Masters of Reality - Live 2027 16.10.2027, 20:30

Chris Goss is one of the elusive geniuses of American music. As the singer, guitarist and driving force behind Masters Of Reality, he’s spent more than 40 years charting his own musical journey, travelling from mystical blues to desert rock to psychedelia-edged beauty via all points in between. Where others follow the pack, this desert-dwelling California native has forged a career like no other. A desire to follow his own artistic muse and not bow to external pressures has resulted in a string of albums that sound like no one else but Masters Of Reality, subtly yet indelibly leaving a mark on the generations of musicians who heard them. For most people, that would be enough. But Goss has also positioned himself as one of the most important and influential producers of the last 30 years. The list of bands and artists he has worked with in that capacity is long and illustrious: Queens Of The Stone Age, Kyuss, Mark Lanegan, Foo Fighters, The Cult, UNKLE, Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland, former Hole bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur, even Hollywood star Russell Crowe. He’s the connective tissue which links so much modern music. Now, Goss has returned under the Masters Of Reality banner with The Archer, which will be released by Mascot Records on 28 March. “The Archer is whoever one perceives as their invisible ruler of fate,” explains Goss. “Often, the archer is very visible to those who pay attention. Maybe some even think he is the dictatorial god. Or even a conjured entity. But all can agree that the archer has impeccable skill at hitting the target.” When it was released in May 2024, Sugar was their first new music in 15 years. Hypnotic, poignant, and vulnerable, it builds from a stirring melody into a grand, orchestrated swell of emotion, with Goss’s ethereal yet soulful voice floating over the top of it. This announcement, along with a run of shows through Europe, which Goss refers to as “heavenly,” announced that they were back. “Lots of the songs were pieces, chord progressions and small lyrical sequences that I had mulled around in my mind for years, sometimes decades,” reflects Goss on how the album came together. The characters that occupy The Archer are the nameless and faceless people that one sees at times or regularly observes driving on whatever road we’re both on briefly. “Everyone has a story. And their own story is the most important thing in the world to them,” he says. “No one is special. Everyone is heading towards, or actually in, their own ‘Gethsemane’ moment- a New Testament narrative that exemplifies the cold realization of one’s fate. Sweating blood is more common than most can imagine.” Masters Of Reality was born in the white heat of the early 80s when the barriers between musical genres were porous enough to make things interesting. The New York City of the late 70s had been the young Chris Goss’s playground, splitting his time between downtown punk dives and uptown disco clubs. That against-the-grain sensibility wa…