Montreal's Red Mass Gives Broken Social Scene a Run for Their Money

Imagine if Canadian indie heroes Broken Social Scene played garage rock and hailed from Quebec. Now add about fifteen more musicians to their ranks and dub the whole thing Red Mass. This only scratches the surface when it comes to introducing Montreal's premier music collective.

The mastermind of Roy 'Choyce' Vucino (a veteran of the city's punk scene), Red Mass is a freewheeling sonic experiment championing everything from angst-ridden rock to avant-garde electronics.

"It's almost like you're a young kid again and you're just starting to jam with people you've never met in your parent's basement," Vucino tells Spinner on the line from Montreal. "I wanted to tap into a little bit of the naive side, as far as the approach to making music."

With no set road map in place, Vucino and his thirty-plus comrades -- King Khan and BBQ are among the collaborators -- are enjoying the freedom to pursue their various sonic inclinations. As for arranging time to work together, well, that's not as much fun.

"It's quite a big headache," Vucino says of the logistical nightmare of coordinating practice sessions for the hefty group. "It makes it fun though, with so many people involved. In the past our roles in bands were clearly defined so this project is definitely more open-ended. If in a year we're in a totally different head space, then we can morph the project since it can grow and evolve a bit more easily [than other bands]."

Red Mass' initial catalogue may be earmarked by a garage-based rock 'n' roll sound -- the collective's new self-titled EP gives listeners a good taste of this aesthetic -- but true to the fluid nature of the collective, Vucino promises flourishes of '60s-tinged pop and lush orchestration on forthcoming singles tabled for release in the new year.

As for what prompted the open casting call to his fellow Montrealers, Vucino says it was simply a matter of growing up. "It was definitely a changing point in my life," he says. "Going from playing in a lot of rock 'n' roll bands and having a certain type of lifestyle -- you think of yourself being in CBGBs circa 1978 and you go crazy and party your ass off. But now that I'm older I just want to play music and be productive."

With twenty releases to Red Mass' credit since their formation two years ago, there's no question Vucino and his collaborators are doing just that.