Daisy Kennedy
Daisy is a Bristol based freelance writer, mainly producing work for theatre and screen, but especially loves to write about music and live events. Prone to a good dance and the occasional crowd surf.
We chat with Bristol synth-punk duo Mass House as they release brand new single ‘Diego Maradona’
Lyrical synth band Mass House are on a roll at the moment. Off the back of releasing ‘Fantastic Planet’ the pair have just dropped their latest ‘Diego Maradona’: an electro dance track with a hook that will stay in your head for weeks.
Dylan Williams and Tom Minchin began making music as youngsters in Birmingham. Now living in Bristol, the pair have been churning out synth tracks under title Mass House since the pandemic. After a 2023 of being the self proclaimed ‘most unproductive band in the world’ they’re back releasing loads of new tracks with a mini tour, recently headlining The Louisiana, Bristol.
Ahead of this gig, I got the chance to chat with the band about upcoming EPs (plural!) gigs turned stag dos and their latest banger, ‘Diego Maradona.‘
Daisy: Hello Mass House! How does it feel to be headlining The Louisiana?
Tom: Pumped man! It’s been four months since we’ve played a gig.
Dylan: Played here more than anywhere so it’s nice!
Daisy: Wasn’t your first gig at the Louisiana?
Tom: Yeah, it was a Christmassy evening.
Dylan: Oh yeah, wasn’t it on my birthday?
Tom: Yeah.
Dylan: And no one was here (they laugh).
Daisy: So, how did your new single ‘Diego Maradona’ come about?
Tom: I made the lyrics for this on the way back from a trip to Naples. The whole city was full of merchandise, street art and shrines dedicated to Diego Maradona. I had never realised the extent of his god-like status until then. When we got in the studio it started very Italia-disco which felt fitting for the lyrics.
Daisy: What kind of playlist do you hope this song will be on?
Tom: There’s a playlist I came across called “driving like a mad lad”. I don’t know who this mad lad is and not sure if I should inform DVLA but I think ‘Diego Maradona‘ would be a solid fit.
Daisy: You’ve been friends since childhood. How do you balance your friendship and business?
Dylan: We’ve been making music since we were 14, can’t remember a time we weren’t. It’s the ‘cornerstone’ of our relationship.
Tom: Our friendship has blossomed through doing music together. In our teenage years we always played our guitars, or be like ‘fucking the system’ and rocking out, and as we grew older, we thought we should do something more mature… and make songs about Diego Maradona (they laugh).
Daisy: You wrote a lot of music in lockdown. How has the music-making process shifted since then?
Dylan: Lockdown was class. We lived together, so we’d just wake up and make music everyday, but now it’s like, trying to find the time to do that. Other than that, lockdown kinda shaped the way that we do it. Just go to (Tom’s) bedroom and make noise.
Daisy: If you had to introduce another instrument into your live set, what would it be?
Dylan: Live drums. It’d be cool to have an actual drummer, it adds an energy. I love watching drummers play in bands.
Tom: We had a jam before with Ellliot from Rothmans, it was so much fun. He’s like a heavy, punky drummer, and we were just there going (makes high pitched synth noises and pretends to turn knobs) .
Dylan: It’s cool to play to an actual drummer cos you don’t have to go like, right, stop, 1,2,3, press a button and have to be in time cos they’re just there…smashing stuff. Doing it for you.
Daisy: Which bands are you enjoying at the moment?
Tom: Brian Lightning. Getdown Services are smashing it. And Hector Who Lives has been releasing some good stuff.
Dylan: Also Beverly Shrills who supported us (at The Louisiana). He played keyboard on ‘Diego Maradona‘ and helped us finish it.
Daisy: Any merch on the horizon?
T: It’s is in the conversation now. After hearing how much money Getdown Services make in a night.
Daisy: What are the next steps for the band?
Dylan: Playing my Dad’s stag do tomorrow in Birmingham. It wasn’t planning to be his stag do, he’s made it his stag do in retrospect. And in the summer we’re going to do another EP, it’s going to be more dance punk. This is the year of finishing things.
Tom: We’ll shove so many songs down your gobs you won’t know what to do with it. We’ve just released a few tracks off our first EP and we’re doing a mini tour off the back of it.
Dylan: We had a word with ourselves at the start of the year, I think we were the most unproductive band in the whole world, that’s what we were number one at. Let’s actually release some music this year as we’ve got loads ready to go.
Tom: That’s the downside to doing everything ‘bedroom based’ …you can always fiddle with something… and it gets to a point where the initial spark has been completely lost. So now we’re like, actually, just do it! Say goodbye.
Catch Mass House at Tramlines in Sheffield this summer and make sure to follow them on Instagram @masshousemusic to keep up to date with their latest gigs and double EP release.
Listen to ‘Diego Maradona’ here: