“If Tame Impala met Portishead,” you get a Squeeze Mason groovy trip
Montreal-based Squeeze Mason is an amalgamation of all that makes good, groovy music. Not a band to be defined by one genre, they draw on Rock music, as well as Jazz, Funk, and Metal — a unique blend, incorporating 1980s synthetic sound, and syncopated groove.
Originally formed in 2019, the band at first included twins Gary and Ted Schulze, hailing from Whitehorse, Yukon, and Dexter Dippong. Gary is the multi-instrumentalist, Ted is on the Keyboard, and Dippong is the bassist as well as is a producer.
However recently, the band went from being the threesome we’ve come to know to a full-fledged five-members band, with a guitarist and a singer.
In addition to the Schulze twins and Dippong, Squeeze Mason is now also Charlotte Greaves on vocals, and Adam on guitar.
“The dynamic’s been ruined with these two, we gotta kick them out,” Dippong deadpans, voice dripping with sarcasm as the chemistry between these five has been apparent since they played live at the Blue Dog Motel back in March.
“For me, when I joined, it was clear to me from the first day that this was the right band that I was looking for,” Adam says. “It was kind of seamless. Creatively, this was what I was looking for. So it wasn’t hard to transition into it. A lot of times, guitarists will try to play over things, but it’s nice to even play within something and not be always at the forefront. It felt fitting.”
“I’ll be honest, I was nervous before I started,” Greaves confesses. “Because I’ve never sang in a band before. I have performed on stage like with acting and stuff like that. But I’ve never actually collaborated with a band before, so it was kind of reassuring that Adam was joining at the same time. But these guys [Squeeze Mason’s original trio] made it so welcoming that it was an effortless transition.”
“But in all seriousness, [them becoming part of the band] has been really inspiring,” Ted continues. “We’ve been doing pretty much the same thing for almost two years, and so when they joined we found that we can go a little bit further. It makes it easier to picture a future as a proper band. Before we felt like we were just a backing band for whoever, and now we have a full sound.”
Indeed, prior to their newest set-up, Squeeze Mason have put out a number of songs, EPs, and tracks featuring other fellow artists, with their most recent titled Fishing for the Blues, that came out in February 2022 with vocalist liv. — a multi-dimensional vocalist, who has joined Squeeze Mason on more than one occasion in the recording studio.
Now with Greaves as a vocalist, the collaborations won’t be as frequent.
“Collaboration has always been a part of us as a band, and it’s always been really good for networking,” Ted says. “And it’s good to help out, and be helped out. When you combine fanbases in a song, it’s an easy hack to get more attention to the music.”
“That being said,” Dippong chimes in, “Now that Charlotte’s [Greaves] is our singer, if we collaborate with someone, they’ll be like featured on the song, but Charlotte’s still the one singing.”
Every year, CBC Music launches the Toyota Searchlight competition, a long-running hunt for Canada’s undiscovered musical talent. And this year, Squeeze Mason is part of the lineup of artists.
“Now we’re finally at a point where we can finally submit our own music to it,” Gary states. “It felt like it was the time to go for it because now we have a full band, our online presence is good, and we got recordings we’re really proud of. We’re really proud of ourselves as a band.”
Squeeze Mason has been working on some new music to release to the public, with an upcoming single featuring Old Soul vocalist, Loreta Triconi and Free Real Estate’s Christopher Petterson.
Ethereal, transportive, and “nutty” — the three words the band wants you to keep in mind for their upcoming music.
And do not miss their upcoming live show on 2 June at La Marche à Côté, where they will be opening for Raincity, the Rage-Funk band hailing from Vancouver, BC; currently on their “A Proper Latte” tour.
Head to Squeeze Mason’s socials for all the necessary details, be it for their live shows or how to support them in the Toyota Searchlight entry!
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