Saskatchewan native JoJo Mason kicked off 2024 with the release of his first single since the 2021 EP Sky Full of Stars, Toxic. This month, he has followed up the release with another new track Bottom Shelf. Bottom Shelf, produced by multiple award-winning songwriter and producer Ryan Stead, is a pop/soul-infused track that delves into the raw emotions and aftermath of heartbreak following a breakup. The track uses the act of finding solace in bottom-shelf drinks as a poignant metaphor for coping with memories of past love. Following the release of Bottom Shelf, we caught up with JoJo to find out more.
Hey JoJo, thanks so much for taking the time to chat. No, thank you for taking the time. I really appreciate it. This is so great. I got a whole bunch of family over in England, which is funny. I'm not entirely sure what part of England, because there's so many different little sub things. Everybody's got a football team, everybody wants to whoop each other's ass, and I get confused with the whole thing.
That’s very true! Are you in Vancouver at the minute? Yeah, that's home, baby.
You were born in Regina, though, is that right? Yeah, Saskatchewan
I've got family in Regina and travelled a bit around there to Melville too for family. Stop it.
I’ve had several few hour drives in my life from Regina to Melville, looking at nothing. If you're lucky, you'll see like a dust bunny fly across the road, you know what I'm saying, like a little tumbleweed. Hey, it's not often I get to go home, but you know, we don't have any grain elevators out here, so when I do go home, it's funny how exciting those little things are, you know what I'm saying?
Is it quite nice now being in quite a central hub of somewhere like Vancouver and being able to base yourself out there? Oh yeah, man, it's a bigger market. So, I moved from Regina to Victoria, Victoria to Vancouver. I've been out here for the better part of almost 15, 20 years, and I love it out here, man. I think it's such a good place for opportunities. It's a good music city. It's the best.
It has got some awesome music venues as well. I worked in Vancouver for a summer at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Gas Town, so I went to loads of gigs at the Commodore. Oh dude, you know what's funny, for so many years early in my career that was on my bucket list. I wanted to play it so bad! I had seen so many shows there. I never thought I would ever get a chance to play. The day I got a chance to play, boy, it was wild, man. Being on that stage, going backstage. I had seen so many artists, but then you see them come through the side and then they go upstairs into their green rooms. Now I get to be a part of that.
When you go to that kind of place, do you feel like you're almost in the wrong room kind of thing when you're in that green room? It's like, I shouldn't be here. Why am I here? This is not right. That's the cool thing about being such a music fan first, right? I was a big music guy first. I was into sports and stuff over on the side, but I've always loved music. I sometimes I catch myself sitting there, you know, backstage being like, wow, this is a trip, man. Growing up you never know what it's like to go backstage. You don't know what it's like to be in a green room. You just hear all these things and man it's cool. Sometimes I gotta pinched myself, you know. Maybe I'm a little spoiled now that I've been backstage and I got some friends in the industry now, so, I get to go backstage often. It's cool as hell. I had a day the other day, I saw some friends of mine perform at the Commodore and I got to be a fan. I got to sit out in front. I got to watch. I got to see it and experience it and be with everybody. You forget sometimes that that's where the magic happens. That's why you got into music. You can see and feel all of that, right? It was a really cool reminder for me. Does that give you that buzz to get back on a tour of your own or even a supporting tour? And get plotting some dates across the country? I got these three guys. They're some of my close friends out here and they're on this Country Mixtape Tour - Tyler Joe Miller, Sean Austin and Andrew Hyatt. These guys are killing it and I got to say, they're my homies. They're my friends. But I'm a little jealous. I got a little FOMO, man. I see all the posts and I see the guys that I play music with. I see my boys out there in the crowd. They're loving them and I’m not going to lie, I'm a little jealous. So, it does give me that little motivation to like, okay, we got to come back. Next year, when it's our time, we're going to be getting it right.
You've got new music ready for everybody which is so cool. It's my turn now and I'm excited about it too. It's a cool little pivot to where we're going and I'm excited about it, man. It's been a long time since we put out some music. But we got a new one out now, and I feel like I'm living in studio right now because we got some heat coming for you, my man. I'm telling you.
So, I've got to ask you a question. Do you just not do like a downbeat breakup song? Because every single track of yours, I just feel, has that upbeat, catchy tempo and it hooks you in within those first five seconds. You just constantly want to listen. Yeah. So, we did a breakup song and it's still like an upbeat rock song. We did one of those with Let Me Down Easy and it was kind of a pivot. When I put it out, people were like, are you OK? It's one of those like, when you're the happiest guy all the time, people are shocked when you feel in a different emotion, right? So, it was kind of a cool thing where I got to put something like that out and show people, hey, you know, I've been through some shit too. You know what I'm saying? We got to put a breakup song and Bottom Shelf we just put out.
