CHRIS MASON - SHANG-A-LANG
Name: Chris Mason
Band: Shang-A-Lang
Duties in the band: Guitar/Vox
Chris Mason. Rad guy. Always in rad bands. Runs a rad label. Runs a rad venue in Las Cruces, NM. This list of questions I’ve created….probably not as rad, but please go ahead and read! I remember seeing one of Chris’ first bands, The Answer Lies, play around September/October-ish 06’ with Bullet Train to Vegas and Peelander-Z at the HORR (if I’m not mistaken). Heck, I still vividly remember the The Answer Lies/Four Deadly Questions split I purchased at that show. Definitely old school. Off topic, but The Answer Lies are going to play at the Trainyard in Las Cruces in over five years with Old&Ill (Last Show), Grass, and more TBA. Hit that up!
Goofy
Favorite Color:
Most of my t-shirts are black.
If you were any type of animal…what would you be?
I think people sometimes forget that we are animals so I’d be a human. I think I’d get really bored if I were a dog or a cat or something.
Any favorite movies you like, that you would recommend I watch?
Man, I spend a good chunk of my time watching movies. I could spend pages and pages and pages on this. I’m keeping a list of all the movies I have seen in 2011. So far True Grit, Exit Though the Gift Shop, I’m Still Here, The Social Network, Winter’s Bone, Zodiac, Machete, and Piranha are my favorite of the 22 I’ve watched.
Favorite thing to accompany a beer?
Friends and/or pizza.
Things you don’t leave your house without?
I guess my cell phone, though I have to admit that the last time my cell phone broke and I didn’t have one for 4 or 5 days, it was liberating.
Any childhood aspirations that have gone down the drain?
I wanted to be a professional baseball player. I still remember sitting in my art class in 5th grade, turning to my best friend and saying in panic “wait, what if I don’t become a professional baseball player?” The thought was earth shattering.
Who would you rather have as your merch guy….Lemmy from Motorhead or Gene Simmons from Kiss?
Lemmy definitely. I think he’d have a bit of an easier time understanding that sometimes we give shit away for free or let people have things for whatever they’ve got in their pocket.
If you could choose a few Hollywood celebrities to be your neighbors, who would you choose?
I’m not sure if it would matter. I don’t really know my neighbors and I think it’s sad. When I was growing up we knew every single person on the block, but it doesn’t seem like that’s the norm anymore.
And finally…who would you rather hug, Chester the Cheetah or Smokey the Bear?
Smokey the Bear for several reasons. First, he’s not a corporate mascot, and second, he’s looks more cuddly.
Personal
Can you recall your first time going to a show (Who, When, Where):
My first punk show was Rancid at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa, OK right after Let’s Go came out. I think my first DIY punk show was The Kids Who Never Learned to Color Inside of the Lines and The Frantics at a short-lived warehouse space in Tulsa, OK. Both of those were around 1994.
How did you get into playing guitar? Was guitar your first instrument?
My dad played guitar and when I would visit him in the summer s I would strap his guitar around my neck and pretend to play along to his CDs. One day he said “why don’t you just learn to play?” And so I did.
Are there any records that you can say have changed you as a person?
There’s a lot! I have to give credit to Green Day “Dookie” and Rancid “Let’s Go” for introducing me to punk rock. I knew who The Ramones were when those albums came out, but I wasn’t really paying attention. Propagandhi “How to Clean Everything” and “Less Talk, More Rock” got me thinking about some serious shit. Hickey “S/T” had a profound effect on just about everything and is to this day (15 years later) my favorite album of all time. His Hero is Gone “Monument to Thieves” helped me realize that scrawny dudes could be hardcore too. Oh and The Beatles “Abbey Road” made me realize that I loved rock and roll and music when I was 4 or 5 years old.
What records are you currently blasting in your stereo?
