There must be thousands of electronic music labels worldwide with abstract names — but We Play Acid doesn’t leave you guessing what it’s all about.
The Portuguese label exclusively focuses on underground acid house and techno and anything with a debt to the analogue synth sounds of the Roland 303 and the comfort blanket thumps of 808 and 909 drum machines.
Galway producer Garry Glynn is one of two Irish We Play Acid recruits, along with Belfast man Ciaran Byrne. Glynn takes a nod from his label with another literal title, calling himself Acid Feen — the ‘feen’ being slang in the west for ‘man’, ‘lad’, ‘dude’ or whatever else rolls off the tongue.
Glynn has just released his latest single Cid Sex, a timeless seven-minute acid workout that follows other big hitters for the label, including Up and Down, a track that Carl Cox was rinsing at festivals last year and ended up in Cox’s Juno chart. Cox even made a transition from DJ Rolando’s Jaguar into Up and Down near the end of his three-and-a-half hour set at Sunwaves in Romania last year (2 hour 57 mark below). Up and Down was also picked up by Chicago veteran Houz’man, who included it in his Ghetto Acid Vol 3 compilation on Beat Boys Records.
Glynn is a relatively late starter to electronic production, beginning five years ago at 36. He says he’s “inspired by all the clubs, raves, parties and festivals I’ve attended over the last 25 years — and all that goes with it”, and finally got round to “messing around with some free music production software” around 2011.
He adds: “I put together a few basic acid tracks and put them up on Soundcloud. I got a good response which I wasn’t expecting. Joao Nathis [Acid Driver] listened to some and asked if I would like to release some tracks on his Record label We Play Acid… of course I jumped at the chance.
“Making music was always something I planned to do, and never thought it would lead to getting music released on labels. Hearing Carl Cox playing my music at festivals and putting one up on his Beatport chart was so much more than I could ever expected.”
Aside from years spent at festivals like Life, Bloc, Mantua, Leitrim and countless underground raves around Ireland, Glynn says he’s also moved to write music when it’s raining — handy then that he’s based in rural Galway.
And if you’re a night owl on social media, you can catch plenty of videos of him testing out new basslines and 303 squelches well into the early hours.
“After starting on free software I’ve since moved on to some hardware as I much rather the hands-on approach. I go at the machines whenever I get a chance,” he says.
“It may sound funny but I really like to make music on wild stormy days… you get to stay in without to many other distractions. There is something cosy about making techno when the rain and wind is lashing against the window.”
It must have been lashing when he was getting stuck in to Cid Sex, a relentless Hardfloor-style mid-set belter that doesn’t veer too much from its waspy bassline and minimal 303 freakouts. No cheap thrill build-ups or drops signposted a mile away — just straight-up classic acid that could bump up any techno set. Acid Driver’s remix subtle remix doesn’t mess too much with the formula, adding extra metallic snares, some acidic bubbling and sweet toy piano in the second half.
You can catch up with Acid Feen’s productions on Soundcloud, and buy Cid Sex and other We Play Acid releases here.
Moo Kid 