Most people don’t realize I studied piano in college and that I have a minor in music. It’s been a while since I was at a keyboard, but it doesn’t matter, as I was never any good (apart from composition, my best subject overall).

My highest marks were in Jazz Harmony, which is handy given everything I do as a producer is in the name of bringing session musicians together for creative exercise. DAYLIGHT SAVINGS was another of these collaborations.

DAYLIGHT SAVINGS (intentionally misspelled) is a somewhat colloquial modern jazz tune featuring saxophone (Andrew Van Tassel) and electric guitar (Jonny Fung) over hand drums and synthetic bass. It sounds like something you might wake up to or hear in a yoga class on a rainy day.

Maybe the chords sound familiar? I love Miike Snow, my favorite song of theirs being “I Feel the Weight.” So, naturally, I bit the changes, and played and programmed a spread of drums under a simple line. Jonny sent me a few guitars, and we, together, sent them to AVT for the melody, some noodles, and a solo. I love a conceptual instrumental (see LOOP DREAMS).

CREDITS

Compositions: Allen Mask
Arrangements: Allen Mask, Jonny Fung, Andrew Van Tassel
Drums: Allen Mask
Bass: Allen Mask
Guitars: Jonny Fung
Woodwinds: Andrew Van Tassel
Tracking: Allen Mask
Mixing: Jeremiah Albritton
Mastering: Jeremiah Albritton
Cover Photography: Chat GPT :)
Cover Design: Allen Mask

If you know me well, you know my favorite way to describe myself is as a “one of those woo-woo Christian people” that loves Jesus. Nothing is more important to me than my faith in God, and I’m proud to have spent most of my adult life heavily involved with the local church (in whatever capacity.)

I guess it was only a matter of time before someone forced me to preach! One day after a service in the fall of 2024, my Pastor asked me to prepare a sermon and stand in at the Pulpit given he needed to attend an event at our sister church. I reluctantly agreed, but am so glad I did. Preparing this message was one of the hardest but most rewarding experiences of my life.

Better Together

David Bates will forever be one of my closest friends and business partners. We met when I hired his agency to produce a few films for my team at Airbnb. We later teamed up when I freelanced for Bokeh to help win, plan and ship the groundbreaking work we did for Spotify, Affirm and Bumble.

David studied film at USC, and we always dreamed of making a movie together. After a few years of kicking around ideas, we landed on a concept and co-wrote “In Vitro,” a satirical yet serious screenplay that follows a teenage girl and her single mom through a journey of racial reconciliation.

David’s Jewish and my black heritage find harmony in this coming of age story where IVF goes wrong. Industry legend Josh Bachove later attached as our Producer. All three of us have been patiently interviewing Directors as we slowly but surely march toward an eventual production and release.

CREDITS
Screenplay: David Bates, Allen Mask
Producer: Josh Bechove (Pocket Films)
Visual Design: StudyHall

I’ll take every chance I get to remind you that, musically speaking, I’m a Producer before I’m a performer. That I’m more of a writer than a rapper. That I’d much rather be a Composer than a celebrity. That I was making beats well before I was writing rhymes, which is why I love instrumentals.

In the style of PANDEMOS’ “LAX > RDU”, LOOP DREAMS is a three pack of nostalgic tracks that, to this day, I still play out loud and on repeat at work.

CREDITS

Compositions: Eccentric, Allen Mask
Arrangements: Allen Mask, Jonny Fung
Lyrics: Allen Mask
Vocals: Allen Mask, Meredith Wilson
Drums: Allen Mask, Eccentric
Bass: Allen Mask
Guitars: Jonny Fung
Synths: Jonny Fung, Allen Mask
Cuts: DJ Hektik
Tracking: Allen Mask
Mixing: Jeremiah Albritton
Mastering: Jeremiah Albritton
Cover Photography: Michael Sharp
Cover Design: Allen Mask

MAKE A WAY was so fun we did an EP in the exact same style. There’s something special about that Little Brother-like, North Carolina sound. We channel(ed) it through Eccentric, co-founder of the Justus League.

With the exception of our dear Carlina, everyone that contributed to this record is from North Carolina! I love this project and how “local” the production was. It was a quiet release, but one I’ll always be proud of.

CREDITS

Compositions: Allen Mask, Eccentric
Arrangements: Allen Mask, Eccentric, Jonny Fung
Lyrics: Allen Mask, Kobla
Vocals: Allen Mask, Meredith Wilson, Carlina, Kobla, SkyBlew
Drums: Allen Mask, Eccentric
Bass: Allen Mask
Guitars: Jonny Fung
Synths: Allen Mask, Jonny Fung
Tracking: Allen Mask
Mixing: Jeremiah Albritton
Mastering: Jeremiah Albritton
Cover Design: Allen Mask

We (accidentally) moved back to North Carolina in 2021 after an un-expected permanent stop in Raleigh. I was in the process of relocating my family back to New York, but with Covid still raging, the city was closed.

I was working on PANDEMOS at the time, but, per usual, had a few “briefs,” or musical exercises I was tinkering with on the side. Jonny and I made a lot of these small ideas into songs, but, for some reason, only shipped two.

