David Hasselhoff On Acid

The name David Hasselhoff on Acid grabs you. Unless you are from Germany, where he’s considered a rock god, David Hasselhoff is the dude that ran down the beach to judge “talented” people while sitting in his talking car drunkenly eating a cheeseburger off the floor mats. Wait, I got some shows mixed up there. Oh well.

The latest from the KC band David Hasselhoff on Acid Eudaimonia is a trip—a rapid-fire jazz-rock fire fight, blasting out of the blocks with “Breakfast,” a jam that must be of supernatural origin. It comes on like something The Sword would do if they spent quality hang time with Frank Zappa and Yes while expanding their imaginations to impressive heights.

Therein lies the rub. I sit listening, eating a burnt English muffin, lounging in flannel pants, needing desperately to shave. I love this record. What has happened to me? Historically, I am not a fan of long, self-important, drawn-out, seemingly improvised jams. I hate Phish, The Dead was overrated, I detest Widespread Panic, and Dave Matthews is the Antichrist.

I grew up listening to punk rock where if you could not get it done in three minutes or less, do not play it. On occasion, if the mood struck me, I would indulge a bit in progressive rock, but those times were as rare as seeing Bigfoot at a keg party.

However, DHOA has struck me differently; there is method to the madness, melody in the chaos—not just “look-what-I-can-do!” wankery. There is beauty lying in the eye of the storm.

“Tiny Bubbles” is an 8 minute, 8 second extravaganza that plays like a threesome between Primus, Metallica, and Carlos Santana. It just should not work in this or any other universe, but it does. However, it does push the limits of my ADD, so if you have similar issues, double up on the Adderall before pushing play.

“Someone Just Caught a Unicorn” is just plain cool. An interstellar trip on par with ‘70s tripout artists Captain Beyond, this is one of the most spaced-out tracks on Eudaimonia—Adrian Belew and Syd Barrett would be so very proud. Although, at over thirteen minutes, even the most dedicated Dungeons & Dragons player would reach their limit. Immediately following is “Noodly Appendages,” the 3:36 jam with Zach Legler doing his best Gene Krupa/Buddy Rich drum fill attack, bassist Erich Thomas blowing the funk out and guitarists Phil Wolf and Brandon Bamesberger alternating between subtlety and rocket blasts. This is a real gem among gems.

The closer “Sheep Led By Wolves Owned by Pigs” is straight-up weird; at times, creepy. DHOA is clearly the Mothership for some of the best musicians I’ve ever heard. Ever. Period. The players make their instruments do things that a precious few could or can do. KC, you should be glowing with city pride to have these prog champions in your borders. That said, my friends, be in the right headspace for Eudaimonia; wait until you are sufficiently lubricated to get sucked in, to get lost. Do not get in a hurry, enjoy it, and let it get under your skin, to take you away, as any good acid trip should.

Eudaimonia was recorded at Level Select Productions in Lee's Summit, and produced, mixed, and mastered by guitarist Brandon Bamesberger. It was engineered by the band: Phil Wolf, Zach Legler, Erich Thomas, and Brandon Bamesberger. - The Deli

David Hasselhoff on Acid, another local collective, added avant-garde elements, including ironic bursts of jazz to its brand of metal. - Back To Rockville

Gearing up for another late-night, I began with David Hasselhoff on Acid. Trekking over to the Backwoods Stage, I had to see for myself what melodies were birthed from such a moniker. It seemed I wasn’t the only one curious by the name, as a sizable number of onlookers questioned (in delight) the clashing heavy metal riffs amid a blend of dub and rock influences. To conclude, DHoA is quite possibly the perfect title for the group, seeing as their tones definitely made one feel as if they were watching, or were, the Baywatch star on mind-bending psychedelics. - The RFW

Claustrophobic. Menacing. Wandering down the rabbit hole.

That was my initial description of David Hasselhoff on Acid at Wakarusa last year. Playing to an audience who were either half-afraid or half-dumbfounded, the Kansas quartet frightened listeners with their sinister brand of instrumental psychedelic jam-rock. Their barnstorming sound threw a melodic grenade into the overflowing crowd at the Backwoods Stage.

