The Lucid, the modern-rock powerhouse featuring Grammy Award-winning bassist David Ellefson, vocalist Vin Dombroski (Sponge), guitarist Drew Fortier (ex-Bang Tango), and drummer Mike Heller (Raven), has released the official video for their track “Risk Machine” from their 2023 Saddle Up and Ride EP.
The video, directed by multimedia artist Alexis Karl, and shot in New York City can be viewed here:
But that’s not all—after years of anticipation, The Lucid is hitting the stage for their live debut at the 10th annual Guitars Under the Stars Music Festival, July 31–August 2, 2025, in Eugene, Oregon!
David Ellefson shared, “We’ve had so many requests for live shows, and as much as we wanted to, the timing never aligned. We’re thrilled to finally make it happen at such an iconic event!”
The band formed in 2020, debuting their self-titled album in 2021. After overcoming challenges, including guitarist Drew Fortier’s successful cancer recovery, they kept delivering new music, including collaborations with Violent J (Insane Clown Posse) and a bold cover of Faith No More’s Epic, reimagined as “Sweet Toof.”
Eclectic hard rock band THE LUCID, which features vocalist Vinnie Dombroski (Sponge), actor/guitarist Drew Fortier, bassist David Ellefson, and drummer/producer Mike Heller have once again joined forces with legendary underground rap icon Violent J (Insane Clown Posse) for a re-imagining of Faith No More’s “Epic” titled “Sweet Toof”.
“Sweet Toof” is the band’s fourth and final single from their upcoming E.P., Saddle Up and Ride, due out digitally January 27th from SpoilerHead Records. CD, Vinyl, and signed copies are available via Limited Edition pre-order bundles that will ship at a later date.
Violent J states, “Man quit playin’! It’s been an absolute honor and a privilege working with The Lucid! Being included among such monster talented and unbelievably cool people has been easily one of the highlights of my career so far. That’s the absolute truth. Listen to it! Who the fuck can deny THE BEASTLY results? We KING KONG ’em!”
The Lucid guitarist Drew Fortier states, “It has been such a fun, creative, and organic journey getting to this point with The Lucid. We are all very proud of what we have created together, especially with it being a completely independent endeavor.”
Fortier continues, “We love the Faith No More guys and their body of work and knew the perfect way to cap off our E.P. was doing a re-imagining of ‘Epic’ along with Vinnie and Violent J’s twisted, and wonderful approach.”
From the ferocious vitriolic sonic assault of the title track, “Saddle Up and Ride”, to the epic off the wall and out of left field, “Sweet Toof”, Saddle Up and Ride showcases The Lucid feeding into their eccentric tastes spanning across Thrash, Country, Rap, Radio Rock, Metal, and Funk.
Violent J, one half of the legendary rap duo, Insane Clown Posse, is featured on the E.P.’s title track, “Saddle Up and Ride” as well as the album closer “Sweet Toof”. Violent J has a solo album titled Bloody Sunday due out in 2023.
Listen to the “Sweet Toof” single featuring Violent J right here:
The E.P. features artwork by Alex Sarabia and was produced by Mike Heller and mixed/mastered by Lasse Lammert.
Saddle Up and Ride track listing:
Deep Country
Saddle Up and Ride (Featuring Violent J)
Mumps
Risk Machine
Sweet Toof (Featuring Violent J)
The Lucid began in mid 2020 as an idea between frequent collaborators Drew Fortier and Mike Heller which led to David Ellefson (ex Megadeth) jumping on board on bass along with vocalist Vinnie Dombroski (Sponge) rounding out the lineup resulting in their debut self-titled album which featured 9 heavy hitting and emotionally charged tracks showcasing this eclectic quartet’s unique sonic approach. To promote the album, 3 music videos were released, the Fortier directed “Deaths of Despair”, “Maskronaut” directed by Michael Sarna, and “Hair” which was directed by Hannah Fierman and has gone on to win multiple awards from various film festivals.
Eclectic hard rock band THE LUCID, which features vocalist Vinnie Dombroski (Sponge), actor/guitarist Drew Fortier, bassist David Ellefson, and drummer/producer Mike Heller have joined forces with legendary underground rap icon Violent J (Insane Clown Posse) for the band’s first single and title track from their upcoming E.P., Saddle Up and Ride, due out digitally January 27th from SpoilerHead Records. CD, vinyl, and cassettes are available via Limited Edition pre-order bundles that will ship at a later date.