1. BREAK OF DAWN

2. NO WONDER

CREDITS

Compositions: Allen Mask
Arrangements: Allen Mask
Lyrics: Allen Mask, Kobla
Vocals: Allen Mask, Meredith Wilson, Carlina, Kobla
Drums: Allen Mask
Bass: Allen Mask, Jonny Fung
Guitars: Jonny Fung
Synths: Allen Mask
Tracking: Allen Mask
Mixing: Jeremiah Albritton
Mastering: Jeremiah Albritton
Cover Photography: Michael Sharp
Cover Design: Allen Mask

I think it was March of 2020 when the lockdowns started in California? And the best part of working from home was that my studio became my office.

I was writing so much music then, taking full advantage of momentum from FEAST, a calendar without social events and an apartment without kids (at least for six more months). I produced what felt like hundreds of songs, six of which I published as individual stepping stones to a much larger release.

1. MAKE A WAY

2. MAYBE THEN

3. MIGHT BE

4. SO MY VIBE

5. WITH ME LOVE

6. NOWHERE TO GO

CREDITS

Compositions: Allen Mask, Eccentric
Arrangements: Allen Mask
Lyrics: Allen Mask, Donovan Livingston
Vocals: Allen Mask, Aisha Sharif, Brandon Sutton, Carlina, Lev Wilson
Drums: Allen Mask, Eccentric
Bass: Allen Mask
Guitars: Jonny Fung
Synths: Allen Mask, Jonny Fung
Tracking: Allen Mask
Mixing: Jeremiah Albritton
Mastering: Jeremiah Albritton
Cover Photography: Michael Sharp, Carly Mask
Cover Design: Allen Mask

The first thing I did in 2020 was drop FEAST, my third LP (following PILOT SEASON and SWEET DREAMS.) These were my last memories before Covid.

FEAST is a 21 course omakase, of sorts. A cacophonous mashup of elaborate, long-form ideas I’d been noodling on during my almost ten years in Cali.

Made with, by and for friends, FEAST was an epic collaboration across my vast network of musicians. I owe particular thanks to Dave (Rosser, from NickyDavey, whom first played for me on the opening track of PILOT SEASON) and Meredith (Wilson, whom I met when we were making RIGHT NOW!) These two talented musicians were the house band for the album.

FEAST is a rich and sometimes chaotic work. Before streaming, a project like this would only fit on an oldschool double disc. I was taking inspiration from this idea that some pieces aren’t finished until you’ve run out of paint.

CREDITS

Compositions: Allen Mask
Arrangements: Allen Mask, Dave Rosser
Lyrics: Allen Mask, Nicolas Couture, Afika, The Beast, Donovan Livingston, Spectac, SkyBlew, Apollo Piero, Xander, MNOVA, Addictive Nature, Kobla
Vocals: Allen Mask, Meredith Wilson, Mike Knight, Nicolas Couture, Afika, Lowland Hum, Lexicon, Karlina, The Beast, Donovan Livingston, SanjayK, Spectac, SkyBlew, Apollo Piero, Caitlin Watkins, Jonathan Sullivan, Simtraks, Xander, MNOVA, Leejay Abucayan, Laura Michelle, Addictive Nature, Webster, Kobla, Mark Barlow, Hailey Swaggar, Taylor Rogers
Drums: Allen Mask
Bass: Allen Mask
Guitars: Dave Rosser
Woodwinds: Andy Stavas, Andrew Van Tassel
Synths: Allen Mask
Tracking: Allen Mask
Mixing: Jeremiah Albritton
Mastering: Jeremiah Albritton
Cover Photography: Michael Sharp
Cover Design: Allen Mask

2013 was the beginning of my “between years.” Life and work were really intense then, which is why FLUID0UNCE5, a somewhat random collection of quirky demos, was my last release before 2020, my most productive year.

This was around the time I was making music with Sanjay and Rus, two of my lifelong friends from Google. Fun fact: we wrote two of the five songs on FLUID0UNCE5 for Google’s talent shows! A little corny, but a lot of fun.

2013 was also the last year I had a performance schedule. I recall most of our bookings being related to benefits, but it was fun to get back on stage, even though I’ve always been more comfortable behind the scenes.

My developing plan was to, over time, show up less as “the artist” and more as “the producer”. I love being on stage, but I prefer the control room.

CREDITS

Compositions: Allen Mask
Arrangements: Allen Mask
Lyrics: Allen Mask, SkyBlew
Vocals: Allen Mask, SkyBlew, SanjayK, Edie Wellman
Drums: Allen Mask, SimTraks
Bass: Allen Mask
Piano: Allen Mask
Synths: Allen Mask
Tracking: Allen Mask
Mixing: Jeremiah Albritton, Onset, Khrysis
Mastering: Jeremiah Albritton
Cover Photography: Michael Sharp
Cover Design: Allen Mask

Before music, most people knew me for slam poetry, particularly from my peformances with Youth Speaks, where I competed at Brave New Voices on behalf of Chapel Hill High School in 2005 (SFO) and 2006 (NYC).

Rembering me as a poet, a friend from Carolina requested I write an original piece (with music) for the 2013 TEDx conference they were hosting at my alma mater, UNC Chapel Hill. The theme for the event was “Common Threads,” and the show would run in February, where I performed a newly written and recorded black history-themed song called “Rebel Music”.

Despite the modest set-up and a few technical difficulties, it was an honor and a privilege to return to Memorial Hall, an iconic venue where I had previously performed as an undergraduate. Rebel Music was eventually recorded and added to FEAST, an album I’d release in 2020 (pre-COVID-19).