The elusive presence of Thomas Arsenault, professionally known as Mas Ysa first appeared in 2013 with the release of “Why”, a single shimmering with fragments of darkness and light.
It was part Springsteen, part rave-scene, and brimming with saudade, the Portuguese word for a melancholy nostalgia, a trait that has become his signature. After releasing his debut EP Worth last year, the Montreal-born, Brazilian-raised composer is on the tip of every taste-maker’s tongue, celebrated for his fresh approach to the synth pop/indietronica genre that has him putting the focus back on human experience, rather than the subtle glow of a laptop.
We reached Arsenault somewhere in the deep South as he eases into his first major tour of the year with Young Fathers, the Mercury Prize-winning trio from Scotland that will bring him to Vancouver next week.
Mas Ysa may just be getting started, but Arsenault has been working behind-the-scenes for years. He spent his formative years in Sao Paulo, deeply immersing himself in the rave-scene.
“At that age,” he says, “you’re starting to get those romantic feelings [and] you need to learn to dance. In Brazil, it’s not cool not to dance. You gotta dance to talk to your little crush…
“I did a lot of dancing at clubs.”
In his early twenties, Arsenault returned from Brazil to study modern composition at Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio, a decision that would ultimately change his life by linking him up with Shinkoyo Collective, a group of like-minded artists who migrated to New York, the State where Arsenault now resides.
“I moved to New York basically to be near other people from Shinkoyo” he says. “It is just a group of people who support each other, and collaborate and talk. We watch each other grow as artists and people.”
From that relationship, Arsenault found himself in the middle of one of Brooklyn’s most thriving music scenes, one collectively referred to as “Kent Avenue.”
His involvement with the Kent Avenue scene is the kind indie musicians dream of: an inherent respect based on hard work and romanticized sleepless nights at his own studio with “no windows, and sound proof tucked into the belly of this big building.”
That same building was connected to the underground venues 285 Kent and Glasslands, two of Brooklyn’s most infamous (now defunct) venues where you were likely to run into anyone from Cass McCombs to Laurel Halo, both of whom have recorded with Arsenault for their own projects.
One night in 2013, Arsenault was evicted from his studio/living space in Brooklyn, forcing him to relocate. He chose wisely, heading north to Lake Hill, where he promptly rented a house and set up his studio “with windows and birds and all that around”, a place where he could “feel the ears of the world a little more”.
This is where he composed what would become Worth, an EP filled with peaks and valleys of gut-wrenching emotion, illustrated with carefully programmed beats, cavernous, melodic howls and an array of synthesizers, all of which contain the aforementioned saudade, perhaps an influence of his days in Sao Paulo.
“Whether it be loved ones or a place in time, the act of cherishing is in itself an acknowledgment of loss. But I think it is a thankful one.” he says.
Arsenault will bring his one-man show to Fortune Sound next Thursday, a show guaranteed to have him singing his heart with “a mountain of gear”. There will be joy, there will be sorrow, there will be a history of influences all condensed into his explosive live show that is designed to make you feel things.
If history is any indication, it wouldn’t be a Mas Ysa interview without an inspiring passage or two. This man is living proof that you can feel saudade, you can love and support your scene, and still be empowered by raw human emotion.
“What people respond to, from the outside and from the inside, always, are communities and support. So love your friends and don’t compete with them, work with them, and really just make what makes you feel good, and sleep well. And don’t drink too much. Cause nothing lasts forever.”
• Mas Ysa joins Young Fathers at Fortune Sound Club (147 East Pender) April 30, 9pm. Advance tickets $15, available at Beatstreet, Zulu, Red Cat, and online here.
