Best known as the remote frontman of the influential indie trio Dinosaur Jr., J Mascis has also pursued a solo career and been an occasional producer and film composer. While his work with Dinosaur Jr. is dominated by his lackadaisical vocals and crushing, high-volume guitar work, much of his solo material has seen him going in different directions. Mascis’ louder side made itself felt on two albums with his project J Mascis + the Fog, 2000’s More Light and 2002’s Feel So Free, and he revisited his back catalog in acoustic form with 2021’s Fed Up and Feeling Strange: Live and in Person 1993-1998. But he also cut nuanced, semi-acoustic music with a more personal lyrical perspective on 2011’s Several Shades of Why and 2024’s What Do We Do Now.
Born December 10, 1965, in Amherst, Massachusetts, Mascis first emerged as a member of the hardcore unit Deep Wound before founding Dinosaur in 1984. When it was discovered that a San Francisco band were already calling themselves the Dinosaurs, Mascis and his bandmates changed their moniker to Dinosaur Jr. Over the course of acclaimed LPs like 1987’s You’re Living All Over Me and 1988’s Bug, Dinosaur Jr. emerged as one of the most highly regarded bands in alternative rock, with Mascis’ creaky, Neil Young-like vocals and monolithic guitar leads becoming primary influences on the burgeoning grunge movement.
The group temporarily disbanded in 1989, largely to allow the legendarily non-communicative singer the opportunity to dismiss bassist Lou Barlow, who went on to form Sebadoh; in the meantime, Mascis sat in on drums with a series of bands, among them the Velvet Monkeys and GobbleHoof, even producing the latter’s eponymous 1990 LP. Upon re-forming Dinosaur Jr. in 1991 with the album Green Mind, Mascis scored Allison Anders’ independent film Gas Food Lodging a year later, making a cameo appearance in the picture. He and Anders became regular collaborators in the years to follow, most notably on her feature Grace of My Heart.