In an era in which the music industry is saturated with second-rate clones of every conceivable band in every conceivable genre, it's good to have an innovator like Lori S. around.

The vocalist/guitarist and her band Acid King (featuring Joey Osbourne on drums and ex-Obsessed/Goatsnake member Guy Pinhas on bass) were playing "stoner rock" when it was still called "doom" and the only people listening were West Coast potheads mourning the demise of Saint Vitus.

Since their inception in 1993, they've released three EP's and two full-length albums filled with riffs that threaten to out-Sabbath Black Sabbath. Yet, there's a moody, ethereal quality to Acid King's sound, largely due to Lori's rough vocal melodies that flow dreamily over the slow and low drum grooves and de-tuned guitar licks. It's no wonder Stonerrock.com named their 1999 album, Busse Woods, one of the top 10 stoner rock albums of the 20th century (alongside classics like Master Of Reality by Black Sabbath and Sky Valley by Kyuss). Tunes like "Teen Dusthead," "Lead Paint," and "Electric Machine," provoke the hypnotic feeling of driving home along some deserted back road at 2 am, coming down off a heavy weed jag.

A tiny, longhaired brunette with a round face, whose cherry sunburst Les Paul is almost as big as she is, Lori has a mischievous giggle of a laugh more suited to some 13 year-old who habitually lights M-80's in her school's cafeteria than the veteran headbanger/biker chick she really is. You wouldn't expect a woman who took her band's name and early lyrical inspiration from the novel Say You Love Satan (about a 1984 murder case involving teenage pseudo-Satanist/drug dealer Ricky Kasso a.k.a. The Acid King) who, in an LSD-fueled frenzy, stabbed a friend to death, to be so fiercely focused and pragmatic. She's seen the ups and downs of the music biz and is ever ready to take on its challenges without compromising her artistic vision.

After their longtime record label, Man's Ruin (who released records by rock heavy weights such as High On Fire, Fu Manchu, and The Melvins), went bankrupt in 2002, Acid King was left without a functional distributor and promoter for their molten tunes. They recently had a stroke of good luck and signed a deal with the Small Stone label. They're in the process of recording a new album that should be out sometime next spring.

If their past work is any indication of what's to come, be prepared to de-tune, turn up and blaze out.

Q: Acid King put out its debut 10" in '94, so, you guys have been on the scene for a while. Would you say there were more opportunities for an indie band back in the mid-90's when you started, or now?

A: It's hard to say. Back then, there weren't as many bands. So, an independent band could really go far on their own. As of right now, there's so many bands that it's hard to even book a show. Now, at our level, we have a booking agent and a record label, so we've got beyond those steps. But, I think it's hard for a band now to start out 'cause there's so many bands. In the late '80's, I went on a tour with a 7" and booked my own tour. I don't think people could do that now. It'd be hard. But, it's probably easier now to get a record out on a label 'cause so many people have their own labels. Back then, nobody ever did. You had to do it yourself.

Q: What's the doom metal or stoner rock scene like nowadays versus back then?

A: Back then it was doom-Trouble, and Black Sabbath. Now, it's that whole flux of Kyuss-type bands, and everybody that sounds like Kyuss. I mean, I'm glad it happened. I love that music. But, I got kind of burnt out on it 'cause there's a thousand bands that all sound the same. Everybody got lumped into this "stoner rock" category, regardless.

Q: Do you not feel comfortable with that label?

A: Oh, I don't care. The thing I don't like about it is it's just like "grunge." That goes in and out of style, and all of a sudden it's not "cool" anymore. It's the same with "stoner rock." You don't want to be lumped into this category, and they go, "Oh, stoner rock's not cool anymore." Then you're stuck in this category that you never chose to be in. And we're not changing our music.

Q: Do you see any similarities between the grunge scene and the current stoner rock scene?

A: Well, the music isn't the same. But, it's like someone coined that phrase "grunge," and then all the sudden all those bands on Sub Pop became totally "uncool" in about five seconds, when someone decided it wasn't "cool" anymore. So, in a way, it's kind of good that Man's Ruin folded cause now that can't happen. But, I think we're fine. I think we'll move on and not have to worry about the whole "stoner rock" thing.

