Maseev (born Christopher Simons) grew up in Montreal. He started playing drum kit in 1987, soon followed by guitar and bass. He began recording albums on a crappy 4-track cassette recorder in varying states of disrepair with lots of borrowed gear in the early 90s. In 1995, he moved to the west coast, where he lived on organic farms for a couple of years. His 4-track recordings became increasingly ambient until the 4-track machine finally died. He began learning about percussion from West Africa, the Middle East, and Brazil. Maseev has been using his computer to make music since 2004. He still borrows gear.

At times, Chris has also been obsessed with photography, writing, painting, and drawing.

In addition to his electronica recordings, he currently plays broken, scrounged, and otherwise neglected percussive instruments in IMP(S), an improvisational, acoustic ambient group that he has been a part of since the late 90s. He also plays the repique and calls the breaks in Masala, a 15-person percussion ensemble that he co-founded in 2002.

musical bio

Maseev brings his understanding of traditional percussion genres to electronica, combining it with his appreciation for minimalist, ambient composition and his predisposition to settle into a deep, accessible groove. In every recording, Maseev seeks to externalize, in soundtrack form, his impressions of the interplay between his fascination with contemporary human society and his longing for what remains of wilderness. To this end, his recordings juxtapose the structured, highly precise, and grounded domain of percussive rhythm with ethereal, vast, and amorphous realms of ambient soundscapes.

Maseev’s tracks typically build into a dense mix of polyrhythm, overlapping melodic riffs, and multiple layers of atmospheric themes while maintaining a sense of spaciousness. The obvious exception to this is 2007’s Winter Rocket, an unapologetic foray into conventional pop song sensibility.

Maseev records with acoustic, electric, and digital instruments.