Mason
Every now and again one of those records comes around that defies being pigeon
holed and given a label. Mason burst onto the dance scene with their
groundbreaking tune Exceeder back in 2006. The record swiftly went from
destroying dance floors to tearing it up the World’s charts and laying the
foundations for more forward thinking music.
Its not about making records for a particular set of Djs or trendy scene but just
good honest music! As a result Mason’s tunes are played by a huge array of
decksman from Pete Tong and Zane Lowe (BBC Radio 1) to Fat Boy Slim, Eric
Prydz, A‐Trak and Carl Cox.
Mason’s latest anthem is the massive ‘Corrected’ which features the vocal talents
of Hip Hop legend ‘DMC’ of seminal band Run DMC, joined by the soulful and
fresh hit artist Sam Sparro.
Using Iason’s classical violin training coupled with a love of diverse music and a
hi‐tech apprenticeship in a ring tone sweatshop, together with his studio and live
partner Coen, a man fixated with ancient synths and playing in rock bands and a
mean vocalist to boot, the Mason boys are now forging their own unique path.
The duo have the musical arsenal required to make everything from filthy late
night dance club bombs to daytime radio anthems. These Dutchmen are
unpredictable in both what is played in the club and what is created in the
studio.
The Mason sound takes a great understanding of melody and fuses it with
technological know‐how sheer musicianship and dance floor savvy. It is dance
music for the thinking man, but not so clever to be alienating and dull. A debut
artist album is taking shape at the moment and features some interesting styles
and flavours as well as guests such as legendary NYC rapper Kurtis Blow,
renowned singer‐songwriter Matt Hales ( AKA Aqualung) , Massive Attack
collaborator Debbie Clare and former Moloko chanteuse Roisin Murphy.
With a Worldwide hit record under their belt for Data/Ministry Of Sound as well
as numerous releases and remixes for labels like Great Stuff, Skint, Pickadoll and
Brique Rouge Mason continue to garner respect from above as well as under
ground. Mason has recently lent his sound to remix on numerous artists
including Moby, Gabriella Cilmi, Hadouken, Rex The Dog and Robyn.
2009 saw the launch of Mason’s label, ‘Animal Language’ and a regular tour
nights under the same name. Five double A‐side releases down the line and the
imprint is already making fans with a huge array of DJs , bloggers and musicheads.
Humour is a long forgotten part of music and something Mason is keen to reintroduce
as a key ingredient. Anyone listening to his de‐mix of Exceeder being
replayed by a brass band will know the boys arent taking things too seriously.
Forthcoming album track titles such as Who Killed Trance and Bigboy Exercises
are also refreshingly tongue‐in‐cheek and every track on his Animal Language
label will carry a re‐furb, a re‐interpretation in a totally different musical style,
be it speed metal, Mariachi or Balkan!
Behind the decks, or CDJs at least, Iason, the dj‐ing face of Mason, has honed his
craft for over fourteen years since falling for the grooves of early hip hop and
spinning in his local clubs. Things progressed to warming up for Global mega star
Tiesto at his gigs around the World where Mason also jammed violin to his own
and his compatriots sets. The fiddle has since been rested, but Mason continues
to rock crowds wherever he plays. He has headlined at some of the Worlds finest
clubs and festivals including headlining the massively opulent Sensation White
parties around Europe as well as appearing with top billing at Dance Valley in
Holland and at Creamfields in the UK.
Mason is currently resident at trailblazing club night Electronation. The uber cool Dutch based event also had Mason compile and mix their five‐year
anniversary album this year. Speaking of mixes, there’s The Amsterdam Tapes, Masons very own mix album series in collaboration with hand held DJ gadget Pacemaker released in Autumn 2008 to much critical acclaim. The first album
was Mixmag’s compilation of the Month. The Dutch maestro also recently
broadcast a very well received Essential Mix on BBC Radio 1.
The next few months set to be a big one for Mason both as a production team and
as a DJ. If sheer talent and karma have anything to do with it then expect to be
hearing this name a lot in the future.