I was going to say, is Bottom Shelf technically pushing towards the drinking your sorrows with the whiskey? Yeah. I mean, here's the thing. It was melodically that got me hooked right away. A friend of mine wrote that song down in Nashville. and he sent it to me. He was like, bro, I got something for you. Immediately when I heard it, I was like, oh, part of my feelings. Oh, my God, man and I had to have it. I finally got him to say, OK. I got all the other writers on it to accept that I was going to have it and we rolled with it from there, man. It was one of those that makes you feel, yet we still made it like an upbeat, groovy. We still got some soul in there. I still wanted it to be me, you know?
It definitely is. When you got the pitch, were you battling with any other artists for it? Apparently, there was another guy that was interested in the song when he had sent it to me. I don't think my boy Pete thought I was going to dig it as much as I did. But immediately he sent it I was like, Petey, can I have it? Can we sign it on the dotted line? It's mine, right? He says, OK, well, I didn't know you'd be that interested, but I got this other guy who's also interested so we're going to have to see. I battled with this guy for, I mean, I say battled, but I was on my man Pete every week, every Monday. I'd send him a text, Petey, you got the updates for me for like two months, man. Finally, we got the green light. We recorded the hell out of it. It's what you see on YouTube and Spotify and Apple Music and stuff. I'm just glad it's out there, man. It's one of those songs that, again, makes you feel something, yet also keeps you uplifted, upbeat and stuff and it hits all sides of who I am, you know?
And then it's been added to obviously some big streaming playlists. Having had that kind of time away from the scene, is that such a big thing to you to still be remembered by those playlists after a couple of years away? The fact that I'm still even relevant in any capacity is super cool, man. It's just such a reminder to me, this is where I'm supposed to be; this is what I'm supposed to be doing. I knew from the minute I started in music that I was supposed to be doing something where I can use a platform to help change the world, do something big, do something small, whatever it may be. But I wanted to use it for good and taking this time off and being able to come back and see that people are still listening and people are still paying attention and people are still showing me so much love. It's a reminder like, OK, this is exactly where I'm supposed to be, man. I feel it. I know it and I want to show my son that if you put your mind to something, man, something crazy like this you can do it.
Having had that time off, to have put these two tracks out already, do the nerves kind of now come back as you know that release date's coming up and things and you're starting to push it to the fans and getting that early buzz as well? Oh, yeah. It's a wild feeling, man. It's a wild feeling for so many different reasons. One of the reasons for me that it's such a trip is because you're sharing a part of you with people, a very vulnerable part. Art and music is vulnerable, right? And if you're going to be able to show different sides of who you are through your music, you better be ready that maybe not everybody's going to like that side of you or maybe not everybody's going to like the things that they hear coming out your mouth. The nerves are definitely there, and I feel like I'm brand new coming into the scene again. And, you know, it's exciting. It's scary as hell, but it's exciting, man. The best part about it too is like, I got my mum, my wife, my son, and we get to do this all together. My father-in-law is a massive supporter as well and I get to do all this and keep them included and get them excited. I’ve got this support system around me that's just top-notch, 10 out of 10, man. I'm feeling very nervous, but I'm feeling also very lucky, very blessed.
What's the fans’ reaction been like to these new songs? As I said, you made them wait over two years! I guess so much has probably changed in the Canadian country scene, in the country scene in general in those two years. You know what, it's been really cool again to see how relevant I still kind of am, right? You always have this fear as a musician that you're gonna be forgotten about, right? I come from a competition world. I come from the sports world. So, there's always somebody trying to take your spot at any given moment. Being away for so long, I wasn't sure what my name still meant, or if my music was still gonna be heard, or if I was gonna get the same opportunities, or if people just forgot, who is this guy now? But I think it's such a cool process being able to make this kind of comeback and be part of this next wave generation of music that's coming out because it's exciting. It's new, it's country music with so many different flavours on top of it, right? And that's what I'm about. That's what I'm all about. That's what I'm excited about. You've worked with Ryan Stead on these releases. Is that now going to be a combination going forward as you look for the rest of 2024? Hell yeah, my man. That's my guy, dude. I wish everybody got a chance to meet him. You know what I mean? He's one of those people that will have off your back, no questions asked. He will take time for you. He will remember your name if he meets you. He's that guy. Not only is he that guy, but he's talented as hell. He's kind, he's sweet, he's just one of the nicest human beings I've ever met. Not only that, mix it with one of the most talented humans I've ever met and he's passionate about me and my project and what we're doing. To be able to connect with somebody on that level with the amount of talent that that guy has, has been so unbelievable for me because I get to experience things that I never got to before, where he's letting me be part of the creation process of producing. I don't know anything about that world, but I do know what I like to hear, right? So, when I talk to Ryan, he's like, okay, so what do you think about this? And I'm like, nah, I kind of hear it like, doodly-did-doop-a-dah, and he's like, oh, okay. I don't know what that means, but we'll figure it out together. He's patient and being able to connect and work with him, man, has just been such a gift, such a blessing. I love that we're able to create and I get to create music with one of my best friends, man and that's the dream. That's a dream right there!
