About Me
Neural Mass was formed in Montreal in 1995.The music of Neural Mass can best be described as dark progressive rock.Gary X Floyd (keyboards) and Sylvain Rodrigue (drums) met at school when they were 7 years old and have always shared a common interest for music.In 1990, they formed the band Bonehead which enjoyed a certain degree of success locally.When they were informed that there were two other Canadian bands using the name Bonehead, they decided to switch to 'Neural Mass' in 1995.The name Neural Mass comes from the title of one of the tracks on Bonehead's only release, a cassette EP entitled 'Sick Titillation'.The recording of their first album was a difficult process and tension grew within the band.After their first album ''Descent into the lower world" , Marcel Babin (guitar) and Pépé Doré (bass) left the band for personal reasons.Marcel Babin went on to play in the band Les Tetes Reduites (Sylvain's other band) for a while. It is to be noted that Sylvain was not playing with them at the time.Gary X and Sylvain then decided to put Neural Mass on hold for a while.Gary X attended University for the next 4 years and then moved to British Columbia to contemplate the future. He returned to Quebec in 2001.That year, Sylvain asked Gary to play bass synth in his band 2X3 (with guitarist Eric Valley).After one show, Eric Valley took off to Europe to work for the Circus.Sadly, the album composed by Rodrigue/Valley was never released.
This is unfortunate as it contains some very fine material.After the dissolution of the short lived 2X3, they reactivated Neural Mass and continued as a duo.In 2001 they released their second album "The Unbreakable Aqua-Mask of Europa".Soon after recording "The Unbreakable Aqua-Mask of Europa" , they began composing material for what was to become the band's third album "Sunshine Hill".Initially, their intent was to make an album mixing elements of prog with elements of AM - Middle of the Road. A sort of mix between King Crimson and Air Supply.After the basic tracks were recorded (drums / keyboards), the band sought out guest guitarists to help give the album a harder edge.A few tracks were recorded by Serge Labreche with the vast majority of them being done by Spaced Out's Mark Tremblay.Tremblay's contribution was so significant that the band decided to give him credit as one of the composers on the tracks on which he is featured.
In 2002 Mark Tremblay became the 3rd member of the band.The band released Sunshine Hill in 2003. The album follows a very loose concept/plotline. It is the story of 2 simple-minded individuals who get into deep trouble with a criminal organization, the police, women and various merchants while on a ''business'' trip abroad. The ''story'' ends with one of them prostituting himself to old ladies.The seedy subject matter and the sometimes abrasive lyrics did not help the band to sign a record deal.
Then again, Neural Mass has never been about compromise.The album received some airplay on prog-rock radio websites and was very well received by the critics who unanimously recognized the band's originality.
Radio stations in Portugal and Turkey also began playing it on air.These first 3 albums were briefly available through the MP3.COM website and have since been discontinued.Having been ignored by record companies Neural Mass continued undeterred, determined to get a distribution deal.Rehearsals commenced in view of playing some gigs locally. The band were in high spirits, having a great time playing music together.The band then decided to re record some of the stronger songs from the first three albums with a more aggressive prog-metal approach.Bass player Fred Thompson joined Neural Mass in late 2004.Because of problems encountered during post-production, the album, with the working title of "The Atmosphere Buster", was finally shelved.The band started gigging fairly regularly to favorable notice.The band then undertook recording sessions for their current release "Opposite Control".The album features new versions of tracks originaly appearing on the first three releases, along with two newer numbers.A live album called Playing for Fans was also made available online and will be released on CD/DVD sometime in the future.It was recorded at Cafe Chaos in Montreal in 2005 when the band were opening up for Spaced Out.In November 2005, feeling the need for some rest and some time to think, Gary X Floyd left the band.The band continued as a trio for awhile and continued gigging. They even started work on some new material.But after awhile, feeling the need to move on, Marc Tremblay and Fred Thompson decided to leave the band.The prognosis for Neural Mass was pretty grim. Sylvain called Gary X to let him know the guys had left.Plans where then made to start working together again but with a new approach this time.This would involve composing music to accompany films produced and directed by Neural Mass.The band is currently working on a new album and film called "Final Warning".The line up consists of Sylvain Rodrigue (drums/vocals), Gary X Floyd (keyboards/vocals), Marc Tremblay (guitars), Steve Otis (guitars) & Hugues Jomphe (sax, flute, clarinet).Recording sessions will be engineered by Timm Kerwin.Also, location shooting for the film has just wrapped in London.Neural Mass' current plans are to focus on song writing, studio work and film making with live appearances, hopefuly in Paris, France, next summer.Keep watching this site for updates.In memoriamFrederic Thompson1976 - 2007It is with great sadness that we share the news of the death of our friend and fellow band mate Frederic Thompson.Our hearts go out to Lise and to the family in this most difficult of times.Sleep well Fred
With love and respect
Sylvain, Gary and Marc
