DJ Praga Khan brings the Lords of Acid to Ithaca Sunday night at The Haunt. The show begins at 8:00PM. Photo provided
LORDS OF ACID BLOOMED from Europe’s burgeoning 80s acid-house scene, combining the crass and the camp, and driven by a break-neck pace. Produced by the techno DJ Praga Khan (Maurice Engelen) and led by a series of female vocalists, the band released a series of albums dedicated to masturbation, sadomasochism, rough sex and breast size though the ’90s and then took a ten year hiatus.
At its best, the band was as silly as it was sexy; its first single, after all, featured the chanting chorus “I must, I must, I must increase my bust.” After the 2003 release of a best of compilation titled, what else, “Greatest T*ts” the band’s members went on to pursue their own creative outlets.
Now back in action, and once again headed by original members Praga Khan and Oliver Adams, Lords Of Acid has teamed up with old friends My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult – one of the last vestiges of the industrial scene that sprung up around Chicago’s Wax Trax! Records in the late ’80s – for a North American tour dubbed the Sextreme Ball.
The Ball comes to the Haunt in Ithaca this Sunday, August 1; tickets for the 18+ 8 p.m. show are $20. Call 275-3447 for information on the show.
I spoke with Maurice (Praga) by phone while he was on the way to a gig in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Q: It’s the fifteenth anniversary of the Sextacy Ball. Will you please tell me a bit about how you decided to get together with Thrill Kill Kult for this tour?
Maurice (Praga): Our manager Chris is a very big fan of Lords of Acid, and he said the very first thing he remembers about us was the Ball. So though it took me a long time to consider doing it again, I’m happy that I did. It has turned out very well, and has been better and better with each day.”
Q: It also has been eight years since you toured as Lords of Acid. Have you been taking a break or working on other creative avenues and projects?
Praga: I’m doing a lot of creative projects. The thing is that when it comes down to making music or going on tour, it’s very emotional. I can only do it when I’m ready for it. I worked for the Philharmonic Orchestra, with the Royal Ballet, and with many other groups: There were so many things that I needed to do. When he came up with the idea to do it, it took me a while to decide, but now it feels like the best decision of my life.
But it’s great to be on tour again as Lords of Acid. It was great, just the other day a fan said, ‘Your sound, you took it from Lady Gaga.’ And I loved it!
Q: Please tell me about this group you’re working with. Folks might most be familiar with Lacey Connor from VH1’s “Rock of Love” with Bret Michaels.
Praga: For me, the thing is that I had a lot of crazy experiments. What we did last week, everything was scheduled that I was flying into for a week, and instead I couldn’t get a flight. So I missed my connecting flight and I arrived three hours before the gig.
We had never even met each other. We had never rehearsed. But still, I had this very confident feeling. I received some emails from the rest of the band, and they had been Lords of Acid fans from the beginning. And that’s what you need. And then we went on stage on Seattle and it was an explosion of energy.
Finn is an amazing guitar player, the drummer too. And Lacey, I didn’t even know that she was on TV. But I had seen her in [the band] Pigface, and I could see that this girl would be perfect.
Q: Is the touring environment different in America than in Europe? I know that people respond more naturally to dance music generally overseas, but I wonder if there are more fetishists here than there.
Praga: What we have here are people who know Lords of Acid by heart. They are die-hard fans, these are the real fans. For me, it is always a pleasure to come here. Because these people have been following Lords of Acid for ages, and it’s more fun to perform in front of real fans.
And the one other difference is that when we tour America, people know that there’s one thing to be had and that’s fun. The interaction between the crowd and the band, and the audience with each other is a special experience, an exhilarating one.
Q: I feel like Lords of Acid was the perfect balance between the shocking and the playful. Could you talk about maintaining that balance?
Praga: That’s exactly what we’re doing right now. Now that there are new players in the band, the band mates asked whether I wanted them to copy the original Lords of Acid, or blend, and that’s exactly what I want. They’re not robots, they have their own style. Now it sounds a little more industrial than before, but the humor, the fun, is still in there. More tongue and cheek is something I think Lacey needs in her performances.
Q: And is there any chance you’ll go back in the studio now?
Praga: What we have got to do now is the tour, but it is going so well that a lot of venues have sold out, and it gives me a good feeling. For a long time I was telling myself I wasn’t ready for the new Lords of Acid album, but after the tour, when I get back to Europe, I think it’s time for one.
What fans will hear now at these shows is a best of the Lords of Acid. They are going to recognize the all of the songs.