Pat Mastelotto

Mastelotto was born in Chico, California. He started playing the drums at the age of 10; by the time he was 16 he was playing in popular local bands and while still in high school commuted several hours to Lake Tahoe for gigs. Moving to Los Angeles in the mid-1970s, Mastelotto worked for many bands and as a studio session drummer. In this capacity he worked for Martin Briley, Holly Knight, Scandal, Al Jarreau, The Pointer Sisters, Patti LaBelle, Kenny Loggins, Martika, Danny Wilde and Holly Penfield as well as playing drums on the double platinum album Rockland by Canadian rock musician Kim Mitchell.{{cite web | first=Lee | last= Chapman |title=King Crimson – "The Drummer's Drummer" – The Pat Mastelotto Interview |url=https://producelikeapro.com/blog/pat-mastelotto-interview/ |work=Produce Like A Pro | date=March 3, 2023 |access-date=November 26, 2024}}{{cite web | first= | last= |title=Rockland Kim Mitchell Released 1989 |url=https://genius.com/albums/Kim-mitchell/Rockland |work=ML Genius Holdings, LLC| date=2024 |access-date=November 26, 2024}}

In 1982 Mastelotto was a founding member of Mr. Mister. The band had a number one album, Welcome to the Real World, and two number one singles, "Broken Wings" and "Kyrie". They recorded four albums, with the fourth, Pull, recorded in 1989–1990 but remaining unreleased until late 2010.{{cite web | first=Brian| last=Kachejian |title=Complete List Of Mr. Mister Albums And Songs |url=https://www.classicrockhistory.com/complete-list-of-mr-mister-albums-and-songs |work=ClassicRockHistory.com | date=May 2024 |access-date=November 26, 2024}}

His tenure with Mr. Mister was followed by more session work for bands such as XTC, The Sugarcubes, Hall & Oates, Cock Robin, The Rembrandts, Jude Cole, Eddie Money, Tina Arena, Matthew Sweet, Julia Fordham, Robyn Hitchcock and David Sylvian. In 1991 Mastelotto co-produced Peter Kingsbery's first solo album before being asked to join King Crimson.{{cite web | first=Les| last=Dudek |title=1991 Peter Kingsbery – A Different Man |url=https://www.sessiondays.com/2023/02/1991-peter-kingsbery-a-different-man |work=Sessiondays | date=2024 |access-date=November 26, 2024}}

Mastelotto had been a member of King Crimson since 1994, resulting in him becoming their longest serving drummer. He was the first of two drummers hired for the "Double Trio" line-up of the mid-1990s, the second being previous long-term King Crimson drummer Bill Bruford. Mastelotto and Bruford operated as parallel drummers for the Double Trio, playing different styles and parts which sometimes intermeshed and sometimes worked separately. Following Bruford's departure in 1997, Mastelotto became the band's sole drummer, working mostly on the electronic Roland V-Drums set and bringing in simultaneous/triggered electronic drum loops and textures based on his interest in intelligent dance music and drum and bass. For King Crimson's 2008 lineup, the band returned to a double-drummer arrangement with Mastelotto now joined by Gavin Harrison.{{cite web | first=Wayne | last=Blanchard |title=The Drummers Of King Crimson |url=https://drummagazine.com/drummers-of-king-crimson/ |work=Drum! Magazine | date=October 2017 |access-date=November 26, 2024}}

For the period of King Crimson activity lasting from 2013 to 2021 (the "Seven Headed Beast" and "Three over Five" line-ups), Mastelotto played as part of a three-drummer arrangement, initially with Harrison and Bill Rieflin, and subsequently with Harrison and Jeremy Stacey. In each of these setups, Mastelotto also took on an extended percussionist role incorporating multiple sound effects, samples and programs (taking on something of the function played by percussionist/"allsorts" contributor Jamie Muir in the 1972 King Crimson).