Q: What's your take on what happened to Man's Ruin? How did its demise affect underground metal bands like Acid King?

A: There's too much to even get into regarding Man's Ruin-an artist with a good heart and a bad business sense! It hurt many bands such as ours. It left many [bands] without a home and a connection. But, we're moving on and it's all good.

Q: You guys just signed a deal with the Small Stone record label. How'd you guys hook up them?

A: I originally put out a few calls to some of the independent labels that I thought might be interested 'cause we were looking for a label. Scott Hamilton, the owner, mailed us back and said he wanted to do it.

Q: What's some of the challenges to finding a label that will suit your needs?

A: It's really not a challenge to find a label. We're pretty lucky. There's a couple labels that like us and want to put our records out. So, that's not a challenge. Actually, everything's been pretty cool.

Q: What about distribution? Honestly, it's kind of tough to find Acid King records in stores.

A: Yeah, that's tough. Well, Man's Ruin went out of business, and [records on that label] aren't being distributed by barely anybody. You can only get it by Stonerrock.com and by Revolver. When the next record comes out, on Small Stone, you'll be able to get it [in record stores]. They've got good distribution.

Q: Is lack of distribution why you made MP3's available via your website [www.acidking.com]? There's a few full lengths and a bunch of clips.

A: We put the whole first 10" on there 'cause nobody can get it anymore. I figured, "Hey, let 'em download it 'cause they're never gonna hear it." But, everything else-it was more about, "Listen to a song, and if you like it, buy the record."

Q: Do you think MP3's are taking money out of artists' pockets?

A: Umm, I don't think so. I think it's a way for people that might not go out and buy it to hear your music. I can't speak for the world, but I still like CD's and artwork and covers. I burn CD's, but I just like to have the real deal. I'm not so cheap that I want to burn everything.

Q: When did you start playing guitar?

A: I was nineteen. I started playing late (giggles). Actually, the guy who played guitar in Life Sentence, if anybody remembers, taught me how to play guitar. I basically learned how to play guitar, and then I was in a band right away. It was called Gross National Product (giggles). This was back in the punk rock days. We opened for The Necros and Jodie Foster's Army. Then I got my all girl band together, and we were together for like seven years. Then I moved out to San Francisco and got Acid King together a year after living there.

Q: You're originally from Chicago, right? What part?

A: I grew up in Des Plaines, IL, and I moved to Palatine when I was a teenager.

Q: When did you move to San Francisco?

A: I moved in '92. I had an all girl band here a long time ago, called The Bhang Revival. We actually opened for a lot of bands at the Metro, like Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins. We played with a lot of bands, and it's kind of funny now to think about all the bands we played with that became superstars. I just felt like things weren't really happening here. I think, at that time, our band was ahead of its time.

Q: Was the sound similar to Acid King?

A: It wasn't as heavy. It started to get heavier, but it wasn't like Acid King. It was more pop. That band toured and we went to San Francisco, and I loved it. It was all like motorcycles and tattoos, and I just felt like, "This is my town!" So, I moved.

Q: What's some of the first music you got into as a kid? When did the metal baptism take place?

A: The Monkees, most likely. I had an older sister, and I listened to what she listened to. We would go to Sear's department store, or back in the day of the Illinois suburbs, Corvettes and they would have the top 100 charts on WLS. We would go and buy the top 10. I still have my 45's, and I have Hocus Pocus by Focus, Jim Dandy by Black Oak Arkansas and Locomotion by Grand Funk Railroad. I didn't even realize what a cool kid I was (giggles)! I started getting in heavier music by default. My best friend Cindy's dad ran the huge Auditorium shows in Chicago and we went to everything for free. I saw pretty much all '70's bands besides, Led Zeppelin, Kiss, AC/DC and The Who. I saw Black Sabbath four times! It wasn't until the late '80's that I started to play the guitar, but, at that point, I was pretty much into hardcore music and starting getting into Metallica and Trouble.

Q: Why do you think there's so little mainstream attention for bands like Acid King or High On Fire, or some of these underground metal bands?

A: Kids are preached to by record labels. They decide to put out bands like Korn and Limp Bizkit, and that's what's popular. Then there's a thousand other bands that sound like that. I don't think our music is commercial rock for the masses, same with High On Fire.

