Busybee's Playlist

A reminder to never give up on that song that just wouldn’t click

Montreal may have had a rainy summer, and the mood swings in line with the tumultuous weather. But Squeeze Mason’s “Ringpop” definitely brings the heat.

Earlier in the summertime, July 20, on a close eve of a tornado warning issued in the city, Montreal’s finest Squeeze Mason released their single “Ringpop,” that’s been in their back-pocket since pre-pandemic days.

“The original version of “Ringpop” was first conceptualized in early 2020 before the pandemic,” says the band’s bassist, Dexter Dippong.

In the very early days of Squeeze Mason, Dippong was the singer of the band but eventually decided to stick to the bass.

“The first riff I ended up writing was the one for “Ringpop.” We jammed on it and really liked the groove, so we put together the original song structure.”

Although the first listen didn’t quite go the distance.

They weren’t too happy with the recording, and decided the shelve the song, leaving it for a rainy day.

“The second edition of the track was planned to be on our first EP, Sleeping Mercury, but somehow the recording sucked even worse than the first time, so we decided to shelve it again.”

Sleeping Mercury came out in 2021, with a namesake single featuring Chris Petterson, also known under the name Free Real Estate, as well as Proximity to Temptation’s lead singer.

“Two years later, in the summer of 2022 we decided to try and revive the song one last time, and this time it clicked, and eventually became one of our most fun live songs to play. It was a bitch to get right but is definitively worth it, as it’s one of our favourite releases to date.”

The song begins with a dreamlike sequence on the piano, peppered in by the sandman (in this case Ted Schulze) inviting you to share a Daliesque ride. A calm moment ensues like fairy dust lifting you up, before the sound of the drum starts the engine, the baseline revs it, the guitar takes off, and up up to Neverland we go.

“Lyrically the song is simply about enjoying summer and living your best life,” the band says. “Forget about all your problems and insecurities and face the pleasure the world has to offer, when you have no inhibitions. Musically the song is all built off of [Dippong]’s bass, which is always funky as fuck, which resulted in a super funky, groovy and bluesy piece. When not covered up by crazy synths and pads, Ted’s musical style is quite bluesy and transfers very well onto a piano, since that’s where he initially started as a musician. The piano solo was something we took inspiration from the first recording of “Ringpop,” back in 2020. We liked the way it fit into the song so much that it had to be on there.”

Originally formed in 2019, Squeeze Mason has undergone a number of changes, the core three however, twins Gary and Ted Schulze, and Dexter Dippong, remaining immovable.

In March 2022, Charlotte Grieves (vocalist) and Adam (guitarist) joined the crew, and the instrumentalist threesome turned into a five-piece full fledged band.

Grieves has recently moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, and is no longer part of the band.

On March 2023, at Squeeze Mason’s release party for their debut album, The Astral Ballroom, the band introduced their new vocalist, Aurélie.

“Ringpop” features Aurélie’s background vocals, with Grieves’ distinctive growl.

“When Charlotte left the band in February 2023,” the band says, “We had many projects on the go, including the majority of The Astral Ballroom to be released as well as “Ringpop,” and even our next single, “Mia Culpa,” to be released hopefully in the fall of this year. Our new Singer Aurélie is peppered in the song as backing vocals but the vast majority of the song is Charlotte.”

So how come the single never made it to the debut album?

“The entire process for the creation of The Astral Ballroom took a kijillion years and by the time we had the newest version of “Ringpop” written, we already had our work cut out for ourselves and had been working on the project for 8 months,” they say. “We were ready to move forward with the release process for the album, thus leaving “Ringpop” as a solid follow up release.”

“Stylistically “Ringpop” is also quite different. It is upbeat and summery, in contrast to The Astral Ballroom, which is quite psychedelic and more moody.”

Indeed, where “Ringpop” sounds like a sultry summer tune, colourful and groovy beats turning up the heat coupled with Greaves and Aurélie’s vocals enhancing the lusty mood, The Astral Ballroom gives way to an ethereal voyage of self reflection. “Ringpop” is one dimensional in the sense that every beat and lyric is an invitation to have fun, whereas The Astral Ballroom with songs like “DUI in Outerspace” and “Titan” feel like a rollercoaster ride of emotions.

Along with the track release, Squeeze Mason also shared a very colourful, animated music video for “Ringpop,” created by the band’s Ted and Gary Schulze.

This isn’t the band’s first animated music video. Earlier in the year, prior to the release of The Astral Ballroom, “Olympus Mons” also warranted an animated video.

“The animated videos are a solid option because they take a lot less people to make and can do from home,” the band says. “That being said, the live action videos are faster to make, assuming all the footage is useable and there are no reshoots, and get more views, because people tend to relate better and want to watch real people that they know. Moving forward it would be good to strike a balance between animation and live action, so we have lots of diversity to our content.” 

Squeeze Mason have gotten a lot of success in the past year, and have a lot to look forward to in the upcoming one.

From their album release last March, to being featured on CKRK K103-FM, the Kahnawake-based radio show, they’ve also got a new single, “Mea Culpa,” in the works for a release.

“We’re pretty excited about all the new opportunities coming our way,” they say. “Although it still feels like we have an endless amount of work ahead of us, these last 6 months have been quite productive and it’s starting to feel like we’re really getting somewhere. We’re hoping to continue to play shows of a high caliber and get more radio time in the near future. With Aurélie in the band and now that The Astral Ballroom is done, we have several new songs in the making that have a different style, which we’re all already pretty fond of.”