After close to a decade of touring with Warner Records recording artists Die Mannequin, Anthony Restivo (aka Anthony Bleed) needed a break from the destructive and indulgent rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle. During his absence, he kicked a long-running heroin addiction and created a collection of songs filled with subject matter that poured from his soul. It had been years since he had fronted a band, the last of which being Kill Cheerleader, who infamously garnered praise from both Lemmy Kilmister and Nikki Sixx.
Soon after leaving his role as Crystal Castles’ touring drummer, Chris Chartrand (also of Kill Cheerleader) entered the picture and Aciidz started taking form. Danni Action (drummer of Black Halos) and Bryan Dickface on bass (borrowed from Black Cat Attack, a side gig of Sum 41’s Dave Baksh) rounded out the line-up and Aciidz was ready to become a fully functioning band.
After spending all of 2019 gigging and posting their debut album, Tender Violence, to Spotify, the first lockdown in early 2020 put a stop to everything. However, quarantine didn’t seem to slow Anthony down. To feel like things were still moving for the band, and even more importantly, to keep creativity flowing—his “new drug” in the absence of his former addiction— he continued to demo songs at his residence. This spawned a 3-part series titled “Isolation Songs” with each volume containing 3 tracks. In addition, the band recorded and posted a new song, Fadeaway, now to be released as the band’s first 7” on Yeah Right Records, with 2 unreleased Kill Cheerleader tracks on the b-side.
Anthony considers it his “full-circle” release, bringing together his first creative project, much of it experienced while in the throes of opiate addiction, and his current project, where he finds himself freed from those demons, spilling years of experiences and pent-up creativity with a newfound clarity. Along with a self-directed video for Fadeaway (a sinister tennis-themed affair, shot completely at night), Aciidz is transitioning well into this “new normal”.