Q: What about Queens Of The Stone Age? They seem to be getting accepted by the masses?

A: But they're so much poppier now. They have songs like the Foo Fighters. That's not the same. They've changed.

Q: Does Acid King have any major label aspirations?

A: I couldn't see that happening because I just don't think we'd sell enough records. It'd be a fluke. You never know - look at what happened to Nirvana, or The White Stripes. Anything can happen.

Q: Acid King has more of a melodic edge than a lot of your peers. There's a very catchy quality to the songs-memorable melodies, behind the big riffs. Where does that come from?

A: It's my songwriting, I guess. I don't want to sound negative toward other bands, but just like "grunge," just like everything else, people hear a band, and then they form a band that sounds like that. We've been doing this for 10 years, before someone did Stonerrock.com, before that phrase was coined. We've been doing this forever. So, now there's a whole slew of Fu Manchu bands and a whole slew of Kyuss bands-people that liked the music and decided that they wanted to be in a band and play like that, instead of it just happening that way. I was totally influenced by Trouble, The Melvins, and Sleep, but I didn't form this band and go, "I wanna sound like them." It's just the way my songs came out.

Q: Do you write most of the lyrics and music?

A: Yeah. All.

Q: So it's not a collaborative process where you all get together and jam?

A: We totally get together and jam, but it's always [on] riffs that I come up with.

Q: There's this movie called "Better Living Through Chemistry" that's about the rave scene. This one techno musician who's interviewed is a classically trained guitarist who converted to electronic instruments. He basically says that getting up on stage with guitar, bass, and drums, and singing some song is completely passé. He compares using a guitar to create music with washing your clothes in a stream, rather than using a washer and a dryer. What do you think? Has everything that can be done been done in the rock genre?

A: Well, there's only so many chords on the guitar, but I think a good song's a good song. Yeah, there's only so much you can do. It's all blues rock, and it has been rewritten, and written. But, there's definitely riffs left (giggles)! I disagree (giggles)!

Q: Why slow songs?

A: That's a good question! I just write what I write. I've been in punk bands, and I'm just not into playing fast. It's not my style. I like heavy riffs. We're writing more medium tempo stuff, now, not necessarily just totally slow stuff.

Q: What's some of the lyrical content of your songs? Is it still mostly the Ricky Kasso thing?

A: We used to be the Ricky Kasso stuff, exclusively. Now, I've kind of burnt that out. There's only so many songs you can write about the book. It's definitely about life experiences, motorcycle ridin', gettin' dumped (giggles)!

Q: I'm not even gonna ask about that! [Lori is the ex-wife of Melvins drummer, Dale Crover] So you're really into motorcycles?

A: Yeah, I have a Triumph Trophy 500-the Billy Jack bike (giggles)!

Q: What's the appeal of the Ricky Kasso imagery. Do you think some people might feel you're glorifying a murderer?

A: I have heard that before. I just look at it as a true crime story that's absurd. These stoner guys stumble into the library to look for sports, and they accidentally get a book on Satan 'cause they're in the "S's!" They make up their own story on what they think Satanism is. They're just idiots! It's not glorifying anything.

Q: What are the sales figures like for Acid King?

A: It's hard to say. We make money by selling our CD's online, so, a couple hundred bucks.

Q: Do you have a day job?

A: Oh, hell yeah! I'm a freelance production coordinator and supervisor for commercials and videos. I just got done working on the Metallica video, "Saint Anger," which you'll be seeing soon. We shot it at San Quentin.

Q: Well, the band's called Acid King, so I gotta ask, is there any big drug influence? You don't have to say anything incriminating.

A: None! The whole theme was written about the book, Say You Love Satan. I was a total stoner [as a kid]. I did tons of acid back then. I don't do it anymore (giggles).

Q: Why music?

A: Back in the day, I got supper influenced when I was going out with my punk rock boyfriend. I was like the girlfriend. I used to watch them play and have band practice. I said, "Well, I could do that!" He taught me how to play a few chords, and I got my band together within a month. It just kinda happened. And then I was good at it (giggles)! So, I just carried on from there. It was just really easy for me, and it was fun. I obviously still like doing it all these years later.


For more info on Acid King check out: www.acidking.com