'Be Really Good Every Night and Everything Will Be Alright' : Acid Reign's Howard 'H' Smith is Persistent

The Thrash Metal band Acid Reign returned as a "re-formed" band in 2015 and roared into their new scene after 29 years with the album The Age of Entitlement. Their infamous albums Moshkinstein and Obnoxious have also been released as remastered vinyl recently. Led by the band's original frontman Howard "H" Smith, who made his bones in Thrash a teen, Acid Reign has been welcomed back by fans who have a particular enthusiasm for their live shows.

Grounded by COVID, the band has stayed very active on social media, releasing videos, like their "lockdown" release of the cover to Suzanne Vega's "Blood Makes Noise" featuring Vega herself, and through fairly outrageous and engaging videos released by H Smith. H Smith is also a podcaster and stand-up comedian, which you might glean from some of his videos. There's one with a "cushion" and very little clothing. I'll let you seek that one out yourself.

H Smith appeared on our Tower Instagram Livestream, but also joined us for a very in-depth interview about music, comedy, and a life as a performer. We brought you the first part of that interview previously, and you can find the rest below...

HMS: Howard, regarding the new album, I saw a t-shirt online. It was red…

H Smith: Yes, they’ve just come out and I’m waiting for them to be picked up. The company I bought them from was supposed to have them in bags with stickers, and they turned up with no bags or stickers. Presumably, because of Corona. But they are coming to pick them up and sort it out.

But yes, that is the “New Age Narcissist” t-shirt.

HMS: Yes, because it has the same language on it. That’s why I bring it up.

H Smith: If you look into it, I’m sure you noticed the social media symbols on it.

HMS: I did notice that. It was almost like you could “click” on the shirt.

H Smith: “Everybody wants to be me.”, on the sleeve, the refrain from the middle of the song.

But also, the big five pointed star, with the circle and the dot in the middle. Our guitarist designed it, and in one culture, it’s the symbol for “self”. Continuing the “hidden depths of a bunch of idiots from the UK”.

 

 

HMS: That’s awesome. You’ve mentioned this before online, but I think having bright colored merch is something that Acid Reign tends to do, which is not that common in Metal.

H Smith: Our biggest selling shirt since we came back is a black tour t-shirt, but it has a cartoon on it. The April Fool’s shirt. But we always get people asking for different colored stuff. Basically, when I put the post up, I said it was only available in red. But I’ve only had one inquiry asking if it’s coming out in black. The thing is, I’ve always done what I think is cool. It’s what I’ve done in the past, and it just keeps working. Because what you end up with is a marketplace that you understand and this is the key to being---oh, god, I’m going to disappear up my own ass now—this is the key to being a true artist, dear*…[*speaking in posh accent]

HMS: Oh. Okay. I see. Go on.

H Smith: …Which is: be yourself. Use your own judgement. Stick to that. And eventually, if you keep doing what you’re doing, and you’re good enough at it, people will tune into it. And be like, “I like what he does.” And that is called your “brand”. Which is, again, a word I want to shoot myself for saying, but it’s important these days.

Our band logo is no longer a logo, it’s a brand. It’s a thirty-year-old logo that is instantly recognizable and is pretty well known across the world of Thrash Metal. That’s the way it is.

 HMS: It’s so wonderful for a brand to have that kind of lifespan. I know that may sound strange to say that. But people loved Acid Reign, and when you were dispersed, I don’t think light ever quite went out on that logo, on that brand. But the fact that it’s a living entity again is wonderful.

As a fan, I say that. But I also say that as someone who has worked on a number of legacy brands, and I’ve relaunched and brought back a number of brands in the different jobs that I’ve had. And, I mean, here we are at Tower Records. So. I personally think it’s awesome.

H: Oh, that’s awesome that you’re a fan.

HMS: Yes, I’m definitely a Metal fan. I’m even a Thrash Metal fan. I wanted to ask you about your ideas regarding Metal and Thrash…but here’s the thing. I’ve observed in a number of concerts I’ve gone to in the last few years that several of the bands have surprised me by being so different, so distinctive.

I went to see Five Finger Death Punch, who I’d never seen, and I didn’t know their music terribly well, but they wore really bright, interesting clothes and costumes. I don’t know that I saw a single black clothing item the whole time. But the fans just loved the craziness. There was some humor thrown in.

Then there’s another band, Trivium, who also veer toward a happier approach, especially in their fandom, though their songs are serious. Their fans are known for being some of the nicest and most inclusive out there.

H Smith: Well I know that you can game online with Matt Heafy! He’s very accessible.

[They do strange things in the UK. We at Tower Records can't account for what's happening in this photo...]

