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Follow Mason on Spotify: http://spoti.fi/2rWJuWJ

Giving one big finger to trends, genres and mediocrity has been Mason’s mantra for over twenty years. His studio creations and energy behind the decks are a direct reflection of this personality. Equal parts groove, melody and eccentricity the Dutchman avoids jumping on electronic music bandwagons at all costs. “I could make club music fodder all day, but that would just bore me shitless. I like to challenge myself and my audience a bit more than that!” says Mason on his production ethos. 

There aren’t too many producers out there capable of making credible underground bangers and radio friendly hits simultaneously but Mason is surely one of them. With a palette borrowed from formative years immersed in hip-hop, house, electro, funk and disco there are no rules to his musical alchemy. Its really just about having fun and avoiding the usual clichés of the scene. 

In the mid-nineties the young Mason had started to DJ, albeit from humble beginnings. He’s proud of an early residence in a seedy Amsterdam dive where off duty hookers and various freaks gathered to dance in the early hours. It certainly gave the rookie DJ a chance to hone his skills in front of a very tough crowd. Fast-forward a few decades and the unassuming Dutch producer/DJ is fulfilling his ambitions through creating music and playing clubs and festivals in over 50 countries and counting... 

You may know Mason from his breakout single back in 2007 (‘Exceeder’), yet he would be the first to tell you that things have moved on a hell of a lot since those times. In only the last two years he’s had releases on respected labels such as Island Records, Defected, Kittball, Sweat It Out, Skint and Bunny Tiger. Mason’s ‘Rhino’ was one of the tunes of last summer, which became a BBC Radio 1 'Hottest Record In The World'. 

There have been two fully-fledged artist albums by Mason, featuring a plethora of guest artists. He’s so far managed to persuade the likes of Roisin Murphy, The Noisettes, Aqualung and Jocelyn Brown to join him. Even hip-hop royalty the like of Daryl “DMC” McDaniels, Kurtis Blow and Sway have found themselves on Mason records. More recent partners in crime include Stefflon Don and The Manor. 

Then there’s his own label, Animal Language; a musical menagerie for Mason’s weird and wonderful creations. This is usually music that is just too damn strange and obnoxious for most labels out there. The Animal Language boys tend to celebrate by throwing weird and wonderful guerilla raves in strange spaces. They are drunken guided tours hosted in unfashionable bars, empty stores and even buses. The so-called ‘Animal Language Raves’ have become legend on the word of mouth party scene in Amsterdam. They are very messy affairs. 

To say this boy is prolific is a bit of an understatement. There have been scores of singles released since that one tune dropped over a decade ago. Beatport number 1’s, BBC Radio playlists, Hollywood movie features and numerous TV ads. 

This year sees Mason ramp up his activities with world-renowned collaborators. Already in the can is a club banger featuring UK and US top 10 vocalist Alex Clare. In the short term he will showcase new output via imprints such as Skint, Spinnin’ Deep and his second single for Island Records. 

In what is becoming a very trend driven, genre specific world Mason constantly strives against the norm by creating music on his own terms. He pays no heed to what this month’s current media darlings are dropping nor does he wear a baseball cap or have full sleeve tattoos either. What Mason does have is a unique vibe and ‘fuck you’ attitude to making music that is infectious and refreshing. 

Contact details

Management: Big Fish Little Fish
bigfish.littlefish@me.com

Bookings:  

Benelux: LIWYN
leonieke@liwyn.com  +31628763829

Asia & Australia: AMS Bookings
marc@amsbookings.com

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