news.
Recording developments, artwork process, collaborations, performances, etc…
Wednesday, May 15, 2024
Lots of news coming up, some of which I'm not allowed to talk about yet. First off…I’m deep in school right now, working on my teaching certificate. Feels great to be back in the academic world, and filling my brain with information on a rigorous schedule.
Two more OFFICE reissues are up online. “A Bachelor of Fine Arts” includes a bunch of demos, unreleased songs, and experiments created between 2001 and 2002. “The Iced Tea Boys and the Lemonade Girls” is an album I made right after I graduated from college in 2001. It was finished after I moved to Chicago.
I also released a two-piece long-form experimental/ambient EP called “Among Us”, which is also available on Bandcamp and streaming platforms.
Up next are the remaining reissues of my solo and OFFICE catalog. I’m also wrapping up an album of experimental music, ambient, noise, etc. I have been working on a new more conventional type of “song cycle album”, but that won’t be out until 2025. I’m trying to get this experimental body of work done first because it’s sort of where my head is at right now. Hopefully, I can put the record out this summer.
I will be doing physical releases on CDs, cassettes, or vinyl of mostly everything I release from now on. I’ll also try and start the process of getting my older music onto limited-edition physical formats as well, for those who are interested. If you’re a small boutique label, and want to help out with that….let me know. lol.
Love, Scott
solo music / OFFICE / music catalog / mixing / creating / ambient / experimental music
Tuesday, Jan 23. 2024
A lot has taken place since my last update. Long story, but I have almost completed my cataloging project. It will definitely be done before the summer. I had to fix a few records that I had distorted between 2022-2023 when I was dealing with some health issues from Covid, etc. I got them all fixed up, so everything that is currently up on Scott Masson and OFFICE’s streaming and Bandcamp is finally sounding the way I want them to sound. Everything can be found on any streaming platform under “Scott Masson” or “OFFICE”.
It’s hard to believe I’m almost finished with this gigantic project. I have uploaded pretty much all of my 90s music at this point, and the majority of OFFICE recordings I have. In order to prove that I haven’t been completely “stuck in the past” with this project, I also recently released an experimental Halloween EP that you can hear here.
Right now, I am finalizing mixes and remasters on all the “Iced Tea Boys and Lemonade Girls”material and recordings I did in the early 2000s, so those will be up in February. March and April will be dedicated to reissuing the “Phantom Films” recordings, and other recordings created between 2009-2011. That’s probably the most unique music I’ve ever made, so I’m excited to get it up for the first time since it all got “lost” over a decade ago.
I’m not done yet! :) Outside my day job as a substitute teacher, I am gearing up for grad school in May. Holy fudge! Additionally….I am also deep at work on new art (in the “art” section of this website), and a ton of new music. In Feb or March, I will be uploading a new album of experimental / ambient music. I wanted to get some new vibes out there while I finish a new album of actual “song-oriented” type of music. (I’m hoping to finish that this summer.) That will definitely be released on limited vinyl, cassette, and CD.
Lastly….I just finished scoring a short film by Katie Barkel, and that will be coming out on PBS and the internet in Feb. (More information then.) Thank you so much for your interest. I see a finish line in the near-future for many different things, so I’m very excited and having a total blast with it. Peace and love to you in the new year.
Scott
solo music / OFFICE / music catalog / mixing / saturation / analog / studio gear / tape / Casio / artwork
Tuesday, May 2nd. 2023
I just uploaded OFFICE’s “Q&A” album onto streaming platforms and Bandcamp. Should be live this week. Due to some home-improvement projects I’m in the middle of, all the bonus material will be unfolding separately over the next several weeks. The first volume of extra “Q&A” material should be up in a couple weeks from today. The second volume should be up in June. Up next is another album from the 90s, all the Pink Oil material that I didn’t do a very good job putting together in 2021, and Phantom Films + all its bonus material. Once I get to the end of the fall, I should be pretty close to being done with this reissue project. I’ll only have a few remaining odds and ends from my life: my 90s band Fieldtree, remastering OFFICE’s first LP, compiling OFFICE’s “Iced Tea Boys and the Lemonade Girls”, and some random stuff from the 90s. I’m looking forward to being done with this, so I can just focus on finishing up my new album and not working 16 hour days. lol
Scott
solo music / OFFICE / music catalog / mixing / saturation / analog / studio gear / tape
Friday, Feb 24. 2023
One of the two albums I made in 1996-97 is up on Bandcamp and streaming services now. It’s called “Atlantic”. The other album from that same period will turn up on streaming at some point this spring. For now, my entire priority is getting the massive “Q&A” collection up from OFFICE. Also…the new album I created with two of my friends called “Purgatório” is up on Bandcamp and streaming services as well.
