There are few figures in the music world who are as well-rounded in the performing arts as Rachel Mason. Visual artist (sculptor), songwriter and performer, she is also a film director and arts blogger. Impose Magazine calls Mason “one of the most creative forces in the world, continuing her multidisciplinary pursuits that are never strictly committed to one singular medium”.
Rachel Mason has recorded 13 full-length albums and three operas, including her most recent unique rock opera feature film The Lives of Hamilton Fish, which toured the world in 2015 and was released this month on VOD. She has also exhibited sculpture, video and performance art at many of the country’s leading art galleries.
The New York Times says she has “a voice part Emmylou Harris and part Yoko Ono”, while VICE says her music is “equally indebted to the Who’s Quadrophenia and the Steve Reich opera The Cave, with video and music interacting in fluid and complex ways”.
Her music and multi-media works have garnered press attention from the likes of Vice, Interview Magazine, The New York Times, Artforum, LA Weekly, The New Yorker, The Los Angeles Times, Art in America, and Flash Art. She has shared stages, toured and collaborated with numerous artists, including Sharon Von Etten, Jennifer Herrema (RTX), Phosphorescent, Davendra Banhardt, Prince Rama, Light Asylum, Josephine Foster, Diane Cluck, and Excepter.
Tonight the new video for Rachel Mason’s forthcoming single ‘Tigers in the Dark’ (directed by Matthew Spiegelman) gets the world’s first screening during a live performance called ‘Enter Das Ram’ at LTD Los Angeles gallery.
Located on Sunset Boulevard in the gallery, which was formerly the site of the1970s legendary Rodney Bingenheimer’s English Disco, L.A.’s mainstay during the glam rock era, fave hangout of many rock stars, and site where Iggy Pop’s infamous concert climaxed with him slashing his chest with a knife. Rachel Mason’s performance will incorporate Dennis Hoekstra’s installation, a virtual reincarnation of the English Disco.
A very close friend of David Bowie, best known for launching his career and those of Iggy Pop, Depeche Mode, Blondie and countless glam rock legends, Rodney Bingenheimer a.k.a. “Rodney on the Roq” himself will be supporting this release with a DJ set as part of this event.
In scripts, sculpture, rock operas, performances and songs spanning over a decade, Mason has created imagined worlds where animals, objects, mythological creatures and all forms of non-human entities have taken shape through her body and voice. Her shows wrap the audience in fantastical narratives which interweave musical, theatrical and narrative elements into unexpected operatic journeys.
‘Das Ram’ is the first complete set of songs written and performed with Mason’s longtime creative partner Jeff Hassay. An artist, writer and publisher, who also co-runs an art gallery, Hassay recorded, mixed and produced these tracks at his studio in Los Feliz. He has previously worked with Jonathan Richman (Modern Lovers), Jennifer Herrema (Royal Trux, Black Bananas), Avi Buffalo, Chris Cohen (Deerhoof), and Carolyn Penny Packer (Bouquet).
Doors for Rachel Mason’s June 18 performance open at 7pm with the performance slated to begin at 8pm.
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