Happy Thursday and Welcome to this weeks "In the Spotlight".

Today I will introduce you to the multi talented Dominic J Mason.

Hi Dominic and Welcome!

Growing up. What sparked that interest to create? and where did you start?

My imagination - for good or ill - distinguished me from many of my peers at an early age. I love people, but I could also play with chess pieces or action figures in blissful solitude, often not realising that the hours had passed me by until my grandmother called me down from the landing on the stairwell to eat dinner. I adored the movements of the pieces on the squares and would often play against myself, turning the board around to answer my own move. During these formative years, I remember spending days designing what I considered to be the ultimate Lego Formula One cars and racing them with my brother in my grandfather's living room. The cars would glide along the carpet at speed, eventually hitting the oak table with a thud! This would result in them either falling apart or desperately clinging on...and so, looking back on this I understand that the race wasn't about speed, it was more about durability. The winner was often the car to survive the most impacts!

As a child, was creativity something that was encouraged or did you have to fight to find your voice as an artist?

My grandfather enrolled me in the church choir at age 6. I was their youngest chorister ever admitted at that time, and I recall the director being a little reluctant to accept me on account of my age, but I had wanted to join my brother as a treble so badly that my constant questioning paid off! My grandfather was a trained tenor and could play piano to a competent level, so he naturally took us both under his wing. Joining the choir was the catalyst to expressing myself with music, it was also a gateway to hearing other instruments such as the pipe organ, pianoforte, and, later on, string ensembles. Singing taught me many of the skills I cherish to this day, discipline, teamwork, patience, and relishing the joy of ensemble musicianship. I quickly fell in love with the pianoforte not long after this. And the discovery of Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, and Tchaikovsky blew my tiny mind.

What was it that made you realize that this was MORE than just a "hobby"?

The word 'phases' strongly defines my musical history. I was obsessed with the piano when I was a boy, and several tutor's told my mother that I had potential. I always wanted to strive for more, which was an attribute that often frustrated my teachers. I would defy their rules and practice different (usually more difficult) pieces and get carried away with my latest passion for a newly discovered composer. As a teenager, it was evident that I could create melodies and harmonic structure on the piano, which led me to begin composing and writing things down. It was around this time (aged 14-16), that I began to develop an early voice as both a composer and a writer of poems. 

How do you feel your creative style has changed over the years and what have been the biggest reasons for that growth/change?

Without labouring the point about phases, I have gone through so many in my journey thus far. Usually it happens because of a concert I've attended, or a new style of music has entered my life because of study or perhaps due to hearing it played on the radio. I am a voracious reader...consuming books and films by the thousands as an adolescent really gave me a thirst for knowledge, a thirst that has been unquenchable ever since. At this point in my life, at the age of 36, I have composed in so many styles but thankfully never been defined by a single genre, I like to think of it as more of a mosaic of culture coming together and combining to form the whole. My Poulenc, Schumann, and - later - Mompou phases lasted for about a year apiece and really pushed my music to another level I feel. My later fascination with the 20^th century impressionists and the avant-garde set aided me in composing my 2021 piano album 'Songs for John' which incorporated many elements of the French and Japanese style, including wispy piano lines, repetitive pianist devices, and salonesque motivic allusions.

How would you describe your writing and music to someone that is new to it?

My musical tastes are eclectic, both as a listener and as a recording artist/performer. I am equally happy performing my own solo piano repertoire or classical music, and the next day playing a jazz gig or an indie set at a festival. My latest adventure as a recording artist has been a collaboration with my longtime friend Adam Strazzanti. We have known each other since Year 7 at secondary school and have long talked about setting up a duo in the future. Well, we did just that this year! We called it 'Robot Birthday Party' which we think was inspiration from when NASA put a robot on a spacecraft and programmed it to sing itself happy birthday...you cannot deny that the idea is adorable! Adam and I took the approach of not writing in a predefined genre, but instead to let it flow naturally. The result has been a type of music that somehow defies pigeonholing, though someone did DM us to suggest that they would call it Latin funk jazz rock! Even though there's no denying that there are classical influences in it, we are happily stealing her definition going forward...! We have released two singles in 2024, the latest (California Sunset) dropped a fortnight ago.