Bristol-based trio Masca are made up of long-time partners Tina Maynard (guitar/vocals) and Jack Hamilton (drums/vocals), and Ben Holyoake (bass). Born during the pandemic, Maynard and Hamilton started the project in lockdown before developing Masca into a full band, and have just released their debut album Love Letters, an 11-track collection of fuzzy and hooky alt-pop that constantly refuses to be predictable.
With a unique balance of straightforward pop-rock and bewildering melodic complexity, Masca’s music somehow manages to be both immediate and completely unpredictable, with accessible alt-rock earworms and instantly memorable choruses, but also carrying loads of unexpected structural disruptions that twist your head.
Before Masca took shape, Tina had already stepped onto enormous stages as a touring guitarist for IDLES, having been brought in during major international shows in their 2021-2022 cycle stepping in for Lee Kiernan and Mark Bowen and having to master both guitarists’ parts and pedal boards. This experience has clearly fed into Masca’s massive debut with heavy guitar tones, an aggressive picking style and a sound built to hold its own on big stages.
Tina’s lyrics across the album touch on social pressure, political polarisation, and pregnancy and Love Letters exudes warmth from start to finish with extremely catchy songs that are odd and surprising enough to stand completely apart from most alt-rock. The hooks are massive and clear, but the song structures are smart and weird. Masca have bolted straight out of the gate with a clear identity as a band who are trying to do something more with the well-worn sound of alternative rock, and have found themselves well deserving of the Sherwood spotlight.
We caught up with Tina to find out more:
Can you tell us about your previous musical excursions, and how they influenced what would become Masca?
I was in a grungy, math rock band called Soeur. We messed around a lot with weird time signatures but the most interesting thing about us I think is that it was dual fronted, with harmonies pretty much on everything, everywhere.
Jack was in a psychedelic-esque, alt rock band and Ben’s been in lots of things from heavy math rock to progressive, experimental music.
I think what all these bands have in common though is that there’s a catchy tune, hooky hook, love for melody that shines through, IMO. And that’s what I love most about music - either a sick, dirty beat or a melody and I’m hooked.
Tell us about what you learned from your time on the road with IDLES, and how that all came about?
My old band Soeur used to practice in the same lockup as IDLES and so we knew each other to say hey to from that. I often saw Dev in town during my busking days and one day he messaged me asking if I wanted to play Glastonbury with them to step in for Lee. I really don’t know why they asked me, I remember the moment reading the message like WTAF. And I’m forever grateful for the opportunities they keep throwing my way.
Technically I had to learn to play harder and faster, how to incorporate more pedals into my pedalboard and most importantly that to perform well you have to get out of your head. I still struggle with this but not nearly as much as I did.
At what point did you decide to move from a lockdown jam into forming a proper band, and how did you find Ben?
When lockdown lifted, we realised that being in a band with each other was just going to be so much fun. We were getting married soon and felt as though we were well past the toddler teething part of a relationship that it was safe enough to give it a go. Luckily, we were right and we’re still going strong - both band and marriage haha. Our previous third member Georgie got whisked away to play for none other than Dua Lipa, who she’s been with ever since, and we played one of our last shows at The Fleece. Ben happened to be at that show, and I mentioned on stage that were were looking for a bassist. We jammed with quite a few bassists and Ben felt right from the very first practice.
Can you tell us what’s behind both the name Masca and the album title Love Letters?
Masca is a place nestled in a valley on the west side of Tenerife. It’s pretty hard to get to and feels a little isolated. The journey there on a moped is absolutely beautiful albeit a little cagey and once you’re there it’s like a serene oasis of cute and charm - is that us? Who knows. Ngl, we struggled to come up with a name for this band and when Jack mentioned Masca, it really stuck for me.
Love Letters again came about because we realised that a lot of what we think and therefore write about is how we’re going to carry on doing music, what that looks like with a child and when is it time to call it a day. They’re collections of our thoughts that we express and send out into the world.
Do you think being a couple affects the way you write and perform?
