Meet Andrew Mason of Undrgrnd Magazine in Ventura County

Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Mason.

Andrew, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I graduated from college in 2019 with a journalism degree, and immediately had my eyes set on an awesome media job back in the Los Angeles area. However, as I came back to my hometown of Newbury Park, I realized that in my years studying at Boston University, I hadn’t done a single article or story that I truly was interested in.

Everything I had written had been by assignment from a professor—election coverage, student loan stories, etc. I started having a serious interest in hip-hop music the during the summer of 2018, and as I returned home from college, I realized there were actual rappers from my own community! Not a just a few, but a whole world of people who were trying to make it big in the rap game. One of the problems these young talented artists faced was the fact that there was no local media coverage exposing their music to an audience. I decided that I could be the person to provide this platform. Thus, Undrgrnd Magazine was born.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Creating Undrgrnd has been relatively easy because of the amazing people involved. All the artists, videographers, and photographers that have had a piece in building Undrgrnd show incredible passion and energy towards helping me make the platform as professional and widespread as possible. This has been in the form of performing at our shows, meeting up with me for interviews, or even simply reposting the content I share on social media. Of course, there have been roadblocks. For example, to actually create the magazine, I needed the visual work behind it to be perfect. Although I messed around with some Photoshop and InDesign while in college, I knew I didn’t have the skill set to really pull off the visual side of the magazine to my expectations. Someone I met in college—Max Kolomatsky—was a skilled digital designer, and I knew I wanted him to take the lead on creating the visual components of the magazine. There was only one problem—I lived in California, and Max still attended school in Boston (Emerson College). In order for the magazine to be done in a timely manner, Max and I needed to physically be together in person. So, I flew back out to Boston for five weeks and lived on his couch, and we spent almost everyday grinding to put together all the beautiful pages that now sit in Undrgrnd Magazine’s issue #1 “The 805”.

Please tell us about Undrgrnd Magazine.
The foundation of Undrgrnd is showing the stories of up-and-coming musicians to a larger audience. There are a ton of talented individuals in Southern California who create really great music from scratch. However, the online promotion streams, from SoundCloud to Instagram, are just so flooded with content. It is difficult for their stories and music to be spread and heard. In addition, the local communities in Ventura County have a false perception that towns like Westlake, Thousand Oaks, Oxnard, etc. couldn’t possibly contain a skilled rapper worth listening to. Any good rapper would be from neighboring Los Angeles, right? With Undrgrnd, I try to prove to those who see my content that these 805 artists are awesome and deserve our time and ears. I aim to elevate the voice of those who struggle to get theirs heard, and I will always continue to do that.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
The platform is far from where I hope it will be—from where I honestly see it reaching. Everything we have succeeded in so far has been calculated and executed. However, I’ll admit we did luck out with finding the venue for our first two shows—Lion City Studios, located in downtown Ventura, Calif. We had another venue ready to go, but due to last-minute payment disputes, we had a falling out with our original venue just a week before the show. One of Undrgrnd’s featured artists—Michael Pofsky—came in so clutch and tracked down the owners of Lion City Studios. We had a meeting with the amazing people who worked there, and they agreed to host our show, even at such a short notice. Shoutout to Lion City Studios; Undrgrnd wouldn’t be even close to where it is today if it wasn’t for Amber, Troy, Sarah, and Ezra.

Pricing:

• Undrgrnd Magazines and T-shirts are available for sale ($10 each). DM @undrgndmagazine (Instagram)!

Contact Info:

• Email: undrgrndmagazinecontact@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/undrgrndmagazine/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/undrgrndmag_?lang=en
• Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEsSF5wVcPhEbGvmF42YFTA

Image Credit:
Josh Seiden, Luizzy G

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