Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere

Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere
Studio album by Acid King
Released	April 17 2015
Recorded	2013 - 2014 at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, California (Except 3 & 5)
Genre	Stoner Rock, Stoner Metal
Length	53:33
Label	Svart Records
Producer	Billy Anderson, Acid King
Acid King chronology
The Early Years (2006)	Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere (2015)	Live at Roadburn 2011 (2022)

Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere is the fourth studio album by Acid King. Written and recorded in the years following their previous record III, Middle of Nowhere would be initially recorded with Toshi Kasai and later with longtime producer Billy Anderson. Ultimately it would be released in April 2015 via Finnish label Svart, just under ten years since the release of 2005's III after delays with lineup and studio changes.

Notably Middle of Nowhere would be the first studio release to feature recurring bassist Rafael Martinez, albeit contributing to two tracks. Also of note is that it would be the only Acid King release to feature Mark Lamb and the last Acid King release to feature longtime drummer Joey Osbourne, both of whom would leave the band at the end of 2016.

Background

While new material had been written and in the works for some time no new studio releases had some since 2005. New songs would appear in the set as early as 2013. Initial recording of two songs would be done with Toshi Kasai at Tiny Telephone Studios, San Francisco, California. However during recording the band were not happy with the style of recording and opted to return to longtime engineer and producer Billy Anderson. With initial recording done in January and a near eight month gap, Anderson would fly from Portland to San Francisco to record the new album at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland. Anderson would mix the album at Different Fur Studios in San Francisco while mastering would be handled by Justin Weis at Trakworx Recording & Mastering.

On 18 December 2014 a new album would finally be announced along with European dates in the Spring. Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere would see release on CD and Vinyl on 17 April 2015 with a tour of Europe surrounding the release, including marquee appearances at Desertfest London, DesertFest Berlin and Heavy Days in Doomtown. A music video for "Red River" would be released on 22 April 2015, a week after the album's release.

In an interview with The Obelisk, Lori would explain the long songwriting process for the record and the changing of engineers and producers:

“	[On deciding to record again] “We had a handful of songs. They were kind of ready but not really ready. I felt like the timing was right, I felt like it’s been a long time. This music was not popular when this band first started. All of a sudden it was like, a whole different state out there than when we first started this band. I thought to myself, oh we better seize the moment now because it might not be around forever. I really just wanted to get this done. We’ve been fucking around for way too long. I really wanted to get it done. I booked studio time, and I was like, “we’re doing it.” Once I booked the studio time and made preparations, it put a little pressure on us to get it together and get it finished.” [On working with Toshi Kasai and later Billy Anderson] “No. Matter of fact, it wasn’t originally with Billy. I wanted something new. I wanted a new label, new engineer. I didn’t want to do anything — I wanted to do something different. We originally hired Toshi Kasai, who started off recording us. We recorded some of “Red River” and “Outer Space” with him. Those are on the record, he did the recording and then we – part of it was, we weren’t really ready for all the songs. We weren’t really happy with the way we recorded. It wasn’t really him, so when it came to wanting to finish the record I really missed my collaboration with Billy. I don’t know how to word it without making it seem like Toshi wasn’t good enough, because it’s not like he wasn’t, he’s awesome. But when you have a relationship with a producer who you’ve recorded so many times and they just know what you like. We have such a history with Billy. But, like with anything else when you get comfortable just like when you have a new acid-king-tour girlfriend. First you’re going out and you’re all proper and you’re not farting, then all of a sudden you’re married and you’re peeing with the door open. You get too comfortable, maybe don’t treat each other the way you should — so, because of the history with Billy we thought it might be nice to have someone else. Some fresh ideas. But the thing is, the difference is for us, and I think if we all lived together closer… I’m telling the long version because I feel like I just want to make sure it doesn’t come out that Toshi is not good. The thing is, he lives in L.A. and we don’t really know him that well and so I think if we had the relationship we have with Billy where we recorded a bunch of times and knew each other more, it probably would be awesome. But I need more of a collaboration than just an engineer. I need someone that is, “Okay, what else do we do with this part to make it better?” Billy has got a lot of ideas of let’s do this or that. He doesn’t need to be told, he’s a good collaborator. Where with Toshi it was more up to me to be like, “Now I want you to do this or that.” I like to have collaboration. I like to have someone else have ideas too. I’m not like a dictator in the studio. So when it came to finishing the record, I was like, “Billy! Hi! Don’t hate me for not originally hiring you but now I want you back!” (Laughs) Everybody was cool, he was totally stoked and Toshi was totally cool. Everyone, was all good. That’s the story of how that all happened. [On the process of switching engineers] That was like another year. We recorded some songs in January and then we recorded some songs – that probably took a whole other year. Six to eight months, getting the rest of the songs. Billy lives in Portland now, flying to San Francisco, etc. But it was awesome. So you’re in the studio with Toshi and you’ve got these recordings, how long between you have a sense of something is not working like it should or could be working better — how long between you getting that feeling and you calling Billy? I would say when we were done with the amount of time we had recording and it came to, “Okay, I want to redo these songs, I’m not happy with what they are.” I really started feeling at that point, almost immediately, I think I need more help. I think I need my Billy. It was pretty quick after that when I realized that I missed recording with him. [On feeling about the album] Oh I love it! So happy. I like the songs that Toshi did too, Toshi recorded them but Billy ended up — we recorded more and Billy finished and mixed everything. So where was a collaboration on both, but I’m super-happy with the way it came out. It’s probably my favorite record, for sure. When you haven’t put a record out for 10 years you’re just thinking in your mind of what the reviews will be like, like, “This is what they’ve done after 10 years?” There’s all kinds of — not that I give a shit about what anybody thinks, but you know, still. It’s in the back of your mind. But I was really happy with the record and I of course was very happy because the most part it’s gotten really good reviews, everyone seems to like it. Of course that makes you happy. You can say you don’t give a shit about what other people think all you want, but if you read a bunch of shitty reviews about your record it certainly doesn’t make you feel good. I know because I’ve had shitty reviews.”	”
	— Lori S., The Obelisk

Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere would attain positive reception from numerous publications such as Metal Temple (8/10), Blabbermouth (8.5/10), Invisible Oranges, The Obelisk, New Noise Magazine and Nine Circles among other publications. Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere would rank #2 on The Obelisk's Top 30 Albums of 2015.

Tracklist

All songs written by Lori S. except where noted.

• 1. Intro (3:53)
• 2. Silent Pictures (9:18)
• 3. Coming Down From Outer Space (5:48)
• 4. Laser Headlights (6:53)
• 5. Red River (8:26)
• 6. Infinite Skies (7:51) (Lori S., Mark Lamb)
• 7. Center of Everywhere (8:45)
• 8. Outro (2:38)

Personnel

• Lori S. - Guitar, Vocals
• Mark Lamb - Bass; Additional Riffs (3 - 5)
• Joey Osbourne - Drums, Percussion
• Rafael Martinez - Hammond B-3 Organ (5); Additional Guitar (6)
• Billy Anderson - Engineer, Mixing, Producer; Tracking (3, 5)
• Toshi Kasai - Recording (3, 5)
• Justin Weis - Mastering
• Zombie Yeti - Layout, Graphics
• Tim Lehi - Artwork

External Links

• Bandcamp
• YouTube
• Red River Music Video
• Discogs