HMS: He is. And he seems almost like a kind of missionary for music, the way he talks helps draw people in. But anyway, I think there are some expectations about how Metal should be. But the more I explore, and the older I get, the more I find that people are actually doing what you are saying…doing what THEY do to the best of their ability. And it does attract the fandom to them. So, there’s not at all just one way of doing this.

H Smith: Well, you know what it is? It’s a lot easier to use a phrase from another industry, but it works for this one: “Build it and they will come.” The perfect example is standup [comedy].

I didn’t just go from doing Acid Reign to doing Strange Things, which is a band in Newcastle, to doing standup. No. I had loads of stagecraft. But that was fronting a band. Yeah, I was funny. But I was funny on stage between gigs. Where people hadn’t paid money for “x” amount of laughs.

It’s a grind. You have to respect the grind. Ask anyone who does standup. You spend a lot of time driving. You spend a lot of time working really hard and having shit gigs, then you have a better one, then you have a shit one. It’s the grind. There’s no short cut.

Obviously, I still do standup. I get young and ambitious standup guys coming up to me, saying, “I’m stuck at this level. How do I get to the next level?” It’s like they are searching for a group to join, or asking if there’s a secret. And what they are asking, and they don’t know they are asking is, “What’s the short cut?” And my response is always the same: “Be really fucking good, every fucking night. And everything else will come to you. So don’t worry about—anything—other than being really fucking good every fucking night.”

HMS: Being distracted by “How’s everyone else doing it?” is not going to help you.

H Smith: I’d hate to be starting out doing standup with social media now, though. It’s bad enough now, with comedians rubbing it in each other’s faces. Seeing who can get the biggest picture in front of the biggest crowd and the rest of it…

I’m as bad as well, though! Because when I do Metal festivals, I always get a picture with the crowd, on my own, like it’s a smashing standup gig!

HMS: It’s obligatory to do that at concerts now. You have to!

To circle back to the Metal and Thrash Metal thing, you said you only went to a couple concerts before you started playing. I heard a thing that could be apocryphal or true, which is that you listened to Ozzy/Black Sabbath as a young person. Is that true?

H Smith: The very first album that I bought with my own money was Black Sabbath’s greatest hits. Was Ozzy an influence? Here’s my answer: you sing in a Metal band, Ozzy is an influence whether you know it or not.

HMS: It’s impossible to avoid.

H Smith: Exactly. But for me, Dio was more of an influence. The first song that looked like an Acid Reign song was a cover version of “Hungry for Heaven” by Dio. That’s significant. That’s my answer and I’m sticking to it.

HMS: When you first started listening, was it described to you as “Metal”? Were you aware of that term?

H Smith: Oh gods yes.

 

 

HMS: When did you first hear the term “Thrash Metal” and what did you think the difference was?

H Smith: Well, I knew instantly. Because I was around when it appeared, and it was like, “Oh my god, what the fuck?” Basically, I had friends and we had a CB club, Citizens Radio. And it was mainly based in the town that I lived in. Which is Knaresborough. Which is near a town called Harrogate. But I started getting into Metal through my friends in Knaresborough, and so I started wearing appropriate gear. I had a Marillion patch. And I started gravitating toward metallers at school. So, I had this kind of dual life, where I had two Metal communities. Because the guys at school introduced me to Thrash.

I was introduced to Metal by one group of friends in the town where I lived. But I was introduced to Thrash by a different group of friends at school who were my age. The guys who were from my town were my sister’s friends. They were only two or three years older, which is nothing now. But then it was like they were my Dad. So, when I discovered Thrash at school, I was like, “Fucking hell!” and I was just bugging the living shit out of my friends in my hometown.

Those guys were a little bit older. And I’m playing them, “Hit the Lights” and they are like, “Fucking too fast, no chorus, bloody rubbish!” In fact, the only song I could get them to admit wasn’t bad was “Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth)”.

I ended up forming a band with guys I was at school with. Those were the early Metal experiences. As to “Why this?”, I don’t know. I saw [James] Hetfield being interviewed recently, with someone from the BBC asking, “Why are you still doing this at your age? This heavy, fast stuff?” And his response was, “The music, man. The music moves me.” That just happens for you. You don’t have a say in it.

If I had known back then, as a 14 year old kid, or however old I was, looking at all the building blocks that led to me being where I am now, or even just getting into music, I would’ve realized, “Oh, it was going on that holiday and listening to Black Sabbath the whole time, and so I came back and bought it, and that was my first album…” These are all just the little building blocks that lead you where you’re going to end up. Which for me has been here. It’s just the music. That’s it. Plain and simple.

The music takes you, you know? You have no choice but to play along.

HMS: Thank you. That’s a great story.

You’re creating this new music now with your bandmates, and this new album is out. Do you see a difference in Thrash now, that you have to take into account, or do you feel you are in the same mindset?

