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Author: Dope Fiend
I have the great pleasure of hosting on our virtual pages, Dax Riggs, a great artist and a musician who, with his work, wrote a few lines in the big book of music.
Welcome to Aristocrazia, Dax! How are you?
Dax: I am very good, coffee and the sound of birds.
How did your passion for music start? What has changed, since the days of seminal Golgotha until today, in the way you live and interpret this Art?
I sang hillbilly songs with my granpaw at a very young age. I have always been very emotionaly moved by music. I would cry as a child when I heard certain songs and then in my pre-teens it became my whole world.
We remain in the past: what brought you to change the name of the band from Golgotha to Acid Bath? What were the conditions and goals with which you started playing?
We found out there was a band in Europe called Golgotha and they had a record and we did not yet. I had no goals no expectations, it was only the joy of playing, of expression.
The creature Acid Bath has contributed greatly to the development of Sludge, what do you think of a musical scene that now are more often driven by more or less extreme contamination that led to the fore names like Baroness and Mastodon? Conversely, what were your sources of inspiration in those time?
I love the idea of doom music but nothing seems to move me. In those days it was wall to wall Black Sabbath and Simon And Garfunkel.
One of the qualities that has always intrigued me in your records is they have hallucinatory/emotional atmospheres, a perfect combination of drugs dependence and a yearning that touches themes of love, but always with a dark framework (I think for example at the beautiful "Scream Of The Butterfly"). How do I choose the themes for a song and how do you make them live with the notes?
I feel the themes and sounds choose me.
The perverse and schizophrenic halo that pervades "When The Kite String Pops" finds its counterpart in the more intimate drifts of "Paegan Terrorism Tactics". Considering that both records have a deep expressiveness, in your opinion what are the main differences between the two albums? What were the feelings and impulses that have prompted you to create these two masterpieces?
"When The Kite String Pops" was a real group effort where as "Paegan Terrorism Tactics" was more of us growing apart in style.
How did you come in contact with the figure of the (necropedophile) killer John Wayne Gacy, whose painting has inspired the artwork of "When The Kite String Pops"?
That was forced on us by our record company. I hated it.
Is recently appeared in the Internet a picture of you, Kyle, Duet and Sanchez together and this has generated rumors about a possible reunion of Acid Bath. There is some truth in all this?
We are old friends and it's just a picture. There's no reunion.
Your music career is always in turmoil, what are the projects you are busy now? What did you miss of Acid Bath in the last fifteen years?
I'm writing my third solo record and touring the States a lot. I miss my friend Audie Pitre (bass in Acid Bath) who was killed by a drunk driver. But I don't miss Acid Bath.
Agents Of Oblivion is one of your projects that I appreciate more, the band is still active? Will there ever be a sequel to the self-titled debut album dating back more than ten years ago?
No, the band did not last more than a year. No plans for a sequel.
My little curiosity that I harbor below by a lot of time: why did you put "Dead Girl" in "Paegan Terrorism Tactics" (acoustic version) and also in "Agents Of Oblivion"? That song has special meaning for you?
Not really, we just did it.
In Agents Of Oblivion and Deadboy & The Elephantmen, as well as in your solo albums, appears Doom, Psychedelic Rock, Blues and Southern: what is the thrust of passion that allows you to blend all these influences in so homogeneous way?
I love all forms of music. To me it is a spiritual language.
There are recent albums or bands that have impressed you?
Julian Cope's "Black Sheep".
Your voice, in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful and versatile than currently exist in the music world: when and how did you find your talent?
Thank you, I was born like this.
What are the pros and cons of metal and rock scene today, in your opinion?
I am a member of no scene.
Do you have remorse or regret if you think about your artistic past? What was the most satisfying experience in your career?
No regrets. It is only about the work.
Is there any particular anecdote that you want to tell us about when you played in Acid Bath? What are your memories of those years?
It literaly was my highschool days. And you know you love them and hate them.
Who is Dax Riggs today in everyday life? If you had the chance, what would you say to the Dax Riggs of twenty years ago?
Today Dax is a musical explorer lost in the dark forest. I'd tell younger Dax to fuck off.
Thank you very much for your availability, was indeed a really great honor for me to have the opportunity to make this interview! Wishing you all the best, I leave you once again the word to end the interview as you prefer.
Thanx! Love or die!