And I see you also eat hot wings together as well! Oh, you saw that shit, huh? I gotta post episode number five, dude. It was wild.
How did that come about? Have you ever seen a show, Hot Ones, right?
No. So am I gonna have something on YouTube right now? Hell yeah. This guy, he just decided he was gonna, I think it was during the pandemic where he was gonna get the hottest hot sauces from scaling from nothing to like, I can light it on fire! And so he interviews all these celebrities and there's like a six month waiting list just to even get on the show to be interviewed by this guy to see if you can make it through the gauntlet of hot wings. So, I decided I was gonna go on the website, I was gonna order me a 10 pack of these hot sauces because I ain't scared of no challenge, right? I ain't scared. However, what I didn't take into account was that I don't have a 20-year-old stomach anymore and I'm old now and that things affect me differently like my old dad does now, you know what I'm saying? I'm eating these chicken wings, and it was good and we wanted to just do a little promotion thing, right? So, we got these chickens, we got these sauces, we lined them up and we were going through them and what we wanted to do is same similar thing. Ask questions about the process of building the tracks and the music and life and we got, dude, it was the most stupidest, it was the dumbest thing a thirty four year old man could do at this stage of his life. I was incapacitated for 24 hours the next day, right? Strapped to the toilet seat, you know what I'm saying?
So, I take it by the time you get to number 10, you just like touch it with your finger and you're like that's enough. I was almost about to put gloves on, medical gloves on just in case, you know what I'm saying? It was wild, dude. We hit this one sauce, it was called Da Bomb and it was not Da Bomb in the good way. It was the one that's gonna explode your face and it did, I swear to God, man, I will never do that shit again. It was so hard, and it was awful, and it burned and it hurt and I almost cried but we was on camera, so I can't be like, this is so good, you know, this is so, it's so good.
I think we get Frank's hot sauce here and that's about it! Oh, dude. It's not very, there's not much spice. We gotta bring some flavour over there, man. You can come set up in my kitchen anytime, it's fine. You've got a base in England now!
Now I have to talk, I have to talk a bit about ice hockey with you because I'm Calgary Flames. I have to sometimes admit it! They just turn up for the final three games of the year and that's it at the minute. Is a Canadian team going to bring it home this year? Um, here's the thing. It's getting a little slack, it is. But I don't really care. I'm not a Canucks fan, okay? You're from the middle of nowhere, Regina ain't got no team anywhere near. Closest one would be Calgary, other one would be Edmonton or Winnipeg on the other side. In Canadian Football League, American, well, Canadian-American football, I'm a Saskatchewan Roughrider fan. It goes against my religion to cheer for anything Calgary, Edmonton, or Winnipeg! I had to find a team, right? And in my hockey journey, I chose the Colorado Avalanche when I was a little kid and I've been a fan since the mid-90s. I've stalked by them through all of the good and just a few of the bad. Just a few. We've got a lot of good. There's been a lot of bad. Yeah, there's been a lot of bad, but we had some great success, and we got a sick team this year. I think we're going to be all right. So, are they going to bring it home to Canada? I hope not. I hope its goes to Colorado.
So if it gets down to kind of, if Avalanche do go out, do you then root for a Canadian team? If you're like, OK, I have to do, I've got to stick with some Canadian roots. Anybody but the Leafs I would be happy with going to the show, but the Avs are in good shape and now we're 1-1. Going home, we all right. That's all right, you can take the 1-1 going home.
Guess I’ll be keeping an eye on the Avs now over the coming weeks and hopefully we can get you over here to play some show. We need you to put a pin in the map on the UK next time you're traveling. My man, just know that it is on my radar. I am constantly working and trying to find opportunities to come out there. You will be seeing me sooner than later; I'm working on it. Know that I'm working on it, and I'll be there soon.
There's a beer and wings with your name on it when you get here, man. My man, I can't wait to share it with you, brother.
Thanks very much, man. Appreciate it.
You will be able to find more information as well future tour dates and releases on JoJo’s WEBSITE and keep up to date with her socially through TWITTERINSTAGRAMFACEBOOK.