STEVE MASON
Much has changed about Steve Mason’s life since he released his previous album Meet he Humans in 2016. His joyful new record About he Light is his irst to be written since moving to Brighton. He’s got married, had a baby daughter and, as a result of having a family to provide for, he Beta Band’s former maverickin- chief has realised for the irst time That making music is his actual job. Sat with a lunchtime cofee in a quiet pub close to Hove station, where he meets Long Live Vinyl, Mason is self-deprecatingly funny about the reality of his profession – a trait he excels at although, as soon becomes clear, he’s also determined for the irst time to shout from the rootops about how great his new album is. “I never wanted to admit I was a professional musician before,” he smiles. “Saying those words sounded so fucking boring, like saying: ‘I work in inance’. Nobody asks you a question if you say you’re a professional musician, because they’re walking away from you in the opposite direction.”
WThat did Mason think he was? “An artist.