We sat down with Manchester-based DJ and production trio Mason Collective who debut on Hottrax this October

1. Hi guys, thanks for talking to us today. Congratulations on your ‘Feelin’ Ugly’ EP, could you tell us a little more about the project. What was the musical vision, where did the name come from and how was it working with fellow Mancunian Renko?

We’re really proud of this one. It’s probably the best representation of our ‘sound’ at the moment. Renko’s a close friend of ours and we’re in the studio together a lot so we understand each others sound and when we whip up together the craziest ideas always come to mind, we’ve got a lot more coming too. Each track name actually has some sort of meaning behind it. Feelin’ Ugly was named after one of the samples we use throughout the track. If you’re having a bad day or feeling a bit pissed off thats feelin’ ugly. The laugh you hear in Roman’s Laugh is actually Renko’s little brother, and we named Barz after someone close to us.

2. Was was it like working with Jamie Jones and his Hottrax imprint? And what’s the story behind you signing to the label?

It was one of our goals from the beginning to be signed to Hottrax. Jamie’s been one of our biggest inspirations since we first started out, so for him to feel our music let alone put it out on his imprint is a big accomplishment for us. He’s given us loads of support throughout the summer, hearing your track get played in DC10 is always a madness.

3. Your party MVSON became one of Manchester’s most recognised music events a few years back. How did this come to evolve and how did it help your rise in the music scene?

We started MVSON initially as teenagers that just wanted to throw cool parties that our friends would want to go to. The circle grew after each party and now we’re grateful to have a big group of core followers that really back us. It’s still crazy to us how much it’s taken off. Our most recent party sold out completely in 3 hours which was a new record for us.

4. There’s three of you within the collective. How is it making music and playing gigs within a three? Do creative ideas ever seem to clash or does everything flow quite swimmingly?

We get asked this a lot and we could see why people might think we clash sometimes but it’s rare. We’ve been doing this for so long now that we’re always on the same wavelength with music and events.

5. Your release ‘Whippin’ on Wow topped Beatport’s overall chart gaining support from The Martinez Brothers, Loco Dice and Patrick Topping. How does this positively affect your musical production moving forward?

It’s always a sick feeling getting the approval from the people you look up to, especially the industry heavyweights. To get that support at a time where we didn’t have much music out was kind of a green light to go ahead and fully push our sound.

6. You’re from Manchester, England which is traditionally a vibrant musical hub. Could you tell us what you love about Manchester, what is it about the environment that influenced your music? And are there any heroes of the Manchester scene you’d like to shout about?

Everyone looks out for each other in Manchester, especially in the music scene. The energy’s different here. The creative scene at the moment is crazy as well, there are so many fashion designers, artists, musicians etc on the come up right now. There’s far too many key figures to shout out. AJ Christou, Reme, Henry Jacob, Josh Baker, Olli Ryder & Luke Welsh are all making bangers at the moment. Gramm Clothing also who we have another collab coming soon with so watch out for that.

7. Can you tell us where you guys find your inspiration outside of music?

We travel a lot so we always take inspo from places we’ve been. People inspire us as well as the things we read and watch, we’re always learning.

8. Finally, do you have any other projects in the pipeline for the Mason Collective? Or with your MVSON party series? 

We have a release pending on another huge label which will be another massive milestone for us, we just dropped another track (Goofy) with our boy Reme as well on his Equal Rites EP. We’re planning another party towards the end of the year also in collaboration with Adidas so keep it locked.

Mason Collective & Renko ‘Feelin’ Ugly’ EP drops on Hottrax on 26^th October 2018.