An Interview With Adam Masterson

Spending time between two musical hubs such as London and New York City can create a well-versed musician. Adam Masterson has taken inspiration from both cities and it has made for a one-of-a-kind singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Unabashedly embracing his old-school rock-n-roll influences, Adam brings new life into what it means to be a rocker. Working since 2003 to perfectly craft what music should sound like coming from Adam Masterson, 2019 has proved to be a fruitful year for his art.

September saw the release of Masterson’s single “Bad Luck Baby” off of his upcoming EP, Delayed Fuse. “Bad Luck Baby” is authentically Adam, drenched with charisma and a down-n-dirty groove. Accompanying the single was a music video that Adam worked alongside his wife, Anna Gabriel (Peter Gabriel’s daughter) to create. They combined their artistic visions to carefully craft a video that perfectly suited Adam’s music.

Indie Band Guru was able to chat with Adam about his upcoming release, Delayed Fuse and what it was like to create “Bad Luck Baby.” You can find Adam’s responses below.

Tell us about your forthcoming EP, Delayed Fuse. What inspired the EPs overall theme and what collaborators can fans expect to hear on it?

Well it was originally an album, so I was thinking in a broader sense. My father passed away in the year before I started recording and a lot of those songs that came out of that aren’t on the EP. The songs on the EP happen to be songs where I’m the sole songwriter apart from Rusty Cans and Dusty Alleys which was written originally with Julian Wilson who I made friends with when he was in the Americana band grand drive.  On the album there are songwriting collaborations with George Vjestica of Nick Cave and the bad seeds on a song called “Chains,” James Stevenson of ‘The Alarm’ and ‘Gene loves Jezebel’ we wrote “Take A Little Love” together. And two I wrote with producer James Hallawell, “Desire” & “Leaves Against the Sky.” 

Who have been some of your greatest influences in your music?

When I was a kid all my grandparents were Irish, so my mum and Dad played a lot of Irish folk music in the car and on holidays that they’d grown up with. Not all of it was for me but the stuff I connected with was really powerful. I have a vivid memory of Luke Kelly singing ‘The Traveling People’ and thinking I really love that song. His voice and the melody really moved me, and I liked the way these songs had stories in them. The album Van Morrison and The Chieftains was played a lot and other stuff by Van, Astral Weeks, and his early Garage rock n roll band Them. I though Van was great. As I a teenager I got into all the big songwriters Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, Lennon & McCartney, Jagger & Richards. I got into soul voices and songwriters particularly Sam Cooke and Marvin Gaye. I loved all that stuff. Still do 

You’re approaching the release of your latest album, Delayed Fuse, which is your first release since your 2003 debut album. What did it feel like to go back into the studio?

It was a great feeling being back in the studio.  Great hearing the songs come to life with amazing players 

What feelings are starting to come up as you start releasing this new music?

Excitement. Things that have lived in my head and I’ve shared with just a few friends and the good folks who come out to my gigs will be out there for other people to find. I think the songs will take on a new meaning for me once they find new listeners. I will then be able to move on and see what I do in a new light, put things in perspective and see where I want to go next.

You worked with your wife to create the music video for “Bad Luck Baby,” what was it like to work together on this and where did you pull your inspirations from?

We’re very lucky we can work together, Anna has a great eye and great advice and she’s amazing with organizing all the prep that goes into producing a shoot. We get to work on the edit together and I enjoy that. “Bad Luck Baby” lent itself to a live band video and we hadn’t shot one like that before, so it was fun with the band. We rented a space and shot for a few hours. We drew inspiration from the Ramones and The Undertones’ “Teenage Kicks.” 

What do you hope to accomplish with the remainder of the year?

I would like to release another single or two and I have the whole album to release. The sooner the music is out there for people to react to and to find the people it’s meant to find, the sooner the wheels will start turning and the next part of the story will unfold.

You can keep up with Adam via Facebook, Instagram, and Spotify.