Life & Work with Mass Dispute of Romeo, Michigan

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mass Dispute

Hi Mass, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
We met back in 8th grade, and started writing music right away. We wrote I Look Around first, then continued with Scraping By and Skin N’ Bone. We recorded these songs in January 2020. We recorded Give It Up in July of the same year. We wrote a few more songs after this, but none got fleshed out enough to record and master. In January 2021, we released Purple Rebellion, our first EP. During the pandemic, it was hard for us to get together, but in 2022, we began to write songs and play shows again. In February 2023, we released our first LP, is, which featured two songs that were written during Purple Rebellion; Save Me and Forever Now. We re-wrote I Look Around (renaming it “I(s) Look Around”) and arranged it to give it more of a modern pop-punk feel. We also included six new tracks, including “Migraine”, the album’s single, which featured a music video on our YouTube channel. After years of playing small, local shows, we had the opportunity to open for Peanut Butter Mosquito at the Crofoot Ballroom in July of 2023. To this day, it has been our biggest show yet. We have played at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor several times. in January 2024, we released “AMFAH” as a music video, later releasing it on streaming services.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
In the first few years, we struggled with power dynamics issues. One of us would have an idea, but another one of us would immediately shoot it down if they didn’t agree with it. Sometimes we would make decisions without telling the guys, and things would get messy. This is a common issue for bands, and it tests your strength as a group. Bands who learn to make decisions together instead of individually will always have a better chance of surviving than bands who don’t. This is something that took us years to learn.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
We make pop-punk songs, taking inspiration from bands like Green Day, Fall Out Boy, Yellowcard, Panic At The Disco, Weezer, My Chemical Romance, and Jimmy Eat World. Over the years, our sound has shifted from a blend of alternative rock and Green Day-esque pop-punk to a heavier, more anthemic 2000s pop-punk sound. The thing that sets us apart from others is our stage presence. Our shows stand out among our peers because we don’t just play our songs; we get the crowd involved, making their participation just as important as ours. Our rehearsals are always focused on not only polishing up our songs but also polishing up our stage presence.

What are your plans for the future?
We plan on releasing music as much as we can, which won’t be easy since we are going to college. Every time we have a chance, we will be recording new tracks. We have a tour in the works with our friend Trillian Krug, drummer of Ann Arbor bands Hudson North, Perfect Average, and Wicked Cricket. Trillian has gotten us many shows in Ann Arbor, so it only feels right to plan a tour with her as manager. If all goes to plan, we should be going on tour in the summer of 2025 (shhh… don’t tell anyone).

Contact Info:

• Website: https://massdispute.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/massdispute/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MassDisputeBand
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@massdisputeband