MASON Sam

Sam Mason Musician/Composer Bio

 

Sam Mason is a Canadian composer and guitar player. He started playing guitar at the age of eleven and was interested in writing his own music shortly after. The early stages of his development were influenced by the metal giants: Metallica and Iron Maiden. Sam is nihilistic about everything and always had troubles moving on with the next stage of his life. After high school, he did not know what he wanted to do and his parents urged him to go to university for architecture or engineering. He thought, “If I’m going to go to school again, it better be for something I love and something that won’t make me any money.” It was in his first year of university when his style changed drastically. He had listened to the album Catch Thirty-three by Meshuggah and thought, “This is the pinnacle of all metal and groove. All other albums or bands in the genre are wasting time.” His style transitioned to the ambience of Post-Rock and Classical with the influence of the Montreal-based band, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and the great composers of history: Beethoven, Mahler, Messiaen, Shostakovich, and Takemitsu.

No one just plays music for absolutely no reason, so the question of Why must be asked. It’s obvious that the things that motivate us are all intertwined like a web and to find a starting point without some serious psychoanalysis or Jungian analysis would be quite difficult. Sam is an only-child who grew up in the country which had a serious effect on his ability to socialize. The nihilistic view sneaked its way in at an early age and it was he alone who had to deal with these thoughts. When he was in elementary school, he noticed that everyone loved listening to music and the most prominent instrument in the bands at the time was the guitar and so, learning the guitar would give him a way to socialize – it would give him a voice. 

It took him several years to realize that no one wants to hear a solo distorted guitar being played with less-than-intermediate skill. His friends would tell him to stop playing and that he is annoying. It’s better to listen to people’s reactions and then improve rather than trying to protect the ego at all costs and so Sam looked to style of classical guitar as something far more entertaining, pleasing and virtuosic. Sam started to study with the great William Beauvais at York University, who single handedly made him the player he is today. He also had the opportunity to study composition with Randolph Peters, Stephanie Martin and Mike Cadó who encouraged him to write music and focus on his notation. Sam’s music incorporates the genres of metal, indie, ambient and classical which creates a very unique and distinct style of composition for the purpose of sleep, meditation and introspection. His style has changed over the years but, the message stays the same.