Wide Mouth Mason
 
With the launch of their new Album "Shot Down Satellites" released this year by Curve Music, Wide Mouth Mason, has a refreshing new sound on this album, but retains that amazing mix of blues, funk and pop that we all know and love. These days, keeping a band together for a couple of releases can be real work. The guys are going into year 11, and have learned to work with personal egos. and difference of opinions. With the amount of experience this band has gained over the past 10 years, and the ability to work with each other, and belong to a label as professional as Curve Music, there was no way that the release of this album would bring anything except satisfaction to the band, and joy from fans. I talked to Shaun as WMM were out on an Eastern swing with The Heck and we talked about everything, including playing  a gig for chickens.  Yes.  Chickens.
Toe: How is it to be out on the road in Eastern Canada?

Shaun: Great! It has been a long time, but with the release of the new album, we wanted to get the single out there for a bit before traveling out to do some shows.
Toe: You have done a ton of shows throughout the Summer of '05.

Shaun: Yeah, we played out West quite a bit and also played some gigs around the Saskatchewan Centennial.

Toe: How is the band doing? It seems about a year ago there were a lot of people wondering if WMM would be continuing on together. The future seemed a bit cloudy to the fans.

Shaun: You know, it is funny. In other genres of music, such as Jazz, and Blues, collaborations are a very normal thing. After 11 years, when you may want to get out and do some solo stuff, or extra-curricular activities outside of the band people think you have gone and broken up. We did go out on the road though, and played some gigs together, did some soul searching, saw that we had done some great things, and that we were not done yet.

Toe: Now, after 10 years together, do you find it easier or harder to write an album together? Was this album self produced, or did you bring in a producer?

Shaun: The process of writing now, is definitely different. Our ability to communicate is much better. There becomes a lot of ego and vested interest after that long together. We were able to walk into the studio, and record the album that WE wanted to record. It was a self produced project.

Toe: You are out on the road with The Heck, who are actually from my hometown of Abbotsford. Have you had a chance to listen to their release yet? The are great musicians. Great rock and guitar solos abound!

Shaun: No, not as of yet. We will be meeting them this afternoon for the first time at sound check. My girlfriend works for a magazine that did a piece on them. It is about time that rock music came back around.

Toe: I am going to take you back a few years on some of these questions. Is it true or false, that in order to get bar gigs back in the day, that you hired a friend to stand on stage to make you into a 4 piece?

Shaun: (Laughs) TOTALLY. These bar owners were not letting us play, because as a 3 piece they figured we would not "fill up the bar with sound". What about Nirvana? Green Day? So we had a friend that would come to the gig, and set his keyboards up on the stage. I do not think he was even plugged in, or knew how to play the tunes. But the bar owner would be saying "What a great band, excellent keyboard player"

Toe: Give them what they want I always say!! Ok, next jewel from the past. I read that you actually performed to "Three drunken hockey players and 2 chickens". Please, for the record, did it happen?

Shaun: Say it isn't so... I wish it wasn't, but yes, it is true. It was some place called, like, Gravelville. Sometimes you just have to laugh at gigs. One day you are in an arena gigging with AC/DC, the next day you are at a rodeo. We were playing a rodeo type event once, and after playing a song, I thought, WTF? Why the hell are they booing us? It was the cows...MOOING!!

Toe: OK, now that I have brought all of that up, you have headlined yourselves, but also shared the stage with greats like George Thorogood , ZZ Top at BC Place and AC/DC? What were gigs of that type like?

Shaun: It was a gradual thing. We started off doing gigs with George, then moved up to the ZZ Top shows, and eventually we were playing dates with AC/DC.

Toe: That must have been a bit intimidating as the opener. Had did that tour go?

Shaun: Really good. You just go up, play a few songs, and keep your mouth shut. After a few songs, you just let the crowd know that Angus and Malcolm Young invited us to open for them on the tour. So, over all it went great. It made us very sure of ourselves.

Toe: Lyrically, Shot Down Satellite seems to deal with a lot of deep personal subject matter, with almost a mournful/sad feel to it. That is not reflected in the music or melody, but in the words themselves. Was that the direction you meant for the lyrics on this batch of songs?

Shaun: You know, that is just how the songs developed. We draw from personal experiences, and not all of them are full of joy. Every person that listens to the songs, can also have a very different point of view on what the words mean. Words seem to write themselves. You draw from your life experiences. There is no filter for that sort of thing.

Toe: It is hard to pigeon-hole WMM to a specific genre. There has always been a mix of blues, pop, funk and folk to your sound. This new album seems to hold a bit more grit and rock in it's music. How did this edgier sound evolve?

Shaun: Actually a lot of people have been saying that. The mixture of genres is still in the sound, but hey, who goes out on tour with AC/DC and does not come home with a harder sound stuck in their heads?

Toe: How are things working out with your new label Curve Music?

Shaun: Things are great. They are very focused, and amazing to work with. Brian is awesome.

Toe: Do you have any favorite Canadian artists?

Shaun: Two off the top of my head. The two Leonard's. Leonard Cohen and Lenny Breau.

Toe: Great choices. So, your site says you will be visiting us November 30th in Vancouver? Richard's on Richards?

Shaun: Yes. I love Richards. A great place to play. You will have to get out there and tip one with us at the show!

Toe: I would not miss it for the world. I will see you there! Thanks so much for taking the time during this crazy day to talk to me! Good luck on this Eastern swing!

Shaun: No problem, and thank you