The Mast

The Brooklyn-based duo The Mast creates a propulsive and expansive sound featuring Haale's layered, undulating vocals and hypnotic electric guitar riffs dancing with Matt Kilmer's polyrhythmic drumming. ?
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On their debut album &Wild Poppies& the lyrics are imagistic, worldly, and psychedelic, taking on a wide variety of topics from the insatiable desire for profit that's plaguing humanity, to the nectar-sipping, figure-eight flapping hummingbirds, to red poppies at the foot of a concrete, camera-encircled watchtower. Love, human evolution, and a sensual connection with the natural world also make the list. In &My All& Haale sings, &Walking through the marshes, the mud gives way like satin. ?Underwater grasses caress like the manes of lions.& ?
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Meanwhile, the seemingly eight-armed Matt Kilmer weaves a scintillating rhythmic tapestry with his hybrid drum set of frame drums, djembes, floor toms, and various cymbals. The interlocking guitar riffs and evocative vocals combine to create a sound that is at once danceable and deep, inventive and inviting, balancing wild abandon and focused control. While their sound is refreshingly unique, they give a nod to bands such as TV on the Radio, Tinariwen, PJ Harvey, and Blonde Redhead.
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&The only overdubs on this album were the extra layers of vocals, every other sound was played live on the drums and the electric guitar, so we used various pedals and effects to give us all the sounds we needed, octave pedal for the bass, delay for the vocals and drums, etc. We wanted to make an album that we could play live as a duo&, says Matt. ?The spectacle of such an immense and expansive sound coming from just two people with no looping or samples must be seen to be believed.
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Haale (pronounced like hallelujah or jalepe?o) and Matt have been playing together since 2007, touring under Haale's name, playing shows all over the US, Canada, and Europe, including the David Byrne-curated series at Carnegie Hall, Preservation Hall, and the Bonnaroo festival. ?They also released 2 critically acclaimed EPs and a full-length album in 2008 which the Boston Globe called “a gem of an album... one of the year's most memorable releases.”
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Matt has played with an eclectic group of artists including the hip-hop legend Lauryn Hill, udist Simon Shaheen, and the comedian/musican Reggie Watts. ?He also composes music for comedian Louis CK’s television series “Louie” on the FX network.?
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In 2009 they returned home to Brooklyn, built a studio, crafted a new sound, and recorded &Wild Poppies.& They also designed all of their own artwork including the cover, which is an intricate photo-collage of poppies grown in their backyard in Brooklyn. Sonically and visually, the debut is a stand out.