Ian Masters (born 4 January 1964) is a multi-instrumentalist/songwriter/producer. He is best known for being a founding member of the English

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

band

Pale Saints Pale Saints were an English alternative rock/shoegazing band formed in 1987 in Leeds by singer-bassist Ian Masters, guitarist Graeme Naysmith and drummer Chris Cooper.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 907 ...

. Masters was their vocalist/bassist from their formation in 1987 until his departure from the group in 1992. Since then, he has gone on to perform in other notable groups including Spoonfed Hybrid, ESP Summer, and Friendly Science Orchestra.

Biography

Masters was born in

Potters Bar Potters Bar is a town in Hertfordshire, England,in the historic County of Middlesex Hertsmere Borough Council – Community Strategy First Review (PDF) north of central London. In 2011, it had a population of 21,882. In 2022 the population was ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

.Biography at Kuchen website
/ref> During Masters' tenure with Pale Saints, the group released ''The Comforts of Madness'' and ''In Ribbons'' as well as several EPs. The recordings displayed a mix of Masters' choirboy-like vocals along with dark atmospheric and noisy pop tunes. Masters, who wasn't interested in touring, left the group to pursue music of a more experimental nature. His first project after Pale Saints was Spoonfed Hybrid with Chris Trout. They released their self-titled debut album in 1993, and their second album, ''Hibernation Shock'' was in 1996. In 1994, Masters teamed up with

His Name Is Alive His Name Is Alive is an American experimental rock band/project from Livonia, Michigan. After several self-released cassettes, they debuted on 4AD Records in 1990, starting a long run at the label. Throughout the band's long history, leader Warre ...

auteur

Warren Defever Warren Defever (first name often spelled Warn; born April 30, 1969) is a musician and producer, originally from Livonia, Michigan, and now based in Detroit. He is most known for his chameleonic project His Name Is Alive, though he is active in nu ...

and they began to release music as ESP Summer. In the autumn of 1998, he released the ''Miniature Album'' 7" as Friendly Science Orchestra, which became an NME 'Single of the Week'. Under this moniker, Masters covered "Because of You" on Sing a Song for You: Tribute to Tim Buckley, which was released on

Manifesto Records Manifesto Records is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California that has released records by Dead Kennedys, Tim Buckley, Cinerama, Concrete Blonde, Cranes, The Czars, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Lilys, The Rugburns, Sing-Sing, Ken S ...

in 2000. In 2000, Masters teamed up with

The Montgolfier Brothers The Montgolfier Brothers were a British indie pop-dream pop duo which featured gnac's Mark Tranmer and Lovewood drummer Roger Quigley. The group, which formed in 1999, has released several recordings. Roger Quigley died 18 August 2020. Disc ...

' songwriter Mark Tranmer to form Wing Disk. Their first EP, ''Time is running out'', which was recorded between

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

saw release in 2002. Since 2005, Masters has been living in Japan. In 2007, Masters co-wrote, sang, played the saw and kaospad on the song "Silver Kiss" on Luminous Orange's ''Sakura Swirl'' LP. In 2008, Masters contributed vocals to a song "Hoko Onchi" on digitally-released ''Mid/Air'' by

Dive Index Dive Index is a collaborative musical project originated by Los Angeles-based electronic music composer/producer Will Thomas. History Thomas has released minimalist electronic music under the name Plumbline on thHydrogen Dukeboxlabel. His record ...

, a musical project originated by composer/producer Will Thomas. In 2009, his project (with David Rothon) Sore & Steal released their debut album. Masters is credited with saw and effects. In 2016, he partnered with Terao Terako to form the experimental duo Big Beautiful Bluebottle, making what Masters described as "confusion jazz." In 2018, he released a Wing Disk/ Cucumber Concubine split single 7" with

' songwriter Mark Tranmer. In 2019, he teamed up with Australian electronica musicia
Tim Koch
to form Isolated Gate. In 2020, they released 2 EPs "T.L.C." and "Horologium Demos E.P." available on Bandcamp and as a limited edition toy lathe cut. In 2022 they released their first E.P. on Darla, "Hapax Legomenon". In 2022 they will release the E.P. "No Heart No Home" and their debut LP in early 2023. In 2020, Masters and

regrouped across continents as ESP Summer to release a mini-LP comprising a cover-version of The 13 Floor Elevators' Kingdom of Heaven in several phases of sonic degradation.

References

External links

Sore & Steal Bandcamp pageBig Beautiful Bluebottle information pageIsolated Gate Bandcamp pageESP Summer Bandcamp release page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Masters, Ian Living people 1964 births Musicians from Leeds 4AD artists People from Potters Bar Shoegaze musicians Musicians from Hertfordshire