Acid Mothers Temple

Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O.
Higashi Hiroshi and Kawabata Makoto on stage with Acid Mothers Temple at the Night & Day Cafe in Manchester 21 Oct 2012
Background information
Also known as	(See groups section)
Origin	Japan
Genres	Psychedelic rock, experimental rock, drone, noise rock, progressive rock
Years active	1995–present
Labels	Various
Associated acts	Gong Afrirampo Ruins Guru Guru Mainliner
Website	www.acidmothers.com
Members	See list of members

Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O. (and subsequent offshoots) is a Japanese psychedelic rock band, the core of which formed in 1995. The band is led by guitarist Kawabata Makoto and early in their career featured many musicians, but by 2004 the line-up had coalesced with only a few core members and frequent guest vocalists.

The band has released albums frequently on a number of international record labels as well as the Acid Mothers Temple family record label, which was established in 1998 to document the activities of the whole collective.

Kawabata initially formed Acid Mothers Temple (originally "Acid Mother's Temple") with the intention of creating "extreme trip music" by editing and dubbing previous recordings, being influenced by progressive rock, , and krautrock. Kawabata, along with Koizumi Hajime, Suhara Keizo, and Cotton Casino formed the original Acid Mother's Temple lineup as a group; however, the first recordings released were Kawabata's own mixes and overdubs. The soul collective released two self-titled tapes on their eponymous label in 1997 before dropping the apostrophe from their name. They soon released their first self-titled album (see Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O.). The group began to tour overseas in 1998.

The soul collective continued to tour and record, adding to the lineup drummer Ichiraku Yoshimitsu and guitarist Higashi Hiroshi. Several non-Acid Mothers shootoff bands formed, including Floating Flower, Nishinihon, and Tsurbami, while The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. played at sold-out shows and festivals all over North America, Japan, and Europe in the 2000s (decade). In 2002, the soul collective released four albums and two EPs in a three-month span while touring the United States, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, including South by Southwest in Austin, being selected as one of the top three groups performing.

Kawabata began his own solo offshoot, called Kawabata Makoto & the Mothers of Invasion, in an attempt to create music with a more jazz feel. In 2002, along with Tsuyama Atsushi and Ichiraku Yoshimitsu, the group released their only album under this name.

In 2003, an incarnation of the soul collective called "Acid Mothers Temple mode HHH" was formed to tour Europe, consisting of Kawabata, Tsuyama, and Yoshida, a group who had played together as Seikazoku long before Acid Mothers Temple was formed. The same year, a collaboration of Acid Mothers Temple and Gong called "Acid Mothers Gong" performed at the Royal Festival Hall in London.