Scott
solo music / OFFICE / music catalog / mixing / saturation / analog / studio gear
Thursday, Dec 22. 2022
An album I made in 1998 called "Out in the Cornfield” is live on bandcamp and streaming platforms. It was recorded on Tascam 4-track. It’s never been released until now. Stay tuned for an album I made in 1997 coming out in a few weeks after the holidays. You can click on the drawing, and it’ll take you to Bandcamp.
Scott
solo music / OFFICE / music catalog / mixing / saturation / analog / studio gear
Wednesday. Nov, 24. 2022
Musical update: Over the last few months while waiting for my new gear to arrive, I finished digitizing all of my Tascam 4-track cassette recordings I made during the 90s. I will be releasing these over the next couple months. These records were never released before. I used to think this music was never meant to be heard because I was still learning how to record, write songs, and experiment. I realized about a year ago that this music means a lot to me, and is an important part of my musical journey (for better or worse). Some of this stuff is very charming, some of it is extremely questionable, and some of it was absolutely ahead of its time. Today I release “New Cross Sunrise”, which consists of experimental cassette 4-track music written and recorded around 1999. In a couple weeks, I’ll be uploading another record I made in 1998. A few weeks after that, another one made in 1997….and so on. Shouldn’t take me too long to get all of this material up. After that, I will be putting the finishing touches on “Phantom Films” and “Q&A (Extended)” once and for all. I also finished making a new full-length album with my rapper friends, Kelly and Kip. It’s totally nuts, and should be coming out in early 2023. Still working on new Masson music as well, but getting my entire catalog of music up online this year is still my priority while I compose new stuff.
New Cross Sunrise available on Bandcamp and all streaming platforms week of Thanksgiving, 2022. Click on image to hear via Bandcamp.
Scott
solo music / OFFICE / music catalog / mixing / saturation / analog / studio gear
Wednesday. Nov, 23. 2022
After being delayed on mixing progress for a half-year, I finally got my Overstayer MAS outboard unit in the mail. Supply chain issues had this unit backed way up, so I waited and waited. I cancelled my order due to some financial issues, but ended up getting all caught up with my new day job. And luckily….I found one of these units in perfect shape on Reverb, so I pulled the trigger. It was a great decision, because now I’m back in business. Not to mention, this is the greatest piece of gear I’ve ever purchased. It does EXACTLY what the computer cannot achieve: make things sound “cool”. The Overstayer MAS is basically an analog device that allows me to run individual instrument stems and stereo mixes through to saturate and process the sound to my tastes, depending on what the source material requires. In other words: it takes them out of the digital realm, and makes things sound like the records I actually grew up listening to. It’s like running your mix through an old mixing console! I got tired of hiring other people to do this type of post-production work for me, so I had to spend a great deal of money to get my setup into this awesome realm that allows me to do this type of sonic-sweetening myself. The unit rules!
Scott
solo music / OFFICE / music catalog / mixing / saturation / analog / studio gear
Wednesday. Feb, 23. 2022
Stoked to now be a part of Academy Fight Songs diverse roster of super cool artists. AFS, along with Bank Robber Music and Rough Trade Publishing, is a music house that engages authentic, independent artists to compose / produce custom music for visual media and branded content. So stoked, and very grateful for this unique opportunity. Super excited and humbled to be amongst artists like A Place To Bury Strangers, Black Lips, Built to Spill, Fugazi, Death, Califone, Juliana Hatfield, Fred Thomas, Jamaican Queens, The Magnetic Fields, Joanna Newsome, Panda Bear, Tortoise, etc. So many awesome bands and composers.
It’s nice to know that my new music, and catalog of older recordings that I’m currently re-issuing right now, will be in good hands with professionals. Not to mention, I’m incredibly excited about the possibility of composing custom pieces of music for commercials, shows, movies, or whatever the client/project needs. #academyfightsongs #roughtradepublishing #bankrobbermusic #songwriter #composer #songwriting #production #officetheband
Scott
solo music / Academy Fight Songs / Bank Robber Music / Rough Trade Publishing / OFFICE
jan. 25, 2021
I just did this fun little track called “Ghost Mall” for an electronic music compilation with some friends from Detroit. You can download it here, but I also uploaded it to my streaming accounts as well: Spotify, Apple Music, etc. The five artists who participated in it had very specific rules on which sounds we were allowed to use (Boss DR-55 drum machine, and Arp Odyssey). It was sort of a tribute to 80s and 90s electronic stuff. I hit mine to cassette tape after it was done to give it that cozy hiss that brings us back to the 1980s….back when we used to comb the racks in Tape World and Music Land at 12 Oaks Mall, lookin’ for that sweet new single or album when we were kids.
Scott
ghost mall / compilation / Detroit electronic music / tape