Interview with MASK: ‘Zenith is anthemic, cinematic and has atmospheric layers of vintage rock, the blues and even gospel’

British rock duo MASK have released a new video for ‘The Black Hat’, the second single from what will be their third studio album Zenith, which is due to be released later in the year.

MASK met up in Poland last month marking the first time they’d played together since COVID and have dialled it up with the addition of a seven-piece band. The band now comprises Rob H. Humphrey (vocals), Craig Coppock (bass and vocals), Tom Bockowski (drums), Błażej Kucman (guitar), Piotr Chrapkowski (keys), Karolina Kornas (backing vocals) and Klaudia Górska (backing vocals).

‘Zenith is anthemic, cinematic and has atmospheric layers of vintage rock, the blues and even gospel,’ Humphrey said. ‘I should point out I’m not religious in anyway but I’m in awe of that kind of music. Although we will always make albums, it must be said that we will never record an album in this way ever again. Logistically, it wouldn’t be possible as we’ve now left Belfast, but also whilst making this record, I felt we peaked in a way, we reached the zenith of our powers, hence the album title.’

‘I always felt it could be a funeral song’

Zenith will include their latest singles ‘The Black Hat’ and ‘Warning Shots’ as well as a rock/gospel cover of ‘Days’ by The Kinks: ‘I always loved the lyrics to ‘Days’, I always felt it could be a funeral song,’ he said.

Next up will be the single ‘Hunter Becomes The Hunted’ from their upcoming album: ‘I was reading Morrissey’s book, there are no chapters (laughs) and he brings up trophy hunters, that grinds on me – the ones you see with their foot on a lion they’ve killed with a gun in their hand. In the book, he says what if the hunter becomes the hunted? So our song is about hunting the trophy hunters, it’s got big backing vocals.’

Other tracks showcase a different type of defiance. ‘The Black Hat’, for its part, is a massively hooky song, which manages to simultaneously sound like a classic and completely new, thanks to its infectious vocals and blistering rock ‘n’ roll elements, due in part to the blistering guitar solo around a minute in, played by their friend Fitzy: ‘He’s a dear friend of ours. I get embarrassed playing next to him, he’s like watching Hendrix! His solo in ‘The Black Hat’ ripped everyone’s face off, his noodling is off the scale,’ Humphrey said.

It turns out that legendary rocker Keith Richards inspired the track: ‘In one very famous instance, Keith talks about getting wrongly arrested for drug possession (laughs), upon his release he stated that if you need someone to wear the black hat then he was your man… I just felt that was such a cool expression,’ Humphrey said. ‘I started writing a song just using Keith quotes. The “black hat” means you’re not going to play by the rules, what’s the point when you get fucked over anyway.’

As the track kicks off: “I’ve been up every mountain high and I’ve been down to every valley low. With filth and fires of the sun and the heat of a smoking gun, and now the time has come to put the black hat on.”

‘It went through so many evolutions and revolutions’

‘Warning Shots’, which they released as a single in April, shakes it up, with an operatic intro and pared back piano line before Humphrey comes in on vocals. It has a very cinematic feel to it, it would be perfect in a film noir: ‘It was a song I’d worked on for years but the additional lyrics wouldn’t come,’ he said. ‘The new full-length version on the album is vastly different to the old version, it now opens with a double verse. It went through so many evolutions and revolutions, I remember crying. If one piece of a song isn’t right, I won’t release it, I want to be able to sleep at night (laughs).’

As the song goes: “You got me going round my head again. Chasing the shadows of who I’ve ever been. Tightrope walking on razor blades…when I hear the warning shots…and I wake.”

His dedication to getting it right is evident on other songs on the album, such as ‘I Owe You’, which he first started working on in 2017: ‘It’s better for me now, I feel I’ve worked for it. Releasing a song is like sending your child off to school, it’s really hard.’

Humphrey, who loves living on the road with his dog Riley, has just moved to Bosnia. ‘I like places that are complicated, they’re more real, more authentic,’ he said. ‘I was in Croatia before but it’s very touristic. I’ve only been here since Saturday (we chat three days later), it’s very friendly. When I choose a place to live I go old school, I get an actual map out and tend to pick at random (laughs).’ He grew up in Omagh in Northern Ireland and started taking what he describes as his ‘random road trips’ three years ago, when he moved out of his house, sold his possessions and decided to live on the road full-time with Riley.

‘It’s a reminder of the important things in life’

He describes songwriting and making music as akin to making a cake: ‘I sort of make the sponge, the boring bit of the cake (laughs) and we get in a room with Craig and start chipping away at it. He lives in Poland now but we met in Liverpool in 2009. His childhood best friend, Daz, became my adult best friend. He used to be our bass player, we had a ball, even though we had no money. It’s a reminder of the important things in life.’

Interestingly, Humphrey never ‘sang a note’ until he was 30: ‘Craig would always sing, so I never had to. I only went to singing lessons because I had to communicate melodies. I found the whole process terrifying. But thankfully, I met the wonderful Pauline Carville and she trained me vocally and gave me the confidence to actually be the singer I am today.’

Nonetheless, Humphrey brings a lot of different influences to the band: ‘I always loved Elvis as a kid, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard –  – my mum was really into 50’s music. Then came The Beatles and The Rolling Stones when I started playing guitar. Today, I love what The Black Keys are about, you almost have to be brave to keep things as simple as they do and it’s a formula that just works. Their Brothers album is one of my favourites and it’s been a huge inspiration.’

‘I’ve just read Elon Musk’s book, it left me with more questions than answers’

I ask him which musician dead or alive he’d most like to go for a pint with. ‘Can I have lots of pints?,’ he quipped. ‘I’d go for a pint with John Lennon or Bruce Springsteen, he’d be so relaxed, wouldn’t he? I think Bruce would love to go the pub (laughs). When you get to that level of fame, or of Paul McCartney’s level of fame for example, I always imagine their worlds are probably quite small. I’ve just read Elon Musk’s book, it left me with more questions than answers. He’s such a visionary. I’d like to go for a pint with him, I think he’d appreciate someone normal who would take the piss (laughs). I loved his book so much, it sent me down the rabbit hole.’

He asks me who I’d like to go drinking with and I say a fun pair would be Springsteen with his friend and former US president, Barack Obama. ‘Oooooh, yeah, that would be good!  Would we go day drinking with them?,’ he said mischeviously. ‘Do you think they could keep up with us?!’

Music is clearly a lifeline for him: ‘We do it because we love it,’ he said. ‘We do it because it’s genuine and such fun when we’re doing the music.’ He describes his life as a musician as ‘one long adventure’ with a lot of funny moments: ‘Watching my dog silence a screeching child by licking the child’s face, performing emergency surgery on myself, waiting for the results of a pregnancy test with a complete stranger in the middle of the night, getting put under civil arrest by two drunk dudes who thought I stole my own wallet – that was in my hand – I could go on!’