n maps, or from the air, the Mojave Desert is usually deemed brown... a blotch in the lower stomach of California that bulges against Arizona and Nevada. For fifteen years, the Mojave Desert has been the adopted home of one songwriter / performer / producer who calls himself 'one half of Masters of Reality.' Meet Chris Goss. About 2,800 miles East by Northeast; New York City. Another man sits at the head of Manhattan's media design giant Spontaneous. Director / illustrator / songwriter / drummer, and former member of New York noise and space rock bands Surgery and Dr. Mars, he is the "other" half of Masters of Reality. Meet John Leamy.
For nearly 20 years, the intermittent and somewhat reclusive collaborative musical efforts of Goss and Leamy, collectively known as the avant-renegade rockers Masters of Reality, (a relationship that began with Leamy painting the cover of their very first Masters album), have changed the face and character of rock and roll music around the world. Hence, these two ain't part time hobbyists. Goss describes himself as a "parallel aesthetician." "Art and music can be loaded with aesthetic and esoteric nano-timebombs, each level of delivery and digestion can and should be emotionally manipulated and shaped for the future... and the best part is, no one knows what we're building because it will never be finished. Look how the world of food is fusing, well, that's happening to a million things simultaneously. Our brains and nervous systems, even in our rock and roll, hopefully."
They are what's called in the 'biz' as 'musician's musicians.' Goss explains "With John and I wrapped up in so much media production in our day to day lives, when we get together to record and tour a new 'Masters of Reality' album, it's the white rat thrown into the cage of two hungry pythons. It's nothing short of a quick ecstatic feast. We have absolutely no intentions other than making music that we want to hear, and other musicians definitely sense that wonderful freedom and experimentation and try to emulate it, to great profit. Proof of good design, I'd assume."
And if a band's musical history and credibility are still relevant in today's American Idol, vocal tuned, studio buffed pop world; Goss began working with music-mega-mogul Rick Rubin in the mid 80's by recording the longest running 'Top of the Hour' theme music for MTV. Followed shortly by the release of the first Masters of Reality LP on Rubin's Def American Records. Goss soon reformed the band's line-up to join forces with none other than Cream's Ginger Baker, a collaboration that lasted nearly three years and resulted in an LP that sent the single "She Got Me (when she got her dress on)" to Number 8 on the Billboard charts. Simultaneously, Goss began working and forming what's now known as the 'California Desert Rock Scene,' producing three legendary albums with Kyuss and soon after began producing and even giving the name Queens of the Stone Age to a young musical protege' Joshua Homme. A musical partnership that still exists now nearly 20 years later and the start of a production career that has made Goss one of the world's most sought after rock and roll studio wizards and songwriters. His collaborations include The Cult, Stone Temple Pilots, PJ Harvey, UNKLE, Mark Lanegan, SOULWAX, Dave Grohl, Marilyn Manson's Twiggy Ramirez and many many more, but it's Masters of Reality that delivers the true core of Goss' and Leamy's musical powers, and the reason that the musical world has been paying close attention for over two decades.
Both improvisation and rhythm have always been major components of the unmistakable Masters of Reality sound, but on their new album, ‘Pine/Cross Dover’ (the band's brand new, two-headed beast of a full-length recording), the group pits the finer elements of the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Public Image Limited against each other. The end result? A Masters of Reality album that rocks, rolls, and grooves like one devilish son of a gun.
Joining Goss and Leamy, includes a host of special guests, including Eagles of Death Metal bassist Brian O’Connor and guitarist Dave Catching, Merle Jagger guitarist Mark Christian, background singers Shawnee Smith and Missi Pyle, as well as former Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Brendon McNichol. With a tour currently being planned, it’s only a matter of time until the latest batch of Masters of Reality classics take on a new life on stage.
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Masters of Reality Live!
US Headlining Tour Dates
11/10/2010 - House Of Blues - Anaheim, CA
11/11/2010 - 4th & B Street - San Diego, CA
11/12/2010 - House Of Blues - Los Angeles, CA
11/16/2010 - El Corazon - Seattle, WA
11/17/2010 - Lola's - Portland, OR
11/20/2010 - Pappy & Harriets, Pioneertown, CA
UK Dates w/ The Cult
1/18/2011 O2 Academy Leeds, UK
1/19/2011 O2 Academy Bristol, UK
1/21/2011 Hammersmith Apollo London, UK
1/22/2011 Cambridge Corn Exchange Cambridge, UK
1/23/2011 O2 Academy Bournemouth Boscombe, UK
1/25/2011 Rock City Nottingham, UK
1/26/2011 Wolverhampton Civic Hall Wolverhampton, UK
1/27/2011 O2 Academy 2 Newcastle, UK
1/29/2011 Academy Glasgow Glasgow, Scotland
1/30/2011 Academy Manchester Manchester, UK
With the release of the band's fifth album, "100 Lovers" (Anti- Records, 2011), the band headed back to the romantic influences of the Arizona desert with producer Craig Schumacher (Calexico, Neko Case) to create a compendium of short stories inspired by the varied moments the band experienced since the release of A Mad & Faithful Telling.
Great American Taxi feat. Vince Herman of Leftover Salmon
This year, May 27-29th, 
We are thrilled to have The SoLLun (pronounced soul*loon) back onsite. It is a portable interactive art, music, and performance exhibit in the guise of an old-fashioned Wild West saloon, playfully blended with elements from Mad Max, Willy Wonka, and our very own Solar Cosmonauts. The SoLLun embodies and manifests the current green trend by being entirely solar and wind powered and mostly made of reclaimed materials. It is the only such exhibit that also travels via 100% green technologies--currently a full veggie conversion, with a bio-diesel backup.