There are times when we get sent somethings that make us really listen and Pierre Masse’s new EP, Situations, is one of the best EP’s our music team has reviewed. We will have a full EP review up on line on Monday 2nd. Pierre was kind enough to take the time out and do a interview with us, this is an act that you really need to pay some attention to!
How have things been, your EP been going well?
Things have been good; an exciting couple of months – finished high school and been getting ready to start university in the fall. The EP’s been getting pretty good feedback from the few people who’ve listen to it; I haven’t made any money off of it but that was never the point. This was basically a project to get all these songs I had been working on out into the world and onto a tangible release (such as an EP). It was a no-production-costs do-it-yourself project that I very much enjoyed, and now that it’s out there I just want people to listen to it and enjoy it, and use it as a reference to keep track of me as an artist for any future projects I might release, as myself (solo) or in collaboration with other people (such as the EP I’ve been working on with the band I’ve been playing in for the past two years, The Final Year).
How did you start, you always been musical?
When I was 8 my mother basically said “pick an instrument and we’ll sign you up for lessons”. Everyone around me was doing piano or violin so I thought I would be different and I chose guitar. Of course, when I got to my teens I realized that the guitar was the least original instrument I could’ve picked! Anyways, I did two years of classical guitar – we were living in France at that time – and when we moved back to Canada I switched to more blues and folk style lessons. When I was around 12 or 13 I started writing songs… they weren’t very good, but that’s how you start, right? I’d been writing melodies and such from the time I was 8 but those were rubbish.
Anyways a couple years ago I started writing songs that I thought could actually be recorded, and I grew more confident of my playing and singing. I bought a mic and started recording demos. Finally last fall I hooked up with a friend who had access to a recording studio so we did the rhythm guitar and bass bedtracks there, and I went home and finished the vocals and guitar overdubs at home. I’m a basically self-taught producer so I mixed and mastered the EP myself, and that was a very educational experience. That’s pretty much how “Situations” came to be.
Describe your music/style in five words?
That’s tough… usually I just tell people to go listen to my music! But in five words I would have to say: alternative minimalist indie folk rock. I think that pretty much sums it up.
Best & Worst shows you’ve played?
Best show was at the Sound Academy in Toronto with my band The Final Year, huge place, lots of people, big stage with lots of lights – it was pretty awesome. Worst show was with the same band, at school for a sort of Coffee House sort of thing – we just basically fell apart! Even my guitar strap broke during the second song, so I guess it just wasn’t supposed to be.
Who’s been a musical influence to you, who do you like to listen to?
I listen to a huge variety of genres, like most musicians I know. I have everything from Beethoven’s Symphonies to my favorite band Muse with some electro (Justice, Daft Punk, Deadmau5), metal (In Flames, Amon Amarth), “classic”/psychadelic rock (Dire Straits, Pink Floyd), and French stuff (Francis Cabrel, Tryo) thrown in, and that’s only naming a few… For my solo project, the one “Situations” came from, my biggest influences would have to be Francis Cabrel, Dire Straits/Mark Knopfler, Renan Luce, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Pink Floyd.
What you have planned for the rest of the year, you touring with your EP?
As I said, I’m off to university in the fall, but musically I’m going to be working with my friend Chris Drexler-Lemire, who played bass on “Situations” and plays bass with our band The Final Year, on an interesting alternative rock mixed with electronica and house project. I think more details are going to come later this year.
Who would you want to work with?
I would love to have the opportunity to work with Matt Bellamy (of Muse), Mark Knopfler (from Dire Straits) or Francis Cabrel – all are not only amazing guitar players that I could learn so much from, but they are also awesome musicians and composers with each a unique vision of music, which is what allows them to make the music they do.
How has it been for you with all the changes within the music industry, you been getting a lot of support?
Well I dove into the music industry at a time when everything is changing so I jumped on the modern train and released my EP on a pay-what-you-want basis with no minimum on Bandcamp.com, which has gotten me more downloads than any of the paying methods where my EP is also available (iTunes etc.). Unfortunately I didn’t have the funds to release the EP on CD but I hope that I’ll be able to do that with future projects, because although I’m using new distribution methods, I love the concept of the complete album and the quality of a CD is unparalleled and unrivaled by anything you can find online (except maybe Bandcamp!).
Best advice you’ve been given?
Someone told me this while we were talking about John Frusciante, now ex-guitarist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers: “If you stop taking drugs and practice guitar instead, you can get damn good!” I’ve never done the type or amount of drugs Frusciante did but that just sort of reminded me that the best way to improve is to really prioritize your guitar and music above everything else – besides perhaps my education!
And, if you where to give advice about starting a band what would it be?
That the bullshit you hear that a band is guys who are only together to make music and you have to put egos and friendships aside is exactly that: bullshit. A band needs to be a group of friends that are also good at making music together and who enjoy it. You need to have good times with those guys and become true friends. That’s what happened the past two years with The Final Year and that was tons of fun.
Hey guys am Nige and I run The New Current. Well that's pretty much it, simple really, you want to get involved, review,or have your music on our site just let me know! niger@thenewcurrent.com 
