Michigan-based quintet Mason Proper released their outstanding sophomore album Olly Oxen Free (Dovecote Records) yesterday. A tightly coiled collection of smart hooks, patient songwriting and restrained arrangements, Olly Oxen Free is both a creeper and an instant obsession, forging a comfortably warm landscape that often makes it damn hard for the listener to stop playing the first three songs on repeat (that is, until you realize how great the rest of the record is too). Bands like this - and albums like this - just don’t materialize from thin air, people. To that end, we cornered lead singer Jonathan Visger and prodded him with a vague series of origin-themed questions, from songs to cover art and lasagna to the gentle art of naming one’s band. Enjoy the inquisition…

EF: We are EAR FARM, your album cover has a great picture of an ear on the cover. Obviously, we love it. How did you come upon/decide to use that?

JZ: Zac (Fineberg, bass) and our friend Jordan made the artwork for the album out of a photo they found. Our first album was jam packed with every idea we had over a six month period… probably longer. If something didn’t work right away, we added more things until it did. With this album, our impetus for the entire thing was a stripping away of the unnecessary, peeling back the layers. We wanted to apply the concept to the album art too. Lots of clean, blank space, no visual noise…and as an in-joke for ourselves, we thought, “What do we hope this album art will inspire in people?” And the answer of course was. “Um. We hope they… listen to it?” So I hope that the ear says, “APPLY YOUR EARS TO THIS THING,” or even “PLACE EAR HERE.”

above: cover art for “Olly Oxen Free”

EF: And Olly Oxen Free is a pretty amazing name; and of course picking the right album title is a delicate art. How did you settle upon that as the title?

JZ: We looked for something fun to say, and that sounded nonsensical without actually being nonsense. We pored over every lyric on the album, trying things out, but everything felt too loaded. Eventually we noticed that anyone we mentioned Olly Oxen Free to reacted similarly. I would call it “confused nostalgia.” Everyone vaguely remembered it from their childhood, but nobody could immediately recall what context you said it in. I don’t think anybody is completely sure what it actually means, beyond that you’re supposed to come out of hiding when you hear it. The origin seems to be cloudy. So in the end, we chose it because it made us (and our friends) think, reminisce, and even do a little research.

EF: Traditionally, “olly olly oxen free” is kind of the white flag waved after hide and seek to signify the coast is clear. In that sense, is Mason Proper the seeker or the hider?

JZ: Maybe both, but at different times? We hid ourselves away and made the album, so it could be someone calling us out of hiding. Now that we’re out though, maybe we’re the ones saying it, to get anyone who might want to spend some time in our world to come meet us in the middle. Maybe we’re bored of hide and seek and we want to rally everyone in the neighborhood for some kickball. Maybe none of these things are the right answer.

EF: A lot of cool sound collages and samples - primarily of children at play - permeate the album. Why did you decide to use such distinct sounds?

JZ: Our approach to the sampling stuff is simple… Experiment, try anything, and always make sure it feels right. And if you aren’t sure about it, take it out. I wouldn’t say that most of the samples are children, though a few of the most obvious ones are. I would say that most of the samples involving voices are innocent people though. To me, kids are innocent, insane people are usually innocent, people living good honest lives and consciously trying to be a positive force
are innocent. That’s an oversimplification though. It might be better to say pure, than innocent.

EF: What was the “Rest Up” video shoot like? Who made all the food and did you eat it take after take after take and then feel ill afterwards? Where did the concept originate from?

JZ: I got up really early and cooked the lasagna, and the jello I made the night before. Somehow I failed miserably at the jello, it didn’t set up at all, and I have no idea why. But it led to the hilarious shot of Matt looking very closely at the jiggling blue mess. I had gone with the directors to go shopping for props for the 4 videos we were doing with them, and we settled on lasagna for the red, milk for the white, jello for the blue, and the green salad. We did eat it take
after take that morning. Zac was the only one that had a food coma afterwards though, because as you see in the video, his shtick was taking huge bites, then chugging the milk.

MASON PROPER - “REST UP” - Music Video from Dovecote Records on Vimeo.

The directors (Hott Garbage) and I had a few brainstorming sessions at my house about the four videos. We decided we wanted to do a video where the continuity was completely wrong, and in general we wanted to steer away from videos with a clear story, because they usually come off cheesy. We went through some more elaborate ideas, before finally falling in love with the concept of simply shooting Mason Proper having the most tense, awkward dinner of all time, lighting it really dramatically. To be completely honest, I think my contribution to the brainstorming for this one came from the scene in Mulholland Drive where the producer comes in, acts really intimidating, gets a coffee, and then grotesquely spits it into his napkin when it’s not to his liking. Then the other guy jumps up and starts shouting apologies, that it’s the finest coffee in the city. If you’ve seen the scene, you know what I mean.

EF: Where did you derive the seemingly arbitrary amount of $333 as a prize for the remix contest? How has the response been so far?

JZ: Ha ha… Well, I suggested $300 as an amount that would help inspire people to try their hand, and Dovecote thought that was not a very Mason Propery number, and that $333 was more suitable to our sense of humor. They were right. I assure you it has nothing to do with
Choronzon. We’ve gotten a nice collection of entries, and a few great ones! I’m expecting more to roll in right at the end. The people that like to take their time, you know?

EF: According to Allmusic, you guys used to be called Patterns in Paris before Mason Proper. Why did you change your name?

JZ: That name was crap, haha. I don’t know what we were thinking. Seriously, to people starting bands: Write a ton of songs before you pick a name, for the love of God. Don’t be like us! We just didn’t end up sounding like that name. That name sounds slick and clean, like triangle wave synths through delays, and glassy-eyed, ice queen, shy girl vocals or something. If someone wants to start a band like that and use that name, go for it! That would be a hilarious origin.

EF: Which all leads up to the most annoying question possible: what are the origins of the name Mason Proper?

JZ: Mason Proper is a rare phrase that appears in some Freemasonry literature. We like all that secret society stuff. It’s not a person’s name! It’s not a reference to a place! The phrase is
probably meaningless even to most Freemasons, though.

Listen: “Lock and Key”

See Mason Proper Live:
24 Sep - Ann Arbor, MI @ Live on 107one Ann Arbor
25 Sep - Ann Arbor, MI @ CD Release Party w/The Silent Years, The Novel Citizen @ The Blind Pig
21 Oct - New York, NY @ Dovecote Records CMJ Showcase @ Rehab
31 Oct - Mt. Pleasant, MI @ Rubbles Bar w/ Those Transatlantics
01 Nov - East Lansing, MI @ Small Planet
07 Nov - Winona Lake, IN @ New Horizon
08 Nov - Kalamazoo, MI @ Papa Pete’s
10 Nov - Washington DC @ Black Cat w/Cloud Cult
11 Nov - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom w/Cloud Cult
12 Nov - Danbury, CT @ Heirloom Arts Theater w/Cloud Cult
13 Nov - Cambridge, MA @ Middle East - Downstairs w/Cloud Cult
15 Nov - Rochester, NY @ Bug Jar
22 Nov - Grand Rapids, MI @ The Intersection
13 Dec 13 2008 @ Chicago, IL @ The Beat Kitchen

Visit Mason Proper on MySpace.