Biography
Brandon Valdivia, a Toronto-based multi-instrumentalist, producer, and composer, records his solo material as Mas Aya. Although his reputation rests mainly on drumming work with ensembles such as Picastro and Not the Wind, Not the Flag, the solo recordings display fluency across numerous traditional instruments, among them the bansuri and quena flutes, assorted percussion, and thumb pianos. The 2012 debut folded these instruments into avant-rock and experimental settings, while later projects shifted toward electronic textures and lyrics centered on social concerns and revolutionary ideas. Máscaras, released in 2021, fused ambient layers with production elements drawn from footwork, dancehall, and R&B.
Valdivia has appeared in a range of rock, jazz, and experimental configurations since the 2000s. He belonged to the post-rock group Picastro and to the AIMToronto Orchestra, which documented an album alongside Anthony Braxton in 2007. With Colin Fisher he formed the improvising duo Not the Wind, Not the Flag, and he has performed or recorded with Aidan Baker, U.S. Girls, Fucked Up, and additional artists. The project name Mas Aya refers simultaneously to the Nicaraguan town of his grandmother’s birth and to the Spanish phrase “el más allá,” meaning “the beyond.” An experimental cassette titled Pockets served as the 2012 debut, followed in 2013 by Kairos, a rhythmically focused and lyrical release on Healing Power Records.
Tangled Roots, an abstract collage-style collaboration with Khôra, surfaced in early 2017 together with the outtakes EP Disjecta. Also that year Mas Aya issued Nikan, a collection of optimistic protest songs that included guest vocals from Lido Pimienta. The artist returned in 2021 with Máscaras, a spacious and atmospheric set built around delicate beat programming shaped by trap, footwork, dancehall, and IDM. Pimienta appeared again as a guest, and Telephone Explosion issued the album in both digital and vinyl editions.
Valdivia has appeared in a range of rock, jazz, and experimental configurations since the 2000s. He belonged to the post-rock group Picastro and to the AIMToronto Orchestra, which documented an album alongside Anthony Braxton in 2007. With Colin Fisher he formed the improvising duo Not the Wind, Not the Flag, and he has performed or recorded with Aidan Baker, U.S. Girls, Fucked Up, and additional artists. The project name Mas Aya refers simultaneously to the Nicaraguan town of his grandmother’s birth and to the Spanish phrase “el más allá,” meaning “the beyond.” An experimental cassette titled Pockets served as the 2012 debut, followed in 2013 by Kairos, a rhythmically focused and lyrical release on Healing Power Records.
Tangled Roots, an abstract collage-style collaboration with Khôra, surfaced in early 2017 together with the outtakes EP Disjecta. Also that year Mas Aya issued Nikan, a collection of optimistic protest songs that included guest vocals from Lido Pimienta. The artist returned in 2021 with Máscaras, a spacious and atmospheric set built around delicate beat programming shaped by trap, footwork, dancehall, and IDM. Pimienta appeared again as a guest, and Telephone Explosion issued the album in both digital and vinyl editions.
Albums
Singles
