The Total Sound Of The Undergound

Lelahel Metal

Mass of Amara's latest EP "Through The Ether" showcases a blend of muscular sounds and lush atmospherics. Here's an exclusive look into their creative process and influences..

1. Congratulations on the release of "Through The Ether"! Can you tell us more about the creative process behind this EP and how it differs from your previous releases?

Preston: Thanks so much! We've had these songs in the works for some time and were so excited to finally share them with the world! So the creative process for this EP really just stems from either me working on a song at home and bringing it to the band or victor working on a song and we get together and flesh out the ideas and song structures. Once we get to a point where we're like hey the song is just about done, that's when we'll hand it off to Ella so she can begin to write her vocal parts. Id say the only major difference is that this EP has our other members on the recordings and their ideas as well. Prior to the EP all of our singles and first EP were done by me and ella back when it was just us in the beginning.

2. The EP features a mix of muscular sounds and lush atmospherics. How did you achieve this balance in your compositions and recordings?

Preston: Personally, I feel we established the mix of "brutal but pretty" when Ella and I made the MoA debut with our take on Bjork's "Army of Me". Naturally that song already has the pretty and dark elements so when we did that song I was like all it needs is a fresh heavy riff and her brutal screams to really make this version ours. After that we had our song rebirth written but not released till way after, and if you listen to that song, that's the true first original song we wrote for this project. It perfectly combines the ethereal yet brutal side of our sound. I think that's honestly where it all began.

3. Ella, you wrote the lyrics for the EP, exploring reactions to life's problems and occurrences. What inspired you to delve into these themes, and how do they resonate with your personal experiences?

Ella: When I write I like to pull from my experiences and what I am currently going through because to me that is how I best write. The more personal I get, the more relatable it can be and I always aim to connect with whoever listens to our music. During the time I was writing this EP, there was a lot of confusion and fear because I had gotten deeper into my spiritual healing and had to unlearn and relearn a lot of things. I felt like such an amateur in a lot of the process because I still think there is a lot of room for me to grow in and get better at so sometimes I can feel lost and that's really what writing is for me, it's a way to remain grounded in the process of self awareness and growth.

4. The track "The Ether" serves as an interlude and intro to "Storm." Can you explain the significance of this interlude and how it connects the two songs?

Preston: So when I wrote the song, it also had this pretty drawn out intro for it, I definitely envisioned it being the intro and our walk out track for when we'd start playing shows, it just had the perfect length that built the hype for what was about to start and the bam, the song kicks off and were off. That honestly was its main purpose. Funny enough though, once we had everything mixed and ready to go, it was very apparent to everyone the song that had the strongest kick off was unspoken. no intro no count off just a single punch to the gut and its on. So the ether now serves its purpose as a short break before the song storm kicks in and closes out the EP. Looking back on it now I definitely think this is the best way it could've played out.

5. With influences like Periphery, Spiritbox, and Gojira, how do you integrate these inspirations into your music while maintaining your unique sound?

Preston: Honestly I feel like our sound just comes naturally. there's absolutely no doubt there's some songs that may sound like one band or another, but once Ella enters the picture its no longer a "Jinjer" or a "spiritbox" song, on top of that once we add our layers of synths or guitar leads it definitely alters the vibe and what once was a "Jinjer inspired song" doesn't sound all that close to Jinjer in the end. Great example would be our song "Eyes for Perception" on our first EP, I was jamming Jinjer around that time, and i definitely can see that without the vocals that could be a Jinjer song all day, but Ellas voice is just too unique, and to steer it away from the Jinjer I think I threw in an old school deathcore breakdown to really help make the song more us.

6. You mentioned that "Through The Ether" explores the infinite unconscious. How do you tap into this concept during your songwriting process, and what impact does it have on your music?

Ella: All I did was be as raw as I could when writing about how I approached a part of myself I hadn't really explored yet and it felt like I was going through endless circles made up of negativity and fear. I realized what the unconscious part of me was made up of and a lot of it was trauma and forgotten memories that we store away to avoid feeling but it all came down on me pretty hard when I was faced with an opportunity to do better for myself. So as I was feeling and experiencing this realm I wanted to capture it and make it as vividly as I could by really putting all of my emotions into every line. Delving into concepts like this can be confusing or healing for some. I only wish it reaches people at the right time when they need reassurance that they are not the only ones having these problems. My goal is to always make our music do something good for this world, and in this time we need understanding and compassion more than ever.

7. Preston, as a producer and guitarist, what challenges did you face in producing "Through The Ether," and how did you overcome them?

Preston: The challenge from the start I knew was gonna be myself. I wanna hear the Kick and Snare a certain way and the guitars a certain way and onward. and the tricky part is actually getting those qualities dialed in how i wanna hear them. Even if someones over my shoulder saying "hey man that sounds good". Personally I didn't want to settle for that. And when it came to crunch time for getting the mixes done i had to basically mix on a bluetooth speaker that would connect to my mac mini. I also lost the ability to check my mixes in my car because my stereo crapped out, and with my mixes i trust my cars stereo ANY DAY. I do not have a proper listening environment, and my headphones I use most definitely lie so i gotta be extra careful sometimes, but i knew if i can get the mix to sound brutal and thick on my bluetooth speaker those mixes should be good to go on most car systems especially mine. And it most definitely slams HARD, Im very proud of the mix work i did and extremely happy with the end results. Everyone tells me the snare is brutal and that's what I absolutely love to hear!

8. The EP artwork, created by Ella, is striking. How does the visual aspect of the EP complement the music, and what message were you aiming to convey through the artwork?

Ella: Through the whole process of writing this EP, I kept thinking about how much we have yet to explore about ourselves and it can be so overwhelming sometimes. The mind is made up of infinite space and there is no end to the thoughts and imagination that resides there. So to me it seems like a realm where everywhere you turn there is a new path to explore. I liked the idea of having something that can represent how the unknown might look like to us , a place where anything can happen with a hint of fear of what might be just beyond the fog of our surface level awareness. We also had a lot of ethereal/atmospheric vibes to our music so I wanted to create something that conveyed those themes. I decided to have a human-like character to wander this realm to represent the person choosing to wander off into the infinite unconscious and see what they might find…

9. Since forming in 2021, you've gained a lot of traction performing all over central Texas. How has your live performance experience influenced the music on this EP?

Preston: I think my answer is gonna be backwards, because we wrote and had these songs done before we ever started playing live. so there was no direct live influence into the music, however, there's plenty of sections throughout the EP that when I was writing I knew would translate live. Therefore my mind is always set on writing certain things for live if that makes sense. Thankfully i've just about been right about every section i've written thinking about the live product so let's hope that streak never dies!


10. What’s next for Mass of Amara? Are there any upcoming tours, new music, or other projects you’d like to share with your fans?

Preston: What's next for us, goal wise we'd love to get out there on a support role for a tour and really get our name out there while also supporting some awesome bands. Secondly we have some shows coming up in August and the fall season. Lastly, we want to start writing our first debut album this year for a release next year.

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