Peter Almeida has been a painter and a poet long before he discovered his voice in song. He's performed with the moniker MISsING MAsS since 2010, but the term has been floating around in his mind long before that. His first solo performance piece was called Missing Mass, but it later snuck into one of his songs, Paint The Barn Red. When coming up for a name of a collection of songs, the name fit and stuck.

 

Peter is product of a visual arts education at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the University of Hawaii. While living in the San Francisco Bay Area, Peter's focus medium was paint. During breaks in his work, he would pick up his guitar, and things started to happen, songs began to be written.  A friend took a few early audio recordings to his band, Repairman, who liked them, learned them, and invited Peter to front his own songs for a short set that became known as the "Peter Almeida Show" in the middle of their shows. Loving the collaborative spirit that transformed painterly ideas into songs, and songs into sonic expressions that brought new life to his musical renderings, he started to take the music seriously. 

​

After Repairman, Peter created a new project with percussionist, Tony Blake, and together performed as a duo, