The Blue Mocking Birds
Biography
Ted Mason, former lead guitarist, producer, co-songwriter and manager of the band Modern English has a new band,
THE BLUE MOCKINGBIRDS! During the years with Modern English, Mr. Mason parlayed contacts, friendships, and his
considerable talent as a producer/musician into stints with some of the late Eighties' more notable acts, including:
"Spandau Ballet,” “Art of Noise,” “Hugh Cornwell,” “Jesus and the Mary Chain,” “MC Lyte,” “Africa Bambatta,” and
"Kid Creole." But it was with "MODERN ENGLISH" that Mr. Mason spent most of this decade, not only as a performer,
but also managing and producing the act. Following the release and national tour of "Everything's Mad" in early
1996-97, Mason departed to join older brother Montimer in New York. The Mason's formed THE BLUE MOCKINGBIRDS,
along with drummer Milan Mesarich
Mr. Mason's path eventually led him to the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studied classical
guitar. To become master instrumentalists however, would take ever so much more work. Ted notes, "We really
wanted to play, and play all genres of music very well. Anybody could be a punk. As a PUNK you would progress
to being dead, dull and gone in a day. But I wanted to become an educated punk. I wanted to frighten the masters
and make lions out of lemmings. I wanted to Make Art; A-rticulate R-evolutionize T-hought. Beautiful melodies
and all that.
Another eccentric integral member and popster in THE BLUE MOCKINGBIRDS is singer, master drummer (and rhythm
guitarist) Milan Mesarich. Milan hails from Boston and studied music at the Prestigious Berklee School of
Music. Tired of the traditional boundaries imposed on the curriculum, Milan rebelled, left Berklee, and
set upon the road. After playing many stints with artists such as Peter Wolfe and former members of Icicle
Works, and the Spin Doctors, Milan moved to New York City aspiring to find a band with similar musical tastes
and the desire to make music first, be a star later! After hanging out at the local English pub, the Parlour,
and two too many pints, Ted and Milan first broached the subject of playing together. “When we heard this bloke
laying down the salsa grooves on the drums and then go on endlessly about how great Ringo played on ‘She Loves
You’ during the Beatles’ concerts, we knew he was OUR drummer,” Monty recalls. Who says a couple of pints can’t
solve your problems! Milan states: “Hey, Mr. Boom-Boom Skinny Guitarist: ‘Summer Wind’ on five! You’re done!
Next!”
Because of the eclectic music and counter multi-culture of THE BLUE MOCKINGBIRDS, Ted took a less corporate
approach to the production of the band. “We did not want to engage in the racial profiling that the conglomerates
proliferate and to that matter what alternative bands succumb to; we opted out of the class based manipulations
that is also a by-product of the entertainment industry. We did not want our music compromised or cheapened to
contemporary ethos of today’s music and popular culture.
THE BLUE MOCKINGBIRDS want to leave something positive Make Art; A-rticulate R-evolutionize T-hought. As
Ted says, “I don’t believe in feel good motivational artists, you can make if you try mentality crap, and
for that matter I don’t believe in blind rage. I know attitude might be important in this business, but an
articulate vision, does not invent itself with bad attitude. With out a new language, shaped and molded with
thought and invention, you will just speak the same old obscenity of the old order. Nothing new there.
Besides, why become a punk if you can’t leave something for everyone to argue over??"
Artist Alliance
This web site designed and maintained by Red Hare Graphics.
©2003 Artist Alliance. All rights reserved.
All materials on this site are the sole property of their respective copyright owners.
Home
| Terms of Use
| Privacy Policy
| Webmaster