BIO . LONG VERSION
Daniel Riddle's musical voyage first began to take some shape in the band Indigo Zeros in the 1986 San Francisco punk scene. The Indigo Zeros put out a full length record on CFI (Oxbow, Whipping Boy, Henry Rollins, Jello Biafra, Lydia Lunch), a half dozen 7" singles on Fred Cole's (Dead Moon) label Tombstone Records, and played shows with Faith No More, Danzig, Dead Moon, and many other greats. In 1988, Riddle moved to Portland Oregon and joined Hitting Birth, a band that experimented with appealing to the full sensory experience of their audience. From 1988 to 1994 Hitting Birth was one of the Pacific Northwest’s largest drawing club acts. In the early 90’s Riddle began work with commercial and film projects with placement deals in commercials for Portland Trail Blazers, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Avia Shoes, Nike Shoes, Coca-Cola and many others, including work with Weiden Kennedy and Nike.
Daniel Riddle’s dream life, being what it is, has far too much energy to sit idle for too long, and so began another transformation into the ongoing sonic sculpture that is King Black Acid in 1994, and a project that continues to this day.
In 1994 the first incarnation of Daniel Riddle’s King Black Acid came to light as King Black Acid and the Womb Star Orchestra, featuring keyboardist Melinda DiCillo, guitarist Roger Campos (Papillon), and Bassist Nathan Jorg (SnowBud). The band quickly gained a large audience with their spacey live show and dreamy sound that some referred to as “coma-core”. After adding drummer Scott Adamo (ex Wipers) and percussionist Joseph Trump (ex Pig Face, Elliott Sharp's Carbon), the band recorded their debut album titled "Womb Star Session" (1995). The album was recorded live during a radio station broadcast, capturing some of the lush sound and epic delivery the band was becoming known for. The “Womb Star Session” was followed by “Sunlit” (1996) which instigated a European fan base for KBA.
“Royal Subjects” (1998), recorded as a soundtrack for an independent film, ignited Daniel Riddle’s interest in a career of soundtrack work. King Black Acid and the Starseed Transmission was the next KBA manifestation with band members Scott Adamo (drums), Sarah Mayfield (guitars), Bobeck (bass), Pete Ficht (keyboards), and eventually Sean Farrell (keyboards), which gave life to the full length album “Loves A Long Song”, released in October 2000. The record was met with great success with radio, film, television and hardcore audiophiles.
In 2002, Riddle introduced King Black Acid and the 144,000 Member Acid Army, consisting of Sarah Mayfield, Sean Farrell, Joe Trump, bassist Sean Tichner, and keyboardist Rich Landar. This particular lineup was assembled for the stage performance of the songs Riddle wrote and recorded for the motion picture soundtrack of The Mothman Prophecies. During this time, Riddle also wrote, recorded, produced and performed with James Angell's Private Player, featuring John Taylor of Duran Duran on bass, Tony Lash of Heatmiser/Elliott Smith on drums, Sean Tichenor on guitar, and Kevin Kozad on keys. In 2008 Riddle started collaborating with longtime friend and fellow musician Jeffery Trapp (formerly of Everclear) and formed a new lineup known as King Black Acid and the Sacred Heart. KBA then experimented with heavier sounds that didn’t completely abandon the backdrop of the previously well-known long melodic episodic songs of KBA.
In 2009 King Black Acid released the song "Let's Burn" on the Underworld: Rise of the Lycans soundtrack. King Black Acid's music has been heard in such films, TV shows, and soundtracks as CSI Miami, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, The Mothman Prophecies, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, MTV's Real World/Road Rules, Dream with the Fishes, Highway, Witchblade, The Maker, Do Me a Favor, and many more. King Black Acid’s music has appeared in advertisements for Nike, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Portland Trail Blazers, CNN Sports, Coca-Cola, Virgin Mobile, and Reebok.
The single "Let's Burn Those Stars", the full band version of the soundtrack song, was released in 2012. That same year the band released a cover of the song "Behind Blue Eyes", originally written and performed by The Who. In 2013 came the remastered single "Always Crashing In The Same Car", which was recorded for a David Bowie tribute compilation album circa 1996.
In 2014 the band released the single "I'm Rolling Under", a song whose remixed version was included in the 2002 film soundtrack for The Mothman Prophecies. The cover single and music video for "Sea of Unrest" (originally by The Toiling Midgets 1982) came out in 2016.
2017 saw the release of the King Black Acid & the Crystal Unicorn full-length album "Super Beautiful Magic", along with a beautiful EP titled "Twin Flames".
The 1996 album "Sunlit" was remastered, and two songs reimagined, for a double LP Record Store Day special release in 2018.
A 45rpm record, their covers of Big Star's "I'm In Love With A Girl" and The Carpenters' "Superstar", came out in April 2018. Another album, "The Rainbow Lodge", arrived in 2023, followed by "Victory For Mad Love" in 2024.