H Smith: Well, not the same mindset now. Because the last time I wrote an album, I was 19 years old. So, no, it’s changed somewhat. But you write what you write. I’ve written enough scripts in my time to know that you write what you know. You do it to the best of your ability.

I’m not claiming to be a superhero here, and it may be my ADHD, but I have this ability to be objective. No matter how close I am to a situation, I can remove myself from it, look at it from every angle, try to take into account everybody’s point of view, how things affect everybody, then try to put it back together and decide what the best thing to do is.

So, I sat here in my living room and played the video to “The New Low” the night before it came out. I played it on my TV, the first thing from Acid Reign’s new album. And when it finished, I just said, out loud, “Well, if they don’t like that, they can all fuck off!”

So, I’ve known for some time that what we were bringing out was as good as it is, I just couldn’t say so, because I’d look like an arrogant twat. And I’d also run the risk of having egg on my face. But I always thought that what we had done was that good.

Did I think that it would go down quite as well as it has done? No. Not even I have an ego that big. I’m absolutely and totally over the moon and blown away by the reaction.

To go back to that question: do you have to change? That’s really the point. Putting the album together meant a lot of time and effort went into it. I wanted to make sure there was a song about a horror movie on there somewhere. I wanted to make sure that all the ingredients of an Acid Reign album were there and represented.

But also, the track listing had to be right. We wanted some variety. There are way too many bands out there putting out albums with 7/10, ten tracks, some three and a half minutes, some four minutes, saying, “Yeah, heavy stuff. Good solid Thrash.” That’s just clogging up the drains. That’s just clogging up the airwaves, that is.

If you’re going to do something, either knock it out of the park, or don’t bother. Go big or go home, you know?

We wanted to make sure that we had different vibes on the album, different lengths of songs, different journeys to go on. And also, to represent a proper album, that starts here and finishes here, and you have a proper order. Now, you don’t have to listen like that. We can’t force people. But if you put the effort and the thought in, some people do actually get it and some people do appreciate that.

I personally put a hell of a lot of effort and thought, concepts and ideas that had been in the works for a good 18 months or two years.

Has my attitude changed over the years? I initially said, “No”, but maybe, actually “Yes”. Having been away for so long, 29 years, you’ve got something to prove. And I work well with a challenge. That pressure was positive, you know?

HMS: You sort of doubled down on that. I knew you all had worked for at least two years on this album, but you also made the smart decision of releasing a couple of singles to give people an idea of the sound of this new lineup.

H Smith: I think you’re right. But I was very careful about how I brought the band back. Because we did try to re-form, but it didn’t happen. Nothing took off.

When we launched the band, I was careful to say, “This is not a reformation, it’s a reboot. We tried to reform. It didn’t work. So if you want to hear these songs again, it’s this or nothing.” And that was basically the logline for bringing Acid Reign back.

What you do, is you take everyone’s ammunition away from them before they get a chance to load up.

HMS: [Laughter]

H Smith: You just put your hands up. The law I live by is that you can’t knock honesty. You can not like what somebody is saying. You can virulently disagree with them. But if they are being honest, then at least you know where you stand.

HMS: Absolutely.

H Smith: We already had a song in the bag. That was waiting. The reason I had that was because I was waiting for the shit. I was waiting for the tidal wave. And I thought then we’d drop the single and make everyone realize that is was an ass-kicking band.

And for the first time in the world, expected social media hatred never happened.

HMS: How on earth did you manage that? If you can write a book about how to do that, you’d make a lot of money.

H Smith: I had this screen here, and that screen there, and I was hovering over the comments, waiting for the trolls to appear. For fights to break out. Then nothing. Nothing but positivity.

HMS: I think that speaks a lot about how the band has been over time. But it also speaks to the fact that music goes in cycles, as I’m sure you’d agree. And Metal and Thrash are stronger right now than usual, with a different kind of love coming from fandom than was even there before.

And the things that are popular to young people right now are based on authenticity and directness. And Metal and Thrash are kind of built on that. So you’re getting a double dose with this return.

H Smith: I think you’re absolutely spot on. I assume, since you’re on the phone with Acid Reign and speaking to the singer, that you mean that this sort of honesty, integrity, and directness, stands you in good stead. As an artist, as a band. It does. You’re right.

But the key is, as I said earlier on, be genuine. Be yourself. Be who you are and do what you do. Be the best performer you can be. If you find you’ve got an audience, keep doing that. And as you progress and change, and have new ideas, you’ll pick some new people up who stay along for the ride. And some will drop off, but that’s alright, because it makes room for the new people. You just stay focused.

Be really fucking good every fucking night, and everything will be alright.

[April 1st April Fools Tour 2017 at Glasgow Barrowlands]