A Musical Masterpiece
Mastery began approximately two years ago. The band released one demo, "The Triad", before the line-up underwent a major change. The founding member, Markus, knew the band could improve, so he found two new members: Kevan, previously of CandleOpera, and Jeff, from Censure. As of yet, the band has no bassist, so Jeff records the basslines ahead of time. There is no vocalist for this band, but trust me when I say that they do not need it. I have never seen a band with so much charisma, stage presence, and brutality. This is the most technical thrash metal band I've ever heard, and I can't say I've ever been more impressed with a band in my life. The fact that they've only played 6 shows is an astounding fact given the full energy and confidence that they bring to their set. Because I completely fell in love with this band, I decided to interview them so that I could bring word of this ingenious new act in Toronto to the local scene, so that others could check them out and be as blown away as I was.
NoC - Em
K - Kevan(Drums)
J - Jeff(Guitar)
M - Markus(Guitar)
NoC: You guys are obviously a fairly new band, and just starting to get fans in the metal scene… so if you could tell people who haven't heard of you one thing about yourselves, what would you like them to know about Mastery in order to get them to come out and see shows?
J: Intense!
M: I guess the one thing that stands out at this point is the simple fact that we don’t have any vocals, you know, we’re not going to make a huge deal out of it, but I would say for most people is that in the genre I don’t think there's anybody else out there doing what we're doing, which is basically doing shows without vocals.
NoC: I begged a copy of the original demo off Kevan, and there is a [power metal] vocalist on the demo, so I was wondering if you guys are looking for a vocalist, and whether you would rather go with the same kind of power metal feel, or more of a thrash metal sound?
M: Tough one to answer - I mean the CD that you listened to is a couple of years old, and um yeah we've definitely taken a new approach since, and yeah, I mean in terms of vocals we all have our own ideas about what the vocals could and should be. But we're just focusing on the music right now. We’ve had a few people come and try out but nothing has really has developed, and we're not really set in stone in terms of what we want for vocals per se.
K: I think our philosophy at this point is that the right vocalist is going to find us. And that when we hear it we will know; it’s so hard to say, "We want it like this or like this." We want a vocalist like us, and that’s going to be tricky, so...
NoC: On the demo, you worked with Maxel Black from Penetrator. What was that like, since he is very well known within the scene?
M: *pause* Uhhhh... I don’t really know who gave who the push here in terms of where he's at right now but yeah, I mean, we parted ways, you know, a little over a year ago, and the philosophy in Mastery anyway is that you either keep up or get out, that kind of stuff, and that's basically what happened.
NoC: As far as keeping up goes, I know that Kevan said a line the other day how being in a band is like being in a relationship but with more people. Do you find that being in the band affects your friendships, either being in the band or outside of it?
M: Well I mean, you know, its like anything, there’s a lot of focus that you put in, and you want to keep the music music side of things, and the personal personal. I don’t really mix that up. It’s definitely a tricky balance, but so far so good!
J: Yeah it’s a tricky balance.
M: We don’t hate each other yet... not officially anyway...
K: A couple of years on the road and I'll let you know. *laughs*
NoC: So what's the hope of seeing a bassist onstage with you guys anytime soon? I mean, Jeff's basslines are great, but it'd be nice to see some presence up there with you guys.
K: Well like with the vocalist… I think that person will find us. I mean, this is kind of the thing, I’ve only been in the band for a year, and that was after Maxell left. And it’s like… either we sit around and wait for that to happen or we go out and do it anyway. We definitely want a bassist, no question, but I mean, for now this works and it gives us the opportunity to get out there anyway. We've tried it both ways, in different bands and stuff like that, like spending time auditioning and getting people to learn songs - to spend that kind of time for them to just not work out anyway… This way they can see what we're all about - see what the basslines are doing anyway. They can approach us and say, "I’m in."
M: Yeah, we need somebody who can once again keep up, and if that doesn’t happen, it'll just stay the way it is. But we're looking!
NoC: As far as previous bands go, have you played in any, and if so what's the difference between playing with them and playing with Mastery?
J: Well I was in a band called Censure in Vancouver, that’s where I’m from, and now they're called Antiquous, and um, it’s quite a bit different. I mean the style of music we're playing now is much more intense, a lot faster, a lot more complicated and intricate, and it’s more of a blast to play with this band, let me put it that way. We have something special, like the connection between us when we rehearse and go onstage. The other bands couldn’t compare to that.
K: Same for me… my last band, it was more Pantera-ish, like goth/power metal for lack of a better term, really heavy riffs and cool groove type drumming but not nearly as intense. So it’s the same thing, it’s really stepping things up to the next level. I mean this is totally a blast; it’s the most challenging thing I've had to do musically, and that just inspires me even more. It’s a huge difference for me.
M: Yeah... I started all this a few years ago, so I haven't really been in other projects. This is sort of my first - and probably the last *laughs* for that matter.
NoC: So what do you guys think that Mastery has that no other metal band can credit themselves with?
K: Well, I don’t know, but once again - the [44 piece drum] cage!
*everyone laughs*
NoC: And what do you think the band's missing right now?
J: Money! Lots of money!
K: A stadium full of fans!
M: That'll come.
NoC: Having watched you guys over the past 3 shows, I've noticed you wear the same outfits for each performance. You have a uniform, and I was just wondering why you have a set look and why you've chosen that particular one.
M: Well the one thing is that, yes, we basically just started playing, so we're fairly new to the scene, and we haven't really gone past the point of "Okay, what do we do next in terms of stage appearance" et cetera, et cetera. I don’t know, we're all metalheads and just into the music at this point, as opposed to trying to offer something else besides, you know, just us being up there and playing. For the time being we're just going to stick with that.
J: It’s money again as well…
K: At this point, its a matter of just being consistent with theme, in that it would look goofy if I went up there in skater clothes, or if any one of us did, so I think it’s just that we have a sense of wardrobe and of what we want to portray. But right now it’s just coming up with sort of a coin to exploit what we can do theatrically in that sense. But for now we just want to make sure we're consistent in our appearance.
M: It’s really early in the game; we just started playing! For us, it’s more important that the music comes across the way it does. We're still sort of waiting to see people’s reactions to the fact that there are no vocals, so that alone are fun enough just to do the shows.
K: I’m not allowed to wear a big chicken suit onstage…
NoC: As far as training goes, do you guys have formal training on your instruments or are you self taught?
M: I just listen to a lot of heavy music that basically teaches what you want to know.
K: I grew up on piano, so I have that background. Drums, I took about 6 months, and then gave up for years of playing altogether. And then starting again… it’s been mostly self-taught but with the foundations of some good fundamentals to build off of. Beyond that, it’s like anything else, hard work and time spent in the seat.
J: Well as a child I moved around a lot with my parents, and you know every 2-5 months I would move. And so, you know, you don’t really have any time to make friends. And when I heard Motley Crue and Guns N Roses… when that came out I was just like "Yeah... this is awesome!" And what inspired me to play guitar... I think a friend of mine put on some Slayer, I think he put on South of Heaven, and I thought “Whoa, this is awesome!” And of course Metallica were there, and everyone had backpack patches, and I decided at that point that I wanted to play bass. So I begged and begged and begged my parents for a bass guitar for Christmas, and they were like “Nom you're not getting one, we can’t afford it!” And Christmas day came along, and there was a big box, but it wasn't big enough… it was actually a guitar, so I became a guitar player. I used to put on my albums and rewind rewind rewind ‘til I got it right. So yeah... I’m self-taught.
NoC: As far as day jobs go, do you guys have them right now, and are you hoping to eventually give them up and make this full time?
M: YES!
K: Definitely.
NoC: One last question before I let you guys go, and it’s directed at [Kevan]
K: Uh oh
NoC: *laughs* If a venue had very little stage space, could you and would you play the set on a normal sized kit?
K: Absolutely
NoC: You could do it?
K: I think in a sense, especially as we're getting a bit more of a following, it would be kind of novel, I think, for someone to see me do what I do in this band on a 5-piece. I mean of course I'd prefer to use my kit, but my philosophy with drummers has always been that that’s how you can tell a good drummer - to see how good they sound on a small kit. Look at a jazz drummer: give them a 4 piece and they sound like its 20. Most drummers have a 20 piece and it sounds like its 4 piece. It'd be my preference to have the tools available though.
NoC: Ok, that’s it, thank you!
MASTERY: Thank you!
MasteryMetal.com
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