Past week or so: Unfun – Sick Outside View LP, Iron Chic – Not Like This LP, White Lung – It’s the Evil LP, Dead Uncles – S/T 7”, Libyans – A Common Place LP, Crusades- S/T 7”, Mind Spiders – S/T LP
How would you describe the Las Cruces scene? Is there anything about it that you would like to change?
The Las Cruces scene is pretty small with wavering amounts of enthusiasm and interest. 4 or 5 years ago things were insane, but these days a lot of shows have really poor turnouts while others are huge. There are a lot of things I’d love to see change. I’d like to see more people giving more effort (which is starting to happen now). I’d like to see more people getting politically and social involved. Tommy (from Shang-A-Lang) and his then girlfriend were running a radical distro for a short period of time but they stopped, my guess is due to lack of support. I’d like to see that start again, but this time I’d like to see people get behind it. I’d also like to see more people standing up front singing every word. There’s more I’m sure…
Since we’re on the topic, you also have your hands dirty with running the Trainyard. I personally love performing and watching shows there. How exactly did the Trainyard start up?
For several years the shows we were putting on were exclusively house shows due to a lack of any real venue to host touring bands. The bigger houses died and all that was left was the Bacon House, which as fun as it was, couldn’t host any bands that were going to draw more than 20 or 25 people (comfortably at least). Also, at that time, The Equinox sprang up, which was an all ages show space run by someone completely removed from the scene. While at first she seemed really enthusiastic and it appeared things were going to work out, it became quickly apparent that we were not on the same page at all. And honestly, that experience lit some fire under my ass to find a place that we had 100% control over. I found the place and called all my friends in bands who I thought might need a practice space, and a lot of them said they’d be down to pitch in. A year and a half later we’re still going. Though in all honesty running that place has all but burned me out. I’m in the process of turning the lease over to someone who has been involved from day one, and will go back to only focusing on booking shows.
While there has been a ton of shows at the Trainyard….do you have any personal favorites that you’ve been able to see there?
Hum, there have been a lot, and honestly most of the bands that have played (at least that I’ve booked), I’ve seen a million times elsewhere. A few that come to mind where that isn’t the case is Joe Jack Talcum (of the Dead Milkemen), M.O.T.O., The Homeowners, Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggits, and Bad Sports. I’m bummed I missed Autistic Youth…we were on tour.
In addition, you also run Dirt-Cult records! For anyone that isn’t familiar with Dirt Cult when did it start up and why did you start it up?
Dirt Cult started in 2006 after Shang-A-Lang recorded our first 7”. We were an unknown band and I figured it would be easier to release it ourselves than convince someone else to do it. But really I had wanted to start a record label since I got into DIY punk rock when I was 15 years old.
Anyways, so are there any exciting releases that Dirt-Cult will be coming out with in 2011?
Yeah a ton! Foreign Objects – A Kind of Lie b/w The Key 7” is sitting in my living room. I’m just waiting for the art, which should be here tomorrow. I’ve also got Shang-A-Lang/Broken Mountain – Split 7” and The Scrams – Zodac b/w Eat the Beat 7” at the plant (test pressings approved last week), as well as Dan Padilla – The Ox Plows LP and Turkish Techno – S/T LP being mastered. There are also records in the works for Daylight Robbery, Defect Defect, Something Fierce, Libyans, God Equals Genocide, Statues, Underground Railroad to Candyland, Shark Pants, and Rumspringer. 2011 is going to be busy as fuck!
Shang-A-Lang
How did the name Shang-A-Lang come about?
I sent out a MySpace bulletin that said I wanted to start a pop punk band. My friend Max from The Trashies e-mailed me back and said he’d be down. I told him “Great! You live in Seattle so we’ll practice once a year.” He responded “Shang-A-Lang dude. Shang-A-Lang” I thought that it would be a good name for a band.
When did you guys start up?
Our first practice was in November 2006. Our first show was in December of 2006. At least I think that’s right.
You guys play/tour constantly? Any tours or festivals lined up for 2011? The only one I’m aware of is Way out West Fest in Tuscon, AZ April 8-10.
