J Mascis

Biography

Mascis was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, the son of a dentist and grew up in the same area together with his sister Patty and an older brother. His family name is Italian, from the province of Foggia, in the region of Apulia in the south of Italy. His mother, Theresa (an avid golfer), died in 1985 while his father, Joseph Sr., died in 1993.

At the age of 17, Mascis joined the short-lived hardcore group Deep Wound with Lou Barlow, Scott Helland, and Charlie Nakajima in the early 1980s. He started out playing drums, but moved to guitar when he went on to found Dinosaur Jr. with bassist Barlow and drummer Emmett Jefferson "Patrick" Murphy (aka "Murph") in 1984 and achieved national success. His vocals have been described as "Neil Young-like" and his guitar riffs as "monolithic". Mascis dismissed Barlow from Dinosaur Jr. in 1989 and over the next eight years recorded several more Dinosaur Jr. albums, as well as the 1996 acoustic solo album Martin + Me. In 1989 Kurt Cobain suggested that Mascis join Nirvana.

The manager for Deep Wound was Gerard Cosloy, who then went on to found Homestead Records. Homestead released Dinosaur Jr.'s first record. Mascis says that the reason why Dinosaur Jr.'s sound is not fully formed on that record is that they were more or less automatically signed to Homestead. Megan Jasper, vice president at Sub Pop Records characterises this period as “J had some anger, like any punk rock kid. Usually, though, when a young person is angry, they tend to be really loud. And J wasn’t. He was only loud when he played music”.

As a side project, he was the drummer in Boston doom metal group Upsidedown Cross, who released a self-titled album on Taang! Records in 1991. He wrote songs for the film Gas, Food, Lodging, in which he made a cameo appearance. In 1996, he had a small part in the movie Grace of my Heart and provided a ballad and a Beach Boys-like song for the soundtrack. In 1998, he retired the Dinosaur Jr. name.

In April 2005 Mascis, Barlow, and Murph reformed the band for a tour celebrating the re-release of the group's first three albums. The reunited line-up has since released four new albums: Beyond in 2007, Farm in 2009, I Bet on Sky in 2012, and Give a Glimpse of What Yer Not in 2016.

Solo material

In 2000 he began producing albums with his new band, J Mascis + The Fog. In 2003, the house and studio he owned burned down.

In August 2005 Mascis released J and Friends Sing and Chant For Amma, a solo album under the J Mascis and Friends banner. The album consists of devotional songs dedicated to Hindu religious leader Mata Amritanandamayi, or Ammachi, about whom he had written "Ammaring" on the first J Mascis + The Fog album More Light. The proceeds from the album are being donated to tsunami relief efforts Ammachi's organization is spearheading. In 2008 the six-track album was made available digitally on his own Baked Goods label.

In 2006 Mascis returned to drumming with his newly formed heavy metal band Witch for their self-titled debut album.

Also that year, he collaborated with Evan Dando on a new Lemonheads album. The Lemonheads was released that September, featuring Mascis playing lead guitar.

In 2010 Mascis joined with John Petkovic and Tim Parnin of Cobra Verde and Dave Sweetapple of Witch to form Sweet Apple. The self-titled debut album was released on Tee Pee Records. Mascis plays drums, guitar, and sings on the album.

Mascis released a mostly acoustic album in March 2011 titled Several Shades of Why on Sub Pop Records. He was joined in the studio by several guest musicians, including Kurt Vile, Ben Bridwell and Sophie Trudeau. Mascis toured North America with Vile as support act to promote the album. In 2013 Richard Ayoade cast J Mascis in a small role, a caretaker, in his film The Double. Mascis's electric guitar work is featured on the 2014 Strand of Oaks album Heal.

In April 2014 he played with reunited Nirvana on a secret gig after the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions. He sang the songs School, Pennyroyal Tea and Drain You. In August 2014 he released the solo album Tied to a Star on Sub Pop and toured in support of it.

Personal life

His wife Luisa, who he met in New York in the mid 1990s and married in 2004, is from Berlin, Germany. They reside in Amherst, Massachusetts, in a house formerly owned by Robert Thurman. In September 2007 they had a baby boy named Rory. His brother-in-law is German filmmaker Philipp Virus, the director of the 2006 Dinosaur Jr. DVD Live in the Middle East. His long-term guru is Mata Amritanandamayi. Mascis explained that he discovered her in the mid 1990s when “I was at my lowest, as the band got bigger, I got more depressed. I was looking for anyone to help, to feel better".

Signature Jazzmasters

July 2007 saw the release of a signature guitar by Fender, the J Mascis Signature Jazzmaster. The instrument comes in a Purple Sparkle finish and, while otherwise visually similar to a standard Jazzmaster, features a few modifications J requested. December 2011 saw the release of the Squier by Fender J Mascis Jazzmaster. This features a basswood body, C-shaped maple neck, rosewood fingerboard with 9.5" radius and 21 jumbo frets, two single-coil Jazzmaster pickups which have been replaced with Kinman Guitar Electrix ThickMaster (Jazzmaster) Zero-Hum pickups, three-position switching and dual tone circuits, gold anodized aluminum pickguard, aged white plastic parts (knobs, switch tip, pickup covers), Adjusto-Matic™ bridge with vintage-style floating tremolo tailpiece, vintage-style tuners, chrome hardware, Vintage White finish and J Mascis signature on the back of the large '60s-style headstock.

Solo albums

Dinosaur Jr.

J Mascis + The Fog

Witch

Deep Wound

Upsidedown Cross

Sweet Apple

Heavy Blanket

Collaborations