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THE MASS latest
recording (Perfect Picture of Wisdom and Boldness) is the
perfect example of an extreme band willing to take risks and
build on a genre too entrenched in sheer ferocity. As you'll be
able to perceive after reading the following interview, it is
not easy to live off what you love. In fact, sometimes your
“reason to be” or like the French perfectly put it, your 'raison d'etre' downright endangers your lifestyle and threatens to
take away any sort of stability you might have been able to
establish; namely: food, clothing, shelter and all those others
that follow in Maslow's hierarchy of needs. We recently caught
up with drummer Tyler Cox.
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Please introduce the band. What were you guys doing before the
band? How was The Mass formed? And why the moniker?
Hi. We are The
Mass from the lovely city of Oakland, Calif., which may or may
not be the murder capital of the U.S.A. Right before the band
formed, everyone was doing their own thing in various places. We
all converged upon the Bay Area for different reasons and came
together into this band via postings on craigslist. Finding the
right members was pretty serendipitous. I don't think we
officially tried anyone out besides the guys who are in the band
now. Why the moniker? Somehow it fit. The Mass represents
everything in the universe. It is obscure and indefinable and
open to myriad interpretations. It seems to represent the music
well due to its abstract, surreal nature.
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I
am not one too prone to kiss buttocks, but your new album,
Perfect
Picture of Wisdom and Boldness,
is, as far as smart people are concerned, one awesome son of a
bitch. How is the typical The Mass composition process? Does
everyone bring something to the table?
Thanks a lot
for the compliment. Always nice to hear some good feedback. Our
composition process is mostly intuitive. Some of it is
thought-out and deliberate. What happens is someone will bring
some riffs or a general song idea into practice, and we start
working on it. Everyone starts throwing out suggestions and
things get changed and new parts get added and a structure
eventually forms. After that, we start tweaking the nuances a
bit. Over a period of months we all hammer on it collectively
until it gets recorded for an album, at which point it is 99
percent complete. The final one percent gets worked out on tour
after the album is done. Anyone can bring ideas to the table,
and anyone's ideas can get rejected. The process is entirely
democratic, maybe almost to a fault.
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The album was recorded
with Tim Green (The Fucking Champs, Nation of Ulysses and who also worked on your debut
City of
Dis) at Louder Studios. No ProTools involved. The recording
process was finished in a couple of days only. What was the idea
(soundwise and song-structure wise) you guys had before going
into the recording phase and how different was it from the
actual outcome?
The band is 100
percent prepared before going into the studio. The songs are
finished and we know what their structures will be. The only
changes made in the studio are in terms of how we layer certain
guitar and vocal overdubs, and things like that: the small
details. Tim tends to make a lot of suggestions in those areas,
but he doesn't change our arrangements at all. We have to record
on a very tight budget, so recording mostly live and very
quickly is the only option, but we are confident enough in our
playing that it is not something we feel any dread about. I
think the album came out sounding better than we expected. The
tones are super deep on this one. It's a very classic 70s analog
feel. At times it reminds me of one of the old Sabbath albums in
terms of production.
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One of you said; "I've found that
if you have too much time in the studio you spend so much time
on it that you end up nitpicking over every little thing. You
start to lose the spontaneity and energy of the recording. Your
songs start to sound like you wrote them for the studio. We
don't write songs to record them—we write them to play to an
audience. The recording is not flawless, it's a creation, it's
art, not over-processed computer vomit." My question is: How
important is improvisation?
I am not sure
what you mean by improvisation. If you mean improvisation in the
studio then I think it is important in terms of trying out
radical ideas and such and not sticking to a formula.
Improvisation in songs is neat too.
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Thinking back and considering that the recording reflects a
precise
moment in the band’s existence,
how do you feel about
Perfect Picture of Wisdom and
Boldness
now?
I feel really
great about it; it was definitely a big step up for us and I
think above all it shows that we were unafraid to try new ideas
and move away from the sound established on
City of Dis.
