Early years and Mr. Mister Mastelotto was born in
Chico, California. 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. 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.
King Crimson 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. 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).
King Crimson-related 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. 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. 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. 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 (a duo with Markus Reuter).
O.R.k. 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.
Other projects 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). 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. 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. In 2014, he released a collaborative album with Tobias Ralph called
ToPaRaMa. He played on Lucid, the solo album by
The Fierce and the Dead guitarist
Matt Stevens. ==Discography==