loads of stuff coming up that we're really excited about.
2.where does the name come from..?
It's a nod to Acid House, and the Tony Wilson - "Let a thousand Mancunians bloom" quote from when the Hacienda closed. It also sounds a bit mystical and gypsy - which is a good thing.
3.what are your earliest musical influences..?
There was always music played in our house when I was growing up. My dad loved his Soul and Northern, but it was really my mum who had music on constantly. She was into Bowie, Roxy Music, Boz Scaggs, Eagles, Genesis, Average White Band, Hall & Oates...stuff that I still love today.
4.where/when did you start djing..?
To be honest It seems like something I've just always done. I would always be upstairs as a kid in my bedroom messing about with an old record player and a tape deck. My first 'gig' was probably a brithday party at my house - maybe 9 years old?... There's an old photo of me on the 'deck' dressed as Adam Ant with a set of huge headphones on....hahaha
When I was maybe 16 I met a guy called Jonny who had a set of Technics...that was a pivotal moment. Once I'd played on his decks I was hooked. He had loads of great records that were not familiar to me at the time...I remember stuff like The Jackson Sisters, Johnny Bristol, Roy Ayers and lots of Hip Hop - Public Enemy, Big Daddy Kane....Jonny was a big influence and we remain good friends to this day.
5.what are you inspirerd by these days as an old timer..
I still get childishly excited about new music or old music that's new to me. Its never really been about particular genres - I love all sorts of stuff. I've been feeling quite a bit of Indian and Eastern music recently...that Moorish vibe really appeals to me. There's been lots of interesting new music that I've discovered this year. There's a band called Sleep Whale from Texas that are amazing that I would recommend...brilliant musicians playing cello and guitars with programmed drums and lots of tape echo effects. Playing alongside people like Moon and Balearic Mike is always inspiring.
6.tell us about the mix
It's me and Justin recorded live at November's Acid Tree. I was going to put something quite obscure and esoteric together, but that can all get a bit beardy and serious...The mix is about an hour and twenty minutes and theres loads of great tunes in there - a few classics and stuff that people will know, plus a couple of new 'classics'. It captures the spirit of the night and is quite fun...hopefully you'll dig it
7.whats the most balearic record you own
Blimey...dunno. I put a Stephan Micous track off the 'Wings Over Water' LP on a mix I did recently; it was recorded in Ibiza in 1981 so I guess that would qualify as being officially very Balearic! I played Thrashing Doves - Jesus On The Payroll for the first time in years at the last Acid Tree. It was quite late on and the place was packed...that sounded ace and really fresh. A proper Balearic moment.
8.kickers or campers..?
Kickers. I remeber my first day at secondary school. The headteacher lined all of the 1st years up to inspect our uniforms. Only black or dark brown shoes were permitted. I had a pair of red Kicker boots on that were the only pair of shoes I had. That didn't go down too well!
I remeber when they banned trainers from the Hac - everyone had Kickers on in there. I had a particularly ugly purple pair at one point.
9.will utd win the league..?
Not sure. We are definately lacking in certain areas - particularly midfield. I think it will be us or Chelsea, with them looking more likely at the minute. We need a couple of players to step up and start showing what they can do. Liverpool or City won't win it.
10. what does the future hold..?
We've got some great stuff lined up towards the end of this year - Estrellas meets The Acid Tree 12 hour Balearathon all dayer at Folk just before Christmas with Me, Justin, Balearic Mike, Jan Hammered and Mudd playing. Then we're doing a party with the Naive Melody boys and Balearic Mike at The Albert Club in Didsbury, which is a bowling club with a beautiful, Victorian clubhouse...that will be on 27th December. I've got a couple of guest slots coming up and it will be nice to get out and about and go and play at other peoples nights, and will hopefully be doing more of that next year. We are also producing some stuff, so myself and Justin will be working on new music over the winter and should have the fruits of our labour to share with you soon....Oh, and we're also planning a little festival somewhere sunny with a pretty formidable line up DJ's...that will hopefully happen next summer....
The Acid Tree MixTracklist -
Sea Level - Living In A Dream
Lonnie Liston Smith - Bridge Through Time
C J Williams - Rendezvous
Eighty Mile Beach - There Are No Right Angles Found In Nature
Roots Unit - Mabonda
The Project Club - Unknown (wrong speed)
Red Fulka - Kumpo
The Cure - Lullaby
Boozoo Bajou - Flickers
Elis & Tom Jobin - Chovendo Na Roseira
Sandpipers - To Put Up With You
Carole King - Bitter With The Sweet
Olivia Newton-John - A Little More Love
Toto - Georgy Porgy
The Blow Monkeys - La Passionara
Bibio - All The Flowers
Prince - For You / In Love
Don Froth - Foam