We are touring Japan in March. We’re supposed to play Way Out West fest the week after we get back. I hope we can make it! We’re also supposed to play Awesome Fest this year, but who knows? Joe is moving back to Denton when he graduates and Andy has talked of moving away this summer. I have no clue if we’ll still even be a band.
How did cartoonist, Mitch Clem, get into doing artwork for Shang-A-Lang? He’s done stuff with other artists I enjoy so when I read he was doing the artwork Shang-A-Lang’s - Collection album I was definitely interested. He did a good job on capturing your guys’ physique. However…I would have to say you guys are better looking in person. Just my .02.
I think I added him as friend on MySpace and like 4 days later he wrote a blog about how we were “the best band in the world,” an overt exaggeration if I’ve ever heard one. I started asking him to do some art for the band and one day he e-mailed me saying he was going to start a label (Facepalm) and wanted to put out a Shang-A-Lang/Brickfight split. I said “sure” and then we ended up working with the label again for the Collections CD/LP. I’m not sure how involved Mitch actually is in the day to day operations of that label. Aside from doing all the art, Avi from Silver Sprocket seems to handle everything else. Mitch is a good dude. He comes to all our shows in central Texas and meets us for tacos in the morning.
Many people use the term DIY loosely, but I guess it’s safe to say that you guys have been mainly a DIY band since….well forever! How does it feel to have more “mainstream” (another shitty term) publications such as AMP magazine review “Collections” and you guys now (or in the works) having your own Pandora station?
Honestly, I’ve never opened up an AMP magazine so I don’t know what they’re all about. But from what I can tell they cover lots of stuff that I have no interest in and a little bit of stuff I really like. They streamed our record on their site and interviewed us at one point and I appreciate the support. I have no clue how the Pandora thing came about, but I think that’s pretty cool. I don’t think any of that stuff makes us any less DIY. We still book all our own tours, book local shows for bands that are coming through town, and self-release our records from time to time.
Any horrific, jaw dropping, nightmare touring stories that pop off the top of your mind?
All our tours have been fucking amazing. The only thing that comes to mind (other than the pretty serious injuries I sustained in Carbondale on the last tour) is the first show on the first night of our East Coast tour. We hadn’t been in the same room together for 3 months (Andy was living in Kansas and Tommy was living in Portland). I took a bunch of xanax and drank a bunch of whiskey and we played the worst show we have ever played. I don’t remember much, but I remember looking up to my friend Mike Dumps laughing at us and then quickly trying to cover it up. Then I fell asleep on a pool table and got kicked out of the bar while Get Bent played.
Any bands you would like to tour with that you haven’t toured with yet – dead or alive?
I’d love to do a tour with Iron Chic, Tiltwheel and /or Dan Padilla, or Rumspringer. I’d do another tour with God Equals Genocide in a heartbeat. Such fucking sweethearts!
How has the career of a touring musician affected your life? Ever question yourself as to why you’re doing what you’re doing?
Touring is one of the few things that keeps me sane. It’s the only reason I’ve been able to live in Las Cruces for so long. I’ve never questioned what I’m doing, except to question why I’m not doing more of it.
What does the future look like for Shang-A-Lang? How about yourself in a more personal sense?
It’s really unclear at the moment. Like I said, Joe is moving to Denton in May and Andy has talked about moving away this summer. I’m not too into the idea of doing Shang-A-Lang long distance again and would rather just call it a day if they both move away. Regardless, I’ll keep playing music, releasing records, and touring as much as possible in one form of another.
Anything else you would like to say about yourself, any of your bands, or anything else that you would just like to blurt out?
I’m kinda hungover. Hope I did okay.
end.
Chris is involved in so many things that I can’t pinpoint all of them, but you should definitely buy one of Shang-A-Lang’s bajiliion splits, Collection, randomly buy an album off dirtcultrecords.com, support the scene in Las Cruces which always has a ton of wicked shows, or catch Shang-A-Lang the next time they are on the road,
ROCK
Chris
