[1] He studied at North London Polytechnic, where he met his future Lush bandmates Meriel Barham and Miki Berenyi, briefly dating the latter.

[2] He played in a number of bands, including The Infection, Les Turds,[3] A Touch of Hysteria and Panic, before founding Lush in 1988 with Steve Rippon, Emma Anderson, Meriel Barham and Miki Berenyi.

After personnel changes gave way to a stable lineup, Lush released their debut mini album, Scar, and developed a following as a live act.

He and members of Moose and Cocteau Twins formed the group The Lillies and recorded a humorous flexi-disc entitled "And David Seaman Will Be Very Disappointed About That" following the team's victory over North London rivals Arsenal in the 1991 FA Cup semi-finals.

Two days after Anderson announced a desire to quit the group, Acland was found dead as a result of suicide by hanging in his parents' garden in Burneside, Cumbria.