I think yes, and for the better. Being a musician in a band requires you to show a lot of vulnerability. You’re expressing your thoughts and feelings - sometimes using your own voice, and that is nerve-racking! Being able to do that with the person you trust most in the whole world takes a lot of that stress out of it. There’s no ulterior motives at play, no jealousy, no competition. Pure love.
Do you intentionally try and disrupt songs when they feel too straightforward, or do the odd twists and turns just come naturally?
Haha. I love this question. I wouldn’t say we intentionally disrupt our songs but very often there’ll come a point when writing a song where one of says, it’s a little too boring and it makes us rethink certain decisions. So yes, the twists and turns come naturally but only because it’s jarring if it were to stay same-y. They come naturally because we get bored easily!
What are the themes running through the album?
Getting old, life changes, politics, ideals, love, relationships. All the good stuff that we should all be thinking deeply and talking at length about with people we love and trust, and also with those we disagree with.
Do you feel like you’re influenced by all the other quality bands around you in Bristol?
100% musically, we’re influenced all the time by our friends since how can you not be when you’re listening to them all the time. And even when we’re not being musically influenced, we’re being influenced by the talent and hard work that Bristol bands seem to have and do. It’s inspiring to see people like you, do what you do, a lot of the time, better than you do. If you don’t let that ruin you, it can only make you better.
You worked with producer Elliott Vaughan (Frank Turner, Sonic Boom Six, Spunge) on the album, can you tell us about the recording process?
This album was written over a period of about 3 years, with some ideas going back to 2021. We had a big spreadsheet of the hundreds of little ideas, whether that was a quick chorus idea, jam at the practice room or lyric and melody line. We rank ordered them by how finished they were, and how excited we were about them, averaged the rankings and picked the songs that way. Obviously as time went on, if we were excited about the song, we tended to work on it more in practice and so by the time we actually decided on the album, this reflected what we actually wanted to put on there quite well.
We pre-produced it ourselves at home and sent it to our producer Elliot, booked in at The Louisiana basement to record drums and guitars, then bought a decent microphone, built a make-shift vocal booth to record vocals at home. I was heavily pregnant when this was happening and needed to get vocals done before the baby arrived because the booth was taking up space in our son’s nursery. Safe to say, Cassidy didn’t actually use his nursery until he was well over a year old ha.
It was really great to pre-produce the songs beforehand because it just streamlined the recording process. We did all the music in 1 week which meant I could take my time with the vocals. We spent a lot off time working on sounds too, experimenting with different amps, pedals, guitars and microphones - as you do!
And then Elliot, our OG works really closely with us throughout the whole process. We even send him initial idea videos wanting to know what he thinks. We trust him like a band member and feel like we’ve evolved a lot together in many ways. He’s our mate first and foremost and on top of that we’re just so lucky that he’s actually fucking good at his job too.
What are some of your musical influences that people might not expect?
I’m an absolute garage gal at heart, I hadn’t really listened to any rock at all before I started my first band at 21 and my mind was blown. I feel I’m quite a late bloomer in all aspects of my life - musical influences included. But I’ll leave this here, Christina Aguilera - Stripped is a great album.
Jack was and always will be an emo kid but who wasn’t (I actually was not).
The first live music Ben saw was The Wurzels. Cher was mine but not sure how much she’s influenced my music writing, gotta love her though.
What do you hope people feel after a Masca show?
I’ve thought a lot about this, and fundamentally, I want people to feel positive and that they can get away and turn off from the outside world. We are a band who privately talk and write a lot about political issues (everything seems political these days) but our music doesn’t come across as angry or loaded. I think there is a time, and place, and band, for the to-the-point, angsty, political message and it’s 100% necessary, especially at the moment, but that’s just not us. I want our lyrics to sit in the consciousness like a little sly fox in a deerstalker hat and fester a while, but in the moment, I want the music to make you feel joy and magic.
Masca are taking Love Letters on tour across the following towns and cities:
Cardiff - 14 May
Bristol - 23 May
Luton - 28 May
Brighton - 29 May
Southampton - 30 May
Sheffield - 5 June
Birmingham - 6 June