Some people say we have re-invented ourselves with
Perfect Picture. I am not sure if I agree completely
with that, but I really appreciate that kind of observation
because we were definitely trying to break out of the mold we
had set previously.
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Your latest album could have ended up sounding ridiculous, yet
like a movie critic would say, ‘It's a triumph!’
and ‘It's riveting.’ To what do you attribute this? What is the
“key” for The Mass?
Well again,
thanks. I think the key for us is to push ourselves as musicians
and try to come up with music that is satisfying and keeps our
brains and our hearts happy. And by that we have to do what
feels right and try to make the best music we can. It sounds
pretty simple but I believe that is one of the more important
overall goals. As artists we want to keep moving forward, avoid
repeating ourselves.
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Not
everyone is born with a Zappa or a Dead Horse record under
his/her armpit. At some point we have all enjoyed some really
awful music. Personally, when I was a little kid, I used to
love that "Miles Away" song by Winger and "Subete a Mi Moto"
(which loosely translates to "Hop on my Harley") by the classic
Menudo line-up sans Ricky Martin. What music that you once
enjoyed makes you cringe like you are sucking on a lemon now?
It's funny you
mention that because that is one of the traditional bonding
points we have as a band. We all grew up listening to various
glam bands like Crue and Ratt or what have you. But I dunno, I
kind of like that stuff today. I personally used to listen to
Yngwie and Satriani type shit that makes me want to puke today
for sure.
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Is
the glass half-full or half-empty for The Mass?
Unfortunately,
for the first time in our existence as a group, it is
half-empty. We've been working our asses off and the return
hasn't been there. Money, time and blood goes straight down the
drain. The last round of touring wrecked us, although I suppose
some progress was made. On a positive note, working with Crucial
Blast is about the only thing keeping us going right now. Best
label around for sure.
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Give
the ignoramus five essential records.
Black Flag -
My War
Hank Williams - all
Entombed - Clandestine
Butthole Surfers - Locust Abortion Technician
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
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Best part about live shows? Worst
part about live shows? A few weeks ago I got kicked out from a
Clutch show after I snapped a couple of pictures. What the fudge
is going on? Which place is best for touring: Europe or the old
U.S. of A?
The best part
about live shows is when everything connects—the sound, the
band, the audience, the music. There are magic moments, maybe
one in 25 shows. Those keep you going. The worst part about live
shows is the relentless brutal nature of touring and living like
an animal and being treated like shit by clubs and promoters
after sitting in a cramped van all day after sleeping on hard
floors. Blah blah, it's been documented elsewhere. It pretty
much blows, though; it is no way for humans to exist. Sorry
you got kicked out of that show. U.S.A. is a shitty place to
tour, that's for sure. We always have more fun in Europe ’cause
they treat us like princes. Or maybe princesses. Either way, we
like the pampering.
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What does The Mass bring to the
listener's lives?
I have no idea.
The best thing I've heard from people is that our music inspires
them in some way or another. It gives them ideas they may have
never had or had given up on previously. One girl said our shows
are like going to a museum and looking at amazing sculptures and
paintings. Such a nice thing to say.
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What's next for The Mass?
That remains to
be seen. The fall touring of 2005 set our lives back
tremendously. We are broke and in debt, jobless, nearly
homeless. Unfortunately, playing this kind of music doesn't pay
the bills. So we need to rest a bit and see what inspiration
comes next. I am excited about writing again, but it probably
won't happen for a few months. We may tour again if a suitable
offer comes in.
-Convince
the skeptic: Why should they care about The Mass?
There never has
been, is, or will be another band on earth that sounds like us.
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Muchas gracias.
Y gracias usted.
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There you have it. Do yourself and the band a favor and buy
Perfect Picture of Wisdom and Boldness now. And you heard it
here: They are “broke and in debt, jobless and nearly homeless,”
so if possible, please offer them a job, shelter or something.
Perfect Picture of Wisdom and Boldness
is out on Crucial Blast Records now.
This
edited version of the interview originally appeared on
TheMusicEdge.com. Unfortunately, I have lost the disc containing
the extended version.
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