Hi Louis, glad to see you again after the “break” you had in the ‘90s. what did you do during that decade? Why have you decided to get back together?
The band never really officially broke up we just stepped out of the limelight for a while to enjoy some time off with our families and concentrate on writing more material and perform a few select shows. The 90’s were not kind to melodic rock bands here in the states due to the grunge and rap music scene taking over. We also toyed with the idea of changing our style and changing the name of the band. But soon realized this was not what MASS was about and returned to our passion and roots of melodic hard rock!

"Crack of Dawn" has been recently issued. One of your best albums ever in my opinion. I know you have recorded it between New Jersey and Massachusetts, while you went to Sweden for mixing and mastering. Has it been the label’s choice?
Thank you very much! We really like the new release as well!
And yes it was our label Escape Music’s decision to have the Album mixed and mastered in Sweden!

How is it working with Kronlund?
Working with Martin Kronlund was great we feel he knew exactly what type of sound the band was looking for and he captured us very well! We are very pleased with his over all finished product and would love to work with him again in the future!

You have worked with Michael Sweet at the times of “Voices in the Night” and now here he is again as a guest in “Empty Soul” and “It’s You”. Can you tell us anything about him which has not been said yet?
Michael learned we were heading into a studio in Massachusetts to lay down a few new songs we had just written. So he wanted to be involved and we gladly accepted.
Michael is a perfectionist and has a great ear and he really loved these two songs and thought we should have released them as singles even before we eventually signed a new record deal!

“New Birth”, released in 1985 through RCA, has been reissued through Retrospect Records. How did you come up to that deal with the label from Las Vegas?
I was approached by Sam from Retrospect Records and he gave me his ideas and then made MASS a great offer we couldn’t refuse! We are very happy with the new re-release and the CD has gone on to sell quite well for an album we made 22 years ago! It has also made a lot of long time fans very happy who have been asking for this album to finally be available on CD .
The future also looks very promising for the re-release of our other older albums as well in 2008.

The reissue features also a bonus track called "Endless Thoughts". What kind of song is it and when does it date back to?
‘Endless thoughts’ is a great rock ballad that was an original outtake from the New Birth sessions. MASS and producer (Tony Platt) felt we had the two ballads picked already and Endless thoughts was put aside for a possible bonus track somewhere down the line. So here it is !

Talking about the past, I know you have supported HANOI ROCKS, MOLLY HATCHET, WINGER, CHEAP TRICK, GIRLSCHOOL, etc... Anything interesting or funny to tell us about those shows? Maybe something going on in the backstage…
It was a great pleasure to perform with all the above acts mentioned and there have been quite a few funny stories over the years as you can probably well imagine.
Here is a few I can recall. While doing a sound check at Club Casino in New Hampshire I guess MASS was a bit too loud!
Rick Nielson from Cheap Trick came by after our sound check to say the band sounded great and that he had listened to our complete Sound check from the Hotel next door!
Very funny guy who had us cracking up all night! There drummer Bun E. Carlos thought we were Van Halen? Lol!
Another funny story was us getting into a big food fight with the Joe Lynn Turner band in a very exclusive restaurant in New York. You could just imagine the looks on the customers’ faces as ‘Mass’ive amounts of food were flying over their heads. Ha! The owner eventually asked both bands to leave but we did leave a very nice tip!

You are often ranked among the “christian rock bands”, while you rather feel a hard rock band and your lyrics are about your own personal experiences only. What’s your relationship with the religion? What is the topic you love more for your lyrics?
I believe we get tied into the Christian label because of our name MASS (Which really means “big” ex: ‘MASS’-ive!), and also with our association with Michael Sweet from Stryper who is a great friend and produced our 4th album ‘Voices in the Night’ while we were on the same record label Enigma in the late 80’s.
We also did a bunch of west coast and east coast shows together as well back then, and he since has also appeared on our latest CD ‘Crack of Dawn’ with some engineering credits.
Although we are all Italian Catholics who do believe in God Almighty and Jesus Christ we are just a Melodic Hard Rock band that does not associate ourselves with any type of labels nor do we want to be typecast in that way as well!
I personally do attend church as much as possible and try to set aside some time during each day for prayer and also try to teach my children by way of example of God’s love!
90 percent of my lyrics do come from my personal life experiences I have encountered whether they be happy or sad! The other 10 percent may come from news I have read about or have seen on television.

What do you think of the recent scandals involving the Church and the priests’ pedophilia?
It makes me very angry and disappointed to think that the Church had covered it up for so many years. All those poor individuals that trusted their clergymen/priests for comfort and guidance only to be stripped of their innocence and scarred their relationship with God for life!

Let’s say you’re about to become the Pope. What would you do?
Very tough question! I really don’t want to get into the religion topic too much but would mainly concentrate on promoting world peace and helping those in need everywhere. Also I would work on building back the respect and trust for the Church.

What about the music scene in Boston? Any good bands?
The Music scene in Boston has changed over the years and there are very few places for an original band to play these days! Most of your better rock clubs have closed down or only host “Cover groups” which is killing the creativity for the new generation of rockers!
Sadly I have not seen a real good original rock band come out of Boston in a long time now!

I know you’re presently listening to TNT and Avril Lavigne. What do you think of those two artists?
I love Tony Harnell I think he is a fantastic singer and I love the CD “My Religion” I believe it’s a bit better than their latest “All the way to the sun” which is still very cool!
I think the Starbreaker record is great as well! Can’t wait to hear Starbreaker 2!
I was very disappointed with the new Avril CD! Pure crap! Her previous CD was 10 times better!!
I am also now listening to Nikki Sixx’s ‘Heroin Diaries’ soundtrack and Gotthard’s ‘Domino Effect’ both of these CD’s really Rock!!!!!!!

I have surfed on your Myspace page and I’ve seen you’re naming "My Name is Earl" among your favourite TV programmes...we are still waiting for the second season…can you tell us something as preview ??
LOL! Hilarious show for sure! I have to be honest with you that I have been so busy lately
that I have not watched it as much as I would have liked!
But they are being tapped on my TiVo machine and I just have to find the time to chill and catch up with the series!
I will have to get back to you on that and leave you in suspense for now! LOL!

Your second name is D'Augusta…Italian origins?
Yes we are all Italian/Americans in the band! My father was born in Catania ,Sicily and I have been to Italy regretfully only once to visit relatives all over in Sicily, Venice, and Capri! Gorgeous! And I can not wait to return one day!

Ok, That’s all. The final lines are for you to say bye (in Italian ? ) to the Slam! readers.
Although my Father, Mother and grandparents all spoke Italian in my house, I never learned to write in Italian, only to obey! LoL! So it is with great thanks to you Moreno and Slam for giving me this opportunity to speak to your wonderful readers and for letting me inform them about our new CD MASS ‘Crack Of Dawn’ which has been getting outstanding reviews worldwide!
For More Information on MASS Please check out www.massmusic.biz or www.myspace.com/masstheband
We hope to come to Italy to perform for all of you!
Thank you and Ciao Italia!!!!