From the ferocious vitriolic sonic assault of the title track, “Saddle Up and Ride”, to the epic off the wall and out of left field, “Sweet Toof”, Saddle Up and Ride showcases The Lucid feeding into their eccentric tastes spanning across Thrash, Country, Rap, Radio Rock, Metal, and Funk.
Violent J, one half of the legendary rap duo, Insane Clown Posse, is featured on the E.P.’s title track, “Saddle Up and Ride” as well as the album closer “Sweet Toof”.
Listen to the “Saddle Up and Ride” single featuring Violent J right here:
Fortier states, “We are thrilled to join forces with an iconic artist like Violent J. He added such a kick ass and dangerous element to “Saddle Up and Ride” and “Sweet Toof”. J has without a doubt taken The Lucid to another level.”
“As far as live shows go, we had to cancel those shows back in May 2021 due to my cancer situation resulting in surgery which I have fully recovered from but with David and Mike looking to have a busy 2023 with Kings of Thrash/Dieth and Raven/Fear Factory respectively, it’s looking like the most pragmatic route would be if Vin and I team up for some acoustic shows to promote The Lucid so be on the lookout for that.”
The E.P. features artwork by Alex Sarabia and was produced by Mike Heller and mixed/mastered by Lasse Lammert.
Saddle Up and Ride track listing:
Deep Country
Saddle Up and Ride (Featuring Violent J)
Mumps
Risk Machine
Sweet Toof (Featuring Violent J)
The Lucid began in mid 2020 as an idea between frequent collaborators Drew Fortier and Mike Heller which led to David Ellefson (ex Megadeth) jumping on board on bass along with vocalist Vinnie Dombroski (Sponge) rounding out the lineup resulting in their debut self-titled album which featured 9 heavy hitting and emotionally charged tracks showcasing this eclectic quartet’s unique sonic approach. To promote the album, 3 music videos were released, the Fortier directed “Deaths of Despair”, “Maskronaut” directed by Michael Sarna, and “Hair” which was directed by Hannah Fierman and has gone on to win multiple awards from various film festivals.
THE LUCID, featuring vocalist Vinnie Dombroski (Sponge), bassist David Ellefson (ex Megadeth), guitarist Drew Fortier, and drummer Mike Heller have released their music video for “Maskronaut”, a track from their debut self-titled album released October 15 via SpoilerHead Records. The video was directed by Michael Sarna.
Watch “Maskronaut” here:
In conjunction with the video release, the band are also aiming to help raise awareness for testicular cancer after their guitarist, Drew Fortier had been diagnosed with the disease last month. He is currently recovering from surgery and waiting to hear results back from pathology as well as next steps.
The Lucid along with Brynn Arens (Flipp) have set up a Gofundme page to help Fortier with medical costs during this time. Please donate here: https://gofund.me/858a5084
Fortier states, “You truly never know with these things. I wanted to make this public to help raise awareness with this type of cancer because it literally came on out of nowhere. I’m thankful for all the support and I want to give a big thank you to Dr. Masterson and his team at Indiana University for being true rock stars in their field.”
Ellefson adds, “We always felt ‘Maskronaut’ was a special song, even more so with the video. In light of recent circumstances with Drew’s health, we agreed this was the right time to release something uplifting and positive heading into the summer.”
“Maskronaut” was produced by Michael Sarna & David Ellefson, and apart from the band, stars Kyle & Ashleigh Abbott along with Alyson Montez.
The album, produced by Mike Heller and mixed and mastered by Lasse Lammert, is out now streaming on all platforms. Physical copies can be purchased at: lucidofficial.com
Signed vinyl copies will be shipped out next month due to a shipping error with the signed inserts.
The Lucid are a four piece hard rock band featuring vocalist Vinnie Dombroski (Sponge), guitarist/filmmaker/actor Drew Fortier, Grammy Award winning bassist David Ellefson, and drummer Mike Heller (Malignancy, Raven, Fear Factory). The band formed in early 2020 initiated by demos from Fortier and Heller which caught the attention of frequent Fortier collaborator David Ellefson who joined the fold along with Sponge frontman Vinnie Dombroski to complete the lineup. The Lucid’s debut self-titled album was released October 15 and features 9 heavy hitting and emotionally charged tracks showcasing this eclectic quartet’s unique sonic approach.
Ecclectic hard rock band THE LUCID, featuring vocalist Vinnie Dombroski, bassist David Ellefson, guitarist/actor Drew Fortier, and drummer Mike Heller have continued to celebrate the release of their debut self titled album with the official music video for “Hair”, directed by and starring award winning horror icon Hannah Fierman (V/H/S, SiREN, Creepshow).
The Lucid guitarist Drew Fortier states, “It was fascinating to watch Hannah unleash her remarkable creativity for this music video. We are all thrilled and moved by what she was able to accomplish visually with this song. It was an exciting, dark, twisted, collaboration showcasing the band’s irreverence perfectly. We think everyone is going to get such a big kick out of it.”
Director Hannah Fierman states, “The Lucid gave me artistic freedom to do whatever I wanted with the music video but they also had some fantastic ideas of their own once we began brainstorming. We decided on mostly black & white neo noir early on in the process. My background in horror is apparent but works with the energy of the song. It was truly a blast creating this video with such fun and talented artists.”
The Lucid have also announced their live debut via seven intimate shows this May.
They are as follows:
May 20 – Clifton, NJ – Dingbatz May 21 – New Bedford, MA – The Vault May 22 – Waterford, CT – The Jameson Pub May 25 – Indianapolis, IN – Black Circle May 26 – West Dundee, IL – Rochaus May 27 – Westland, MI – The Token Lounge May 28 – Akron, OH – Empire Concert Club
The Lucid are a four piece hard rock band featuring vocalist Vinnie Dombroski (Sponge), guitarist Drew Fortier, Grammy Award winning bassist David Ellefson, and drummer Mike Heller (Malignancy, Raven, Fear Factory). The band formed in early 2020 initiated by demos from Fortier and Heller which caught the attention of frequent Fortier collaborator David Ellefson who joined the fold along with Sponge frontman Vinnie Dombroski to complete the lineup. The Lucid’s debut self-titled album, was released October 15 and features 9 heavy hitting and emotionally charged tracks showcasing this eclectic quartet’s unique sonic approach.
Hannah Fierman is an award winning actor, director, and singer known for her show stealing breakout performance in V/H/S (2012), a hit horror anthology that spawned a 2016 spinoff, SiREN, which was centered around her acclaimed character, Lily, from the original film. Fierman went on to garner multiple awards and accolades for her performance in the critically acclaimed Hold Me, released in 2016. Apart from her iconic film roles, Fierman has also appeared in multiple Television shows including Creepshow, The Vampire Diaries, Dynasty, and Toast of London. In addition to The Lucid’s music video for “Hair”, Fierman has also directed a segment for the upcoming Dead By Midnight Y2Kill as well as her upcoming feature film directorial debut, Dark Circles, which is due out later this year.
THE LUCID, featuring vocalist Vinnie Dombroski (Sponge), bassist David Ellefson (ex Megadeth), guitarist Drew Fortier, and drummer Mike Heller have released their debut music video for “Deaths of Despair”, a track from their debut self-titled album released October 15 via SpoilerHead Records.
The video was directed by Drew Fortier.
The Lucid have also announced their live debut via five shows with more to be added.
They are as follows:
May 20 – Clifton, NJ – Dingbatz Ticket Link May 21 – New Bedford, MA – The Vault May 26 – West Dundee, IL – Rochaus Ticket Link May 27 – Westland, MI – The Token Lounge Ticket Link May 28 – Akron, OH – Empire Concert Club Ticket Link
Tickets are on sale right now! Exclusive V.I.P. dinners with the band are also available at: lucidofficial.com
The Lucid are a four piece hard rock band featuring vocalist Vinnie Dombroski (Sponge), guitarist Drew Fortier, Grammy Award winning bassist David Ellefson, and drummer Mike Heller (Malignancy, Raven, Fear Factory). The band formed in early 2020 initiated by demos from Fortier and Heller which caught the attention of frequent Fortier collaborator David Ellefson who joined the fold along with Sponge frontman Vinnie Dombroski to complete the lineup. The Lucid’s debut self-titled album, was released October 15 and features 9 heavy hitting and emotionally charged tracks showcasing this eclectic quartet’s unique sonic approach.
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