Though only in their infancy, the group induces a dizzying feeling in their live shows. It is a feeling reminiscent to riding a rollercoaster after eating a chilidog and downing a Pabst Blue Ribbon tallboy. Each time flagship song “Gumdrop Princess Warrior” spills out of my speakers, I begin to have flashbacks. All kidding aside, the air around me gets cooler, my body tenses up, and I start questioning every notion, for good or ill, passing through my mind.

Even the band itself feels the dark energy. According to them, the tone is, well, “ok, imagine the soundtrack playing in David Hasselhoff’s head as he is munching his junior bacon cheeseburger off the floor, several hours after eating 17 hits of acid and slamming three quarters of a bottle of Patron, but just before he blows his brains out all over the kitchen wall with his stolen sawed off shotgun, because even he can’t take the overwhelming awe of the reality of existence and the beauty of life on this planet. Sort of sounds like that. Ya dig?”

DOHA has that command, onstage and in recordings. The best we can do is grab onto something nailed to the floor and hang on for mercy while they take us for a ride.

Garret K. Woodward: What is “David Hasselhoff On Acid”? Why the Hoff?

Erich Thomas: [To know what it is,] you have to come see. Why the Hoff? To make a long story short, the guitar player, Phil Wolf and I were in Berlin about three years ago. Lets see, lots of LSD, wandering Berlin, and who do we see? Good ole David Hasselhoff. Well, the rest of the trip was pretty much David Hasselhoff on acid.

GKW: How would you describe the sound? Who are the influences?

ET: We generally describe it as aggressive and experimental, progressive funk? Metal? Jam band? We are instrumental, which we absolutely love. We get compared to several bands mixed together. Tool and Primus gets thrown around a lot, but we don’t sound too much like either one. Between the four of us there are way too many varying influences to even start.

GKW: What does improvisational music mean to you? How does it affect your approach to the band?

ET: That’s definitely how we form songs. At least the beginning of songs. Improvisation means letting go of everything and just letting the music out. Being comfortable, but challenged at the same time. When four weird dudes get together, and all the music they let out sounds so different, but still fits together in this singular abstract groove, then you have something.

GKW: How did you guys come about? When? Where? Why?

ET: Began about three years ago with only three original members. A handful of shows after we added a second guitar player to gain some depth. We really came together because we were all good friends and musicians, and, yes, liked to smoke lots of really good weed. Putting the funk, jazz, and metal all into this instrumental jam band stew unleashed our creativity and spewed forth the spectacle that is David Hasselhoff on Acid. A year and a half after getting the four perfect members, we lost half the band, our drummer and guitar player. Those guys were tough to replace, but we persevered. All the guys that have ever been in the band have been from Kansas City. We are very much a KC band.

GKW: What are you thoughts on the current music industry? How do you want to be different, or contribute to the evolution?

ET: Right now we are just trying to get in front of people and keep playing music. We want people to come to live shows. The way to do that is tour, put on amazing shows, and sell merchandise. Digital and vinyl are where things are going for sure. Lots of free music going around and that’s fine. If you like our band, come see us live, and, if you like us after that, come support us and buy something.

GKW: How receptive have audiences been to your creation onstage?

ET: Very. That’s why we want people to come see us live. We played Wakarusa right after [Les] Claypool last year to the biggest crowd on the Backwoods Stage during the entire three days [of the festival]. Two days later, we played a show with two tech metal bands and a hardcore band. Both crowds ate it up.

GKW: What do you like or dislike about being the road?

ET: The three with no girl friends love the road, and the one with a girlfriend, well, you know.

GKW: What’s your dream venue?

ET: Red Rocks for sure.

GKW: What do you want the listener to ultimately witness or walk away with when they see you perform?

ET: We kind of want to be like the trap door in Being John Malkovich. Put you inside Davi - The RFW

David Hasselhoff on Acid flirts with the possibility of having too much going on, with a genre-splicing jamtastic funk that is only one of such diverse elements as heavy-metal double-kick drums, guitars that sound as if they were recorded underwater, and a slap bass that'll knock the taste of Red Hot Chili Peppers right out of your mouth. After ominously pitch-shifted voices on the introductory track, "He Was Lying to Me," Feast treats with a panoply of sounds. It comes perilously close, at times, to too many ingredients, but by the time the closing number, "When the Sky Swallows Her Children," is allowed to reach the pinnacle of its prog-funk grandiosity, the listener has truly been swept into what can only be described as a journey. - The Pitch