Maston

Working primarily in the instrumental realm, composer/producer/multi-instrumentalist Maston calls on the influences of sunny chamber pop masters like Van Dyke Parks and Brian Wilson while also tapping into the heady atmospheres of '70s library music and obscure film soundtracks. He evolved from his Beach Boys worship on early material into the more nuanced and cinematic fare of albums like Panorama and Souvenir, both released in 2021. The next year's L'Ultima Cena was an actual score for an art exhibition. Multi-instrumentalist Frank Maston grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles, soaking in both the summery atmosphere and the musical and cultural history of his surroundings, developing a love of California-bred orchestral pop. Beginning in 2011, Maston put out a series of cassette albums, using his own last name as the moniker for his one-man band. In 2012, he signed to Chicago label Trouble in Mind, which released his proper full-length debut, Shadows, the next year. A live band was assembled to play the songs on tour, and in addition to more official tracks, Maston's covers of songs by Tyrannosaurus Rex and Carly Rae Jepsen began circulating online. He meanwhile played keyboards for Panda Bear and Jacco Gardner, joining the latter for extended periods in the Netherlands. Maston's experiences touring and living abroad lent a European influence to his second album, which took particular inspiration from French and Italian film music. Further adjusting his focus from Wilson and Spector to the likes of Morricone and Legrand, Maston released Tulips on his own Phonoscope label in 2017. His next release, 2021's Maston: Panorama, was an homage to the '70s library music of labels like KPM and Bruton Music. He quickly followed up this light and breezy collection with the more fully realized Souvenir. Also released in 2021, Souvenir was made with Swiss group L'Eclair as the backing band, adding a depth and live chemistry to Maston's groove-based studio creations. In 2022, he issued the more ethereal L'Ultima Cena. It consisted of music he composed for the Berlin exhibition of the same name by painter Mattea Perrotta.
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