By Tadgh Byrne (2015)
Conversing with Desmond Mase, it won’t take long for him to drawn you into his an ‘alternate aural universe’. Having studied music production and played in various Melbourne bands over the last decade, Des has decided to focus what makes him happiest; a world of electronic instruments, new technologies and effects processors. We discuss such particulars as Mariah Carey, Space Rock and the fate of musical replicants.
Desmond draws his musical inspiration from many sources and speaks highly of his early brushes with nineties pop. “My Mum played Mariah Carey and Celine Dion and a lot of compilation tapes. There’s a good three Celine Dion albums that I’d probably know all of the track list of. Then on my step-Dad’s side there was Queen and David Bowie but if there’s one vocalist I’ve listened to all time, it was Michael Jackson”, He says. More recent influences, that listeners may pick up on in his music, are Kanye West and Radiohead.
Since finishing his scholarship at Geelong’s Oxygen college, Mase has released three “mix tapes”, as he calls them, via his SoundCloud page. Each has its own concept but his most recent work coupled with series of high octane gigs across Melbourne that have got tongues talking. ‘Future Fiction’ is a genre bending journey through time and space, laced with references to Gravity, Interstellar, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dr Who, Minority Report, the Terminator Series, Back To The Future, Inception, Elysium (and that’s just the first track). The rest of the collection continues with the science fiction and futuristic themes that will have nerds around the world wetting themselves.
Clever lyrics and multilayered, hook-driven soundscapes bring a welcome break from today’s bubblegum pop music and a tired looking indie rock scene. A sentiment Desmond feels strongly about, “I look around and can actually see, and more importantly, hear artists trying to re-paste techniques and sounds used by others before them. I’m not just talking inspiration, I’m talking blatant copy and paste techniques; a completely unoriginal replication of what’s gone before.”
The rant continues “Although it’s good to try and sound like your heroes, if all you’re doing is trying to copy them, you’ll never actually make anything original, all my heroes were constantly innovating and discovering new ways to express their art”. You can hear Desmond issue a stern warning to any would-be ‘Replicants’, a reference to the 1982 movie Blade Runner, in his track ‘Rebel Rock, Rebel Run (Mission: Statement)’.
He raises an interesting point when quizzed about his obsession with the sci-fi genre that will appeal to the less nerdy amongst us, “It puts real emotions, themes and concepts into surreal situations. Escapism, lust, love and loss, self doubt, uncertainty, longing, and self realisation are all human emotions that I feel most people can relate to.”
Emotions are on full display in Desmond’s earlier mixtapes Exorcism I and II, exemplified by the crowd-favourite track ‘Still burn’. The track, despite it’s title, is an intoxicating cocktail of yearning and heartbreak, shaken over enough ice to send shivers down your spine. “Emotions, and the way we deal with them are universal. A person may be only 1 in 7 billion, but they’re not alone in what they go through, I just hope people can relate to what I’m trying to say.” He says.
While human emotions may remain timeless, Desmond aims to keep innovating and being different. His statement is that he’s comfortable in this sound, even if it’s not yet been truly defined, “Genre Warriors piss me off. Followers are Swallowers.”
Tadgh Byrne 