Every Monday we will be bringing you interviews with unsigned UK or Ireland artists for Independent Music Monday. Recently we caught up with Rob from unsigned Belfast based duo MASK to find out more…
Who is in the duo, how did you meet, where are you from and how did you come up with the name?
Hi Merryn-ers, band members are myself Rob “H” Humphrey and Craig Coppock. I’m from Belfast and Craig is from Liverpool. We met in Liverpool around 2005 through a love of the Beatles and it’s been a life long friendship ever since. I came up with the band name whilst on the streets of Budapest. I was on the phone being pushed for a band name when a street vendor held up a musical mask about two inches from my face. I named us “MASK” there and then and no-one argued, done deal.
(I bought the MASK btw and it’s usually hidden in our videos in random places).
Who were your musical influences when you were growing up and who are your influences now?
Growing up I mainly listened to the likes of Elvis and Little Richard. When I picked up a guitar (mostly to try and impress girls) it became the Beatles and The Stones.
The blues will always have a hold on me, listening to Peter Green or Hendrix still manages to blow me away. Our influences nowadays would be The Black Keys, BRMC and Band of Skulls.
How would you describe your sound?
We get labelled as a rock/blues outfit but we deliberately will delve into different genres on our studio albums.
When we take the stage it all becomes a lot simpler – we’re a rock and roll band.
What is your latest release called and what was the influence behind it?
Our new album is called “Smiling Assassins” and it’s got elements of glam, blues, and even a sprinkle of funk.
This album was actually born in the jungles of Peru. I visited there late in 2019 and on my return I approached Michael Mormecha to ask if we could come in and do a record.
Sadly his new studio wasn’t finished but I badgered him until he relented (!) and so we recorded it on what was pretty much a building site.
This album has a completely unique power and rawness as a result. You can hear us banging tool boxes and planks of wood in places!
What’s your local music scene like?
There are some great bands here in Belfast – The Bonnevilles are by far the best.
I don’t dig a lot of the bands that tend to get the limelight and I don’t like how things are done with a “who you know” mentality but so what – it’s likely the same wherever you go.
What do you have planned for the next 12 months?
July the 1st 2021 was the release date for “Smiling Assassins” our second studio album, I will actually be travelling around Europe in my van with my dog whilst promoting it.
Then a few months off and a new album in 2022 for sure – I think COVID will bring a lot of great music over the coming year!
Is there anyone you’d love to collaborate with?
Yes! We have reached out to a few acts and here’s hoping. We’d love to work with Band of Skulls or Dutch rockers DeWolff 🤘
Any funny stories surrounding your live performances?
On stage Craig always finds a way of making me piss myself laughing. On our live record there’s a song called “Round The World For a Shortcut” and you can hear Craig working the crowd. He gets everyone up and right up close to the stage and it goes something like this;
“Everyone clap your hands” – everyone claps their hands and it’s loud!
“Now everyone stamp your feet” – now the place is really stomping and us and the crowd are as one!
“Ok… Now everyone get naked!” – seeing the whites of those peoples’ eyes, well, I nearly fell off the stage laughing.
What is the one thing that you want readers to know about you?
We’re not a particularly cool band. Just a couple of guys making a noise trying to create a groove that we hope people will dig… We’re the underdogs and all we have to compete with is our music, that’s ok by us.
An arduous road often leads to beautiful destinations.
You can find out more about MASK on their website or via Facebook, Instagram, SoundCloud, Spotify, Twitter or YouTube.
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