Bio

Jonathan LaMaster, current member of The Psychedelic Cinema Orchestra (live music for silent films), Smitt E Smitty and the Feztones, and Brian Carpenter and the Confessions, moved from the midwestern United States to Massachusetts in 1993 to pursue a career in music. Initially establishing himself in Boston as a composer and vocal performer who also played the violin, guitar, bass guitar, electronics and percussion, he eventually became more involved in the local music scene as a concert promoter, publicist and founder of Sublingual Records, a recording label launched in 1997 to support experimental musicians from the U.S., Europe and Asia. That same year he toured with Boston post-rock progenitors Cul de Sac, starting a decade long run as the bass guitar and violin player of the band, recording three critically acclaimed albums, and touring extensively.

In the early to late 2000’s, LaMaster also logged many tours in Europe, the United States, Russia and Japan with Damo Suzuki, former vocalist of the German psych rock band Can, whose recent passing in 2024 was acknowledged by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

LaMaster has performed or recorded with members of Sonic Youth, Mission of Burma, Oneida, Akron/Family, and with Malcolm Mooney (the original vocalist of Can). Outside of rock ensembles, he has performed and recorded extensively in the world of Improvised Music/Free Jazz with his ensembles Saturnalia and Saturnalia String Trio, and with such luminaries as Peter Brotzman, Peter Kowald, Daniel Carter, Laurence Cook, Elliott Sharp, Roy Campbell, The Gold Sparkle Band and William Parker.