Acid Mondays Interview: Music is the structure of the universe

Mondays in Ibiza are anything but boring. Days of the week are only there to shape plans for different nights out, and Mondays are far from the dreaded remains of a weekend hangover as you arrive in work in the UK. For Acid Mondays, that day in Ibiza was enough to influence their DJ moniker, highlighting their attitude towards living and partying.

Open minded within themselves and their music, the duo consisting of Negghead and Lex Wolf are focused on hallucinogenic house and reality-bending techno. After joining forces in Leeds, the pair began to push out music, building up a reputation until they started releasing on the likes of Hotflush Recordings, Circus Recordings and ONE Records. 

They now reside on the White Isle, playing standout gigs at DC10 for Circoloco throughout the season whilst concentrating on future productions. We caught up with them ahead of their gig in Manchester to talk about outer space, the Balearic island and Mondays. 

Leeds is a bit of a hot bed for house music stars, why when you guys met in the city did it provide you with the right platform to develop an identity as artists?

Leeds will always have a special place in our hearts, so many friendships were formed there that still affect our lives today. Even though it’s a big city with lots of things happening there’s always a strong feeling of family and community there.

There’s also a lot of parties there that never seem to end so it's an ideal place to connect with people and indulge in influences while expressing yourself at the same time.

When did you start to get interested in the cosmos and space, and how does that side of things influence how you make music? 

That’s been a constant for both of us since we were born, and which has developed over the years into a desire to explore outer, as well as our own inner space. It influences our music like all things that we bring into our lives and we’d like to think that it’s transmitted through our music.

Where do you think music fits within the structure of the universe? 

Music is the structure of the universe. Everything is made of energy, from the macrocosm to the microcosm, therefore everything in creation vibrates and has a frequency. So you could say that we are made from music.

Ibiza has always been considered quite a spiritual place, but in many ways it seems to have lost that vibe within a commercial jungle. Where do you guys find magic on the island when it all gets a bit too much?

It hasn’t lost any of that vibe or magic, its everywhere. There are obviously various things happening on the island at the moment that maybe haven’t been as prevalent before, if at all, but that doesn’t mean Ibiza has lost anything. You can get whatever you want in Ibiza, it just depends where you’re looking and what you want to experience.

Mondays are considered the worst day of the week by so many people, but in Ibiza it's the complete opposite. How does a typical Monday go for you two on the white isle? 

It normally involves some beach action, maybe lunch or dinner somewhere with friends then we head to DC10 for Circoloco and afterwards onto Cocoon usually followed by an after party.

What is your second favourite day of the week?

Tuesday, because it's normally still Monday.

You've had a strong relationship with Circus over the years, can you tell us how that relationship with Yousef and co started?

Yousef is one of our best friends and has been supporting us individually and jointly through our various endeavours over the years. It’s a totally organic relationship that is born from a love of music and silliness.

Your EP2 on Circus Recordings has picked up a lot of traction, with both the original and mixes getting their fare share of plays in clubs. How did you decide on getting Subb-an on the remix? Seems like a match made in heaven. 

Subb-an’s a good friend of ours and we’ve released on the label ONE Records that he runs with Adam Shelton so when Yousef asked us who’d we’d like to get involved for a remix he was a natural choice.

Same goes for Richy Ahmed who did the other remix, we’ve been friends with Richy for a very long time so we were buzzing to get him involved. His remix has just been nominated for best remix in the DJ Mag awards as well which is great.

NYE is fast approaching, how will you be welcoming in 2016?

We’re playing for Circoloco at DC10 on New Years Day in Ibiza, we can't think of a better way to start the year.

Last up, we've just dropped with you guys, what would we see on an Acid Mondays trip?

Whatever you want, we are just hear to amplify your experience...

Like this? Try Francesca Lombardo interview: There wouldn't be London without music