“IDLES were bigger supporters of me than I was. I thought, ‘I'm not capable.’ They were like, ‘You just need to commit to it’”: Masca’s Tina Maynard on how three months in IDLES reinvented her playing – and why Teles are underrated grunge tools

Tina Maynard (left) of UK rock band Masca plays her red Fender Telecaster onstage.

On debut album Love Letters, Bristol-based alt-rockers Masca have seemingly arrived fully formed – laden with an addictive blend of satisfyingly grungy riffs, monstrous ‘heavy pop’ melodies, and math-rock textures – but guitarist and songwriter Tina Maynard has already done her 10,000 hours and then some.

Her previous band Sœur toured all over, hit the festival circuit, and won fans everywhere. They split in 2019, but not before catching the eye of UK post-punk icons and Bristolian locals IDLES, who duly recruited Maynard when they needed a fill-in for a few appearances. Her first show was the band’s nationally televised/globally-streamed Glastonbury set in 2021.