To date, Mastelotto has appeared on three King Crimson studio albums (Thrak, The ConstruKction of Light and The Power to Believe, released between 1995 and 2003), one mini-album, two EPs and numerous live releases between 1995 and 2022.{{cite web | first=Will | last=Stevens |title=King Crimson Albums Ranked — An In Depth Analysis into the Founders of Prog |url=https://medium.com/@willdavidstevens/king-crimson-albums-ranked-an-in-depth-analysis-into-the-founders-of-prog-18a2a4a8a175 |work=Medium | date=March 31, 2024 |access-date=November 26, 2024}}

During, and in parallel to, his King Crimson work, Mastelotto has been an integral part of several King Crimson-related bands. He produced, edited, mixed and played on the ProjeKct 3 and ProjeKct 4 releases by the band's "ProjeKcts" subgroupings, playing a particularly dominant role on the IDM-influenced ProjeKct 3.{{cite web |title=What Could Have Been |url=https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WhatCouldHaveBeen/Music |work=tvtropes.org|access-date=October 18, 2024}}

Mastelotto also played with League of Crafty Guitarists who formed Fripp adjacent bands; one was California Guitar Trio. Along with Tony Levin and CGT, such pieces as Mahavishnu Orchestra covers were done.{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piD0baEDub0 | title=Dance of Maya | website=YouTube | date=July 16, 2015 }}

Mastelotto currently works with King Crimson bass/Chapman Stick player Tony Levin and centrozoon's touch guitarist Markus Reuter in the art rock trio Stick Men.{{cite web |title=Pat Mastelotto interview on Outsight Radio Hours |url=https://archive.org/details/MastelottoPatOutsight |work=Archive.org |access-date=May 5, 2013}} He is also a member of the progressive/experimental bands TU (with fellow King Crimson alumnus Trey Gunn), KTU (with Gunn, Kimmo Pohjonen and Samuli Kosminen), and Tuner[https://www.myspace.com/tunertunes myspace.com], Official Tuner MySpace page, retrieved May 8, 2010 (a duo with Markus Reuter).

Mastelotto was one of the two drummers in the Crimson ProjeKct, a six-piece band which merged Stick Men with the Adrian Belew Power Trio in order to play King Crimson music from the 1980s to 2000s periods. In conjunction with engineer/programmer Bill Munyon, Mastelotto formed the IDM project BPM&M (which to date has recorded one album, 2001's 'XtraKcts & ArtifaKcts', which featured or sampled many King Crimson members and associates). In early 2021 he released a new album, A Romantic's Guide to King Crimson, with his wife Deborah on lead vocals, credited to The Mastelottos. The album featured reworked versions of twelve King Crimson songs, deliberately re-arranged in a more popular style in order to accent the group's songwriting and its gentler side.{{cite news |last1=Ewing |first1=Jerry |title=Pat Mastelotto and wife to release new King Crimson covers collection |url=https://www.loudersound.com/news/pat-mastelotto-and-wife-to-release-new-king-crimson-covers-collection |work=Louder |date=6 January 2021}}{{cite web |title=The Mastelottos - A Romantic's Guide to King Crimson |url=https://www.patmastelotto.com/a-romantics-guide-to-king-crimson |website=Pat Mastelotto's official website |access-date=8 January 2021}}

In 2015, Mastelotto joined Carmelo Pipitone (guitarist of Italian band Marta sui Tubi), Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari (singer and keyboard player with Berserk! and Obake) and Colin Edwin (former bass player with Porcupine Tree) in a new heavy progressive rock band called O.R.k. Their first album, "Inflamed Rides", was released the same year and was followed in 2017 by Soul of an Octopus, in 2019 by Ramagehead (with artwork by Adam Jones of Tool) and in 2022 by Screamnasium.{{cite web | first=Jerry | last= Ewing |title=O.R.k. return with powerful new single Blast Of Silence | date=7 October 2024 |url=https://www.loudersound.com/news/o-r-k-return-with-powerful-new-single-blast-of-silence |work=Louder by Future Publishing Limited | access-date=October 18, 2024}}{{cite web | first= | last= |title=O.R.k. | date=2003–2024 |url=https://www.spirit-of-rock.com/en/band/O.R.k. |work=Spirit of Rock | access-date=November 26, 2024}}

