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The drum stool in King Crimson has been occupied by a series of incredibly talented men. The current percussive fury behind the kit is Pat Mastelotto. The latest Crimson release "The Power To Believe" features Mastelotto at full force, incorporating current electronic technology into his kit to great effect. ProgSheet had the privilege of interviewing this rhythmic wizard. Sit back and enjoy! PS - As a young man in the '60s, what sort of influence were the Beatles in your desire to become a musician? PM - Monumental, they made it seem fun. Viva la Rutles. PS - Mr. Mister created wonderfully intelligent pop/rock during the '80s. Are there any plans for those albums to be remastered? PM - Wow! I heard my BPM&M record called IDM (interligent dance music) but Mr Mister " I.P.R. " - cool! I don't know of any plans to remaster the Mr Mister catalog. However, last year to coincide with the number one multi million selling Tupac Shakur version of our track "Broken Wings (till the end of time)" a remastered "Best of the Mr.'s" came out, and it had remastered (mastered by big eared Irish engineer buddy Kevin Killin) versions of several songs and even a bonus track from our last record (unreleased) and even some liner notes by ah. . . ah . . .me. PS - As far as "vibe" or intent, how do King Crimson, ProjeKct 3, & ProjeKct X differ from each other? PM - Crim has baggage: expectation, history, responsibility. Any project is more fun because it doesn't. . . PX is different because we had/have Ade . . . P3 didn't/doesn't. PS - Robert Fripp has said that you & Trey have reinvented the KC rhythm section. Was this by intention, & if so, what were you looking to accomplish? PM - Intention? -we are just who we are. We're looking to help our guitar buddies do their thing while at the same time we try to create something we might enjoy listening to ourselves. If anything we are trying to develop a vocabulary so we can converse more fluidly. PS - After the 6 piece KC became the current quartet, your kit has become augmented by a vast array of electronic percussion. What do the electronics offer you that acoustic percussion does not? PM - A direct input into processing sound with out the feedback hassles. . . .and a much bigger box of crayola's. PS - Were there any substantial challenges in bringing the wide sonic palette you use on TCOL & Power To Believe to the live stage? PM - Of course- 1: Transportation and convenience dictate consolidation, so where I had three or more beatboxes chirping away that I could dj mix, crossfade, improvise and interact with to create the tracks now I just sample chunks of those performances, - in longer 'premixed' form (and call it 'the part') and then start again to introduce other elements to sort of dub mix into it for a fresh flavor. 2: The basic acoustics-like: the room , microphones, and acoustic drums used in recording can't fully be duplicated, not that's a bad thing its just what it is - acoustic drums sound better in some rooms than others, and for me the sound and the part are almost of the same importance. PS - How did you first hook up with Bill Munyon & what part does he play in the percussive territory you're exploring? PM - We met when I needed somebody to do some work on my patch bay after I moved to Austin in 1994. Bill's part ?? Mmmmmmmmm, well its bigger than you might think- he's got ears, attitude, and his paradigm is outside my bubble. . . and he's very sharp and can cut the crap away. PS - On the current King Crimson tour, on the date I saw in NYC, there was no material predating the TCOL CD. For a band with over 3 decades of history, I saw it as almost a statement that this is a new band. Was that the intent, or did I read too much into it? PM - Intent ? Again? . . . it's makin me tense. B-you read too much. or. . . C-we only had a week to rehearse and Robert didn't want to play the other tunes. PS - After the tour in support of The Power To Believe concludes, what's next for KC? PM - What do you mean ' tour in support of' ? Is that what you think this is about? I guess we need to put something on the T-shirts - I understand it's confusing to people. . . But this is the really start of the next chapter . . .this is how Crim resumes playing together and develops a newer new vocabulary and with luck we may stumble on unencumbered ideas. . .so this is sort of the start of the next record. PS - When will we next hear more from MasTicA? PM - I hope during this upcoming Crim break ( Crim pauses in Japan April 26 and then resumes in Copenhagen June 1st) so I will plan to masticate a bit in the May break. . . we booked May 17 in Dallas at the Gypsy Tea Room where MasTicA is billed with a wild experience (that i some times sit in with called the Spoofed Tribe & another band called Vallejo). PS - Are there any plans to play and/or record with Tony Levin & the CGT in the near future? PM - No, not that we wouldn't love to. But we need to find a break in Tony's schedule that collides with a break in mine and then see if that fits the CGT's. . . .fingers crossed. PS - Please list 6 albums/CDs you never get tired of listening to. PM - Puuullleeeze. . . thats so tuff, depends on moods. . .when you want milk OJ tastes like shit. I'll cut you some slack since I figure you wanna pick my brain for something that feels timeless ( to me) . . .so for today lets say: any of those Beatle's guys records, any Weather Report, any Hendrix, any Bjork, any Tom Waits, and Samuel Barber's Adagio always makes me goose bumpy. See now what's happened? I skipped over Marvin Gaye , Trilok, Boom Boom Satellites, Suzanne Vega, Al Green, Dave Brubeck, Fripp's soundscapes, all those early Rundgren records, Soul Coughing, Blind Faith, Talk Talk's "Color of Spring" and all sorts of other favs. These days for something very robust I recommend checking out Fredrick's "Sol Niger" record, or Traci Bonham - two most excellent CDs. . . . see what you started?! now I wanna hear my "Hunky Dory" record. Contact |