WHAT'S NEW

Acclaimed post-rock ensemble My Education and Utah's finest improvisational rock group Theta Naught, who together make up the multi-tentacled juggernaut known as Sound Mass, are pleased to announce the release of their third collaborative effort, 'Ampersand', released July 18 2024 on the Rural Isolation Project label. A Texas tour will celebrate the release, with shows in San Antonio, Austin, Houston and Elgin.

The story of this collaboration goes all the way back to June 2010. My Education found themselves in the midst of a West Coast tour with three days to kill in Salt Lake City. Luckily, guitarist Brian Purington had been in touch via email with Theta Naught bassist Ryan Stanfield, about a possible joint effort. Studio time was quickly booked and utilized. Both outfits quickly agreed that their planned show at SLC's famed DIY venue Kilby Court should become an avenue for further collaboration and experimentation. Ten musicians squeezed onto the stage of the tiny venue. An evening of noisy, exhilarating, cacophonous and yet somehow controlled joyous fun ensued.

The first LP was released as part of Differential Records' Harmonic Motion series. Both bands enjoyed the whole experience so much that they performed "Sound Massp" at a collaborative showcase for SXSW 2011 at the Hideout Theatre on Thursday March 17th, as well as at a day party on the same date at the Blue Theatre. Subsequently, the ensemble performed at the 2011 Austin Psych Fest as the final band to appear at Seaholm Power Plant, closing the whole shebang down with a midnight performance after Roky Erickson and the Black Angels.

Such a good time was had by all that both bands decided a sequel was in order. That summer, the massive ensemble reconvened for a series of regional shows capped by the recording of an ecstatic Daytrotter session at Big Orange studios in Austin in July. Over the course of the next two years, shows were played in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Utah, festival appearances were made at SXSW (again) and the Utah Arts Festival, and finally, after much roadwork had seasoned the big ensemble into a much more cohesive unit, the eleven 'core' members of My Education/Theta Naught Sound Mass returned to Salt Lake City for another recording session. Cleopatra Records brought forth the second record from the band, My Education/Theta Naught Sound Mass II: Spiritual Docking. This is the sound of two bands making love and melting together into a new whole. Gears mesh, belts whir, pistons pump, and something glorious is born. Cleopatra also featured Sound Mass on their recent SPACE ROCK: An Interstellar Traveler's Guide boxed set. A west coast tour was organized, and the collaboration continues to this day.

SOUND MASS 2024 TEXAS TOUR DATES:
July 18th - San Antonio - Lonesome Rose
July 19th - Austin - Carousel Lounge
July 20th - Houston - Big Star Bar
July 21st - Elgin - Lightnin' Bar