Boston may be known as a great sports city, but Beantown has also is proud to be known for their outstanding musical community. Over the years, Boston has unleashed some of the top bands in music history including Aerosmith, Boston, Extreme, Shadows Fall and MASS.
MASS formed in the early 1980's and was a huge drawing card on the East Coast. Performing at The Channel, and Axis on a regular basis, MASS garnered a huge following.
It will feel like 1985, all over again, as MASS is gearing up to perform and represent Boston at Rocklahoma on July 12th. I recently caught up with MASS front man Louis St. August, as we discussed the upcoming mega festival Rocklahoma and what is in store for MASS this year. In this Exclusive Interview for Metal Monthly.
Louis, Mass is slated to perform at Rocklahoma on July 12 at 8:45 P.M. on the second stage. How did the band get this awesome show?
LOUIS: Hi Deb, we were approached by Sam, the owner of Retrospect Records-the label that has re-released our first album “New Birth” which has gone on to be one of their top selling CDs! Sam gave us the option of choosing what day and time we preferred to perform on, so Saturday July 12 at 8:45 PM seemed like the best night for us. Retrospect will be running the huge south side stage which will have over twenty bands from the label performing over the 4 day festival.
What are you most looking forward to most at performing at Rocklahoma this summer?
LOUIS: Obviously the great exposure the band hopes to achieve by performing in front of the thousands expected and with the hope of winning over a lot of new fans as well. Also performing to some of our older fans that we may have not been able to see us back in the day will be exciting too!
Will this be the original line-up of MASS performing at Rocklahoma?
LOUIS: I would have to say yes! Myself, Joey and Gene have been together since the very beginning and Michael has now been with us for over ten years and would have to say he is now considered an original member for sure! The original bassist Kevin left the band back in 1993 for personal reasons but still remains a very close friend and fan of what we do!
There will be a whole new generation of fans hearing the band for the first time at Rocklahoma. How important will this be to re-launching your career?
LOUIS: Very important! We want to show everyone at Rocklahoma what our true fans have known all along about us! That MASS is not only a great band from the 80s but a band that has withstood the test of time and can rock with the very best there is!
How would you define Rocklahoma?
LOUIS: A massive gathering of the greatest 80s melodic rock bands of all time and their fans who realize this is the best music ever written of any generation!
Do you feel grunge killed Metal, and Metal is indeed making a 180 degree comeback?
LOUIS: Yes for sure! When the grunge scene came in metal just died! With the changing radio formats and rock venues closing down, artists like ourselves barely survived the 90s and had to look elsewhere, mostly overseas to obtain the likes of record deals and tours were melodic rock was still going strong!
How do you think the Boston music scene compares to today versus back in the day of Axis, The Channel and Narcissus?
LOUIS: The Boston scene was so alive and exciting back then with so many great “original bands” performing every weekend. You couldn’t make up your mind on what talented band you wanted to see. Nowadays with most of the great original Boston rock clubs closing and along with most of your original acts now gone. One is left with the sad option of choosing what “Cover band” should I see tonight? I believe that throws the talent and original creativeness right out the door! Very sad really!
What is your favorite memory of performing in Boston? Back in the heyday of metal?
LOUIS: MASS has been very fortunate to have many great shows and memories being one of the first metal bands to have been signed out of the Boston. I would have to say some of my most memorable shows would have been our headlining the WBCN Rock N Roll Expo show for over 8,000 screaming MASS fans, or performing a sold out “all ages” show at the Channel night club on a Saturday afternoon, and then returning that night to a sold out evening show!
Extreme are actually playing Rocklahoma too this year, I believe. How does it feel to be included in the Boston legacy of great bands from Beantown?
LOUIS: It’s truly an honor with so many talented and fantastic bands to come out of our great city! And for MASS to be even mentioned as a Boston legendary band by the media is most humbling for sure.
We have always worked very hard for many years trying to put out the best music possible for our fans and it’s always rewarding to see and hear the many great reviews that have been written about us!
What makes Boston such a great music city?
LOUIS: I would have the say it’s the diversity in music styles. Go to one corner and hear a country band go to the next a jazz band another corner a great blues band or walk down the street and check out the hip/hop techno dance clubs.
Tell us about the latest Mass release?
LOUIS: Last year we signed a new record deal with European label Escape Music and our first release with them is called MASS “Crack of Dawn”! It’s a great melodic hard rock CD with a variety of styles from rockers to ballads! The CD was mostly recorded between New Jersey and Boston. The final mixing and mastering of the album was done in Sweden.
We love how the CD turned out and have since received over 100s of great reviews from all over the world!
How do you feel Mass has evolved since the heyday of metal?
LOUIS: Personally I think we have become better musicians and writers over the years learning from our past mistakes and taking our time when it comes to recording or negotiating contracts. LOL! I still feel MASS has the same style ,sound and passion from when we first started out only with better equipment to record and perform with! LOL!
What are the bands touring plans this summer?
LOUIS: This summer we will be doing a handful of selected local shows here on the east coast then we will hit Oklahoma in July and possibly do some press related stuff on the west coast late July/August. We also plan on re-issuing two older records this summer via Retrospect records (Las Vegas). Then return to the studio this coming fall/winter to start laying down tracks for what we believe is going to be a killer follow up to “Crack of Dawn”!
Louis, Best of Luck at Rocklahoma. I know you will do a great job of representing the awesome city of Boston. Thank you for checking in with Metal Monthly. Com
LOUIS: Thank you for letting me chat about our great city of Boston and about spreading the word about MASS appearing at Rocklahoma this summer! You rock and I hope to see you there!
For more info on MASS please visit:
www. massmusic. biz or www. myspace. com/masstheband
Stay tuned to Metal Monthly for more upcoming features regarding Rocklahoma!!!! The Musical event of the summer!
