Bright lavender lights fill a room adorned with walls of electric guitars that frame an enormous Steven Tyler poster. In the middle of the Zoom screen sits Mason Pace with a head full of golden curls and a warm smile eager to share his origins in music. 

“I started when I was really young with piano and over time, I learned guitar and singing, songwriting. I taught myself bass and drums to an extent, and I started songwriting for the first time when I was eleven in an aspiring developing artist program out of Miami,” Pace said. 

At 11 years old, Pace delved into the world of professional music through the All Access Inspire and Develop Artists (IDA) program for artists to hone their musical crafts. The program featured entertainment industry professional mentors such as David Frangioni, Rudy Perez, Jon Secada, and Mark Hudson. 

“That was where I met my first producer ever, Mark Hudson, who worked with Ozzy Osbourne, Paul McCartney, Aerosmith, and he took me in as his mentee and he produced and wrote with me my first song called ‘Do It Now,’” said Pace.

In the IDA Program, Pace explained he spent a week recording and writing his first song “Do It Now,” and at the end of that week he performed it for the very first time in front of a crowd. 

“Beforehand, I was doing recitals and classical stuff. I’m classically trained, and I really honed in my classical skills through recitals. I got my training down and being at that program showed me how to be a rockstar and it was like ah,” Pace said with a wide smile. “I really just wanted to push through with it. I’ve been working hard ever since on my own stuff through performing around and getting experience and I’ve actually been able to do a lot since then.”

At 14 years old, Pace started his own band known as the Mason Pace Band. The metal-rock band has performed throughout the South Florida area and in 2018, they released their debut album known as “Whateverland.”

Over the years, Pace has notable and critically acclaimed performances– he opened for Vince Neil, Cheap Trick, Joan Jett, and Ace Frehley at Rockfest ’80s and was honored with playing alongside music icon Phil Collins.

Now a college junior studying marketing and awaiting his band’s upcoming release of their sophomore album, “King of Hearts,” Pace spoke about the inspirations that have kept him going. 

Pace explained that his musical motivations are fueled by a support system made up of family, friends, and long-time fans. 

“The people who really are my inspiration are the people who push me to do my best. Those include both my parents who have been really helpful towards my career. My really good friends come to every single show that I have ever done and then also the people who have just seen me perform in the South Florida area for the past eight years now. The people who I have met through that time support me in all ways that they can and I’m always grateful for that and inspired by them to take the ‘King of Hearts’ album to the best and biggest that it can be.”

Bass player Cameron Martell, drummer Alex Abbasi, and backup singer Kayla Frey are members of the Mason Pace Band. 

“They are all fantastic musicians, they work very hard, and they are super professional and really fun to play with. I always have a fun time on stage with them for sure,” Pace said. 

Pace expressed that he felt very confident and proud to work alongside his bandmates for the past few years. 

“I met Cameron when he worked for Sam Ash, which is a music store. I came in looking for strings, and at the time I was looking for a bass player for my band. I had known him because he was in a local band that I heard and seen before.” 

Abbasi and Pace found each other through socials and Pace described his drummer as a “powerhouse.”

“If you see videos of him, he’s just insane on the drum kit. I’m not a drummer, and seeing him work is unreal,” said Pace. 

Pace explained that Frey made her way into the band through a mutual friend of theirs and played her first show with the band in February 2020. 

“That was the One Love Bahamas Festival and at that show, we opened for Lita Ford, Yngwie Malmsteen, Sebastien Bach, and that show raised funds for the Bahamas Relief Fund due to the hurricane then,” Pace said.

When asked how the pandemic impacted his musical performances, Pace said that the pandemic affected the whole music industry horribly.

“For the first several months’ people were called to stay at home, and nothing was open so there was nothing to do. All people were able to do was just sit at home and tours were canceled, shows were canceled, and the bands who just got signed had to be put on the shelf for a little while,” Pace said. 

However, Pace also explained that he took the year to reflect on himself as an artist and write music. 

“I was able to see where I was as an artist. I wrote songs about isolation, being at home, and not having inspiration. I flew out to LA, safely of course, and wrote and recorded the new album that will be released on August 6,” Pace said. 

When asked about how Pace feels about his upcoming album, Pace noted how his music was connected to a sense of revival and celebration. 

“I feel really good when my efforts are validated by people who listen to the genre a lot. The song that kicked the album off was ‘Reborn,’ the first single that I released on June 4, which is my birthday. I connect the relation between ‘Reborn’ and rebirth of myself as a musician and writer with my birthday,” Pace said.

Pace explained that he got an overwhelmingly positive response from that song, and the origins of that specific song began in a gothic seminar AP class. 

“The final project was to do whatever you want. You can write an essay, you can make a presentation, make a video, just prove that you know the main messages in gothic literature.  I went to my teacher and asked if I could write a song,” Pace said. “He said yeah, I can write a song. So, I wrote the song, and the first rendition of ‘Reborn’ was submitted for a final grade in a project for my English class in senior year. I got a 96 and that’s why I know it’s a good song, but as of two weeks ago, my teacher sent me a video of him changing the grade to a hundred. That’s something that I’m very proud of.” 

Playing in South Florida for the past eight years, hearing fans enjoy his music still resonates deeply with Pace as he wants his music to showcase a deeper message.

“For example, King of Hearts is an anti-suicide song that advocates for the choice of life. If you get to a point in your life and you are at the point of making that unfortunate decision of life or death, King of Hearts pushes for life, and the reason I chose King of Hearts to be the face of it is that the King of Hearts is the only king in the deck of cards that has his sword in his head. He is dubbed the suicide king and the song is about to show your scars and stand up and fight through life with the rest of us. Don’t dub yourself the suicide king,” Pace said. 

Mason Pace Band is set to release its EP on Aug. 6 and premier live on Aug. 13 at the music venue Crazy Uncle Mike’s in Boca Raton, Florida. 

Darlene Antoine is the Features Editor for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected].