How Zachary Mason Found His Way Back to Folk With ‘Welcome to My Heart’
Punk Head: You spent the last couple of years leaning into rock. What was the moment you knew it was time to come back to folk?
Zachary Mason: Though I enjoy the adrenaline and power of rock very much, folk has always been a more meaningful and profound expression of music for me, so I felt that the time had come to return to that genre. It’s also the first genre I began recording in, so it has that added nostalgic feel. In addition, I’ve made some improvements in production since my last major folk releases, so I wanted to display these within the genre as well!
Punk Head: Why did Welcome To My Heart feel like the right title for this collection?
Zachary Mason: The songs on this EP are all quite emotive and personal, and as these two qualities stem directly from the heart, this seemed to be a logical name for the work!
Punk Head: You describe Me And I as your favourite track. What makes it stand out for you?
Zachary Mason: There’s quite a bit to it- it being the longest on the EP at more than seven minutes- and I enjoyed all the instrumental parts immensely! Having a large instrumental section at the start of the song, which then fades and ushers in the vocals, is something I’ve always liked in longer tracks. Despite this, I feel that the opening track on the EP- Can’t Feel My Autumn- is the best in terms of lyric writing… But Me And I is my favourite on the whole!
Punk Head: David E Beats mastered this EP and contributed bass on one track. What was it about his approach that made him the right person for these songs?
Zachary Mason: Interestingly, David is the husband of my PR Agent, Olivia Long! I started working with Olivia early this year, and she later introduced me to her Husband who had recently opened a recording studio in Toulouse, France! (I joked with him that he is hoping to win in Toulouse!) This studio is worth some 50,000 Euros and is full of guitars and high-tech gear! As a result, I’ve had some really impressive sound quality coming out of David’s studio, and I cannot thank him enough for his production value and studio skills! David has offered some very reasonably priced song production packages, and he seemed like the man for the job at the time Welcome To My Heart was on the cards!
Punk Head: Looking back over the journey from your first home demos to Welcome To My Heart, what do you think your 2021 self would hear in these songs that they couldn't have written at the time?
Zachary Mason: Before I answer that question, I would mention the fact that one of the songs on this EP is quite old- Can’t Feel My Autumn… goes back to October 2023. (I actually had Covid when I recorded this song; my throat was a little tickly, but I managed!) An interesting little quirk of this EP is the fact that each song was originally recorded in three consecutive years: so track one in 2023, track 2 in 2024, and track 3 in 2025! Regarding the question, I think the recording quality has definitely improved on these tracks, particularly on I Need Freedom and Me And I, as so many of my earliest demos were sadly undermined by poor techniques! And there’s much that has happened in my life since 2021 that is relevant to these tracks… I’m also grateful to the people I’ve worked with on these tracks who I didn’t know back in 2021- their contributions have been incredibly valuable!