Mastelotto's other projects include Mastica (an Americana/art-rock trio with Mark "Gum B." Williams of Poi Dog Pondering/Alejandro Escovedo band and Monica 'MonKey' Champion from Baboon Orchestra), and M.P.TU (with Little Feat guitarist Phil Brown, singer Malford Milligan and Spirit/Firefall/Heart bassist Mark Andes).{{cite web |url=https://tapeop.com/reviews/music/19/mastica-99-cd-by-mastica/ |title=Mastica: Mastica '99 CD |last=Roman |first=Sokal |date= |website=TapeOp.com |access-date=November 26, 2024}} He has continued to guest with Jay Terrien, Cock Robin, drummer Terry Bozzio, Mecca, Herd of Instinct, Tony Levin and the California Guitar Trio, and has contributed to major network television themes.{{cite web |url=https://stickmenband.com/band/ |title=Band |last= |first= |date= |website=Stick Men |access-date=November 26, 2024}}

Since moving to Austin, Texas, Mastelotto has worked with Austinites Storyville, Abra Moore, ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead and theremin player Pamelia Kurstin. In 2007 Mastelotto went on tour with The Flower Kings in Europe supporting their album The Sum Of No Evil, followed by an appearance at the enormous Creation of Peace festival in Kazan, Russia, with Adrian Belew, Tony Levin and Eddie Jobson. This was followed by another new project, HoBoLeMa, with Levin, Bozzio and Allan Holdsworth.{{Cite web|url=https://www.hit-channel.com/pat-mastelotto-king-crimsonmr-misterhobolematuktu/2009|title=Interview: Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson, Mr Mister, HoBoLeMa, TU, KTU)|website=Hit-channel.com|date=April 11, 2012|access-date=April 11, 2023}}

In 2014, he released a collaborative album with Tobias Ralph called ToPaRaMa.{{cite web |url=http://www.allaboutjazz.com/toparama-pat-mastelotto-tobias-ralph-7d-media-records-review-by-mark-f-turner.php#.U6U9bEB4D_U |title=Pat Mastelotto / Tobias Ralph: ToPaRaMa (2014) |last1=Turner |first1=Mark F. |date=June 20, 2014 |website=All About Jazz |access-date=June 21, 2014}} He played on Lucid, the solo album by The Fierce and the Dead guitarist Matt Stevens.{{cite web |title=Matt Stevens: Lucid – The guitar virtuoso’s ambitious new solo effort |url=https://www.loudersound.com/reviews/matt-stevens-lucid |website=Louder Sound |publisher=Prog Magazine |date=19 March 2014 |access-date=19 April 2025}}{{cite web |last=Astarita |first=Glenn |title=Matt Stevens: Lucid |url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/lucid-matt-stevens-cherry-red-records-review-by-glenn-astarita |website=All About Jazz |publisher=All About Jazz |date=19 November 2014 |access-date=19 April 2025}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20051102193800/http://www.mastica.net/bio.html Biography at mastica.net]
• [http://www.patmastelotto.com/ Pat Mastelotto homepage]
• [https://www.myspace.com/tunertunes Tuner MySpace page]

{{Mr. Mister}}

{{King Crimson}}

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Category:1955 births

Category:Living people

Category:American rock drummers

Category:American session musicians

Category:King Crimson members

Category:People from Chico, California

Category:Mr. Mister members

Category:20th-century American drummers

Category:American male drummers

Category:American people of Italian descent

Category:Stick Men (prog band) members

Category:HoBoLeMa members

Category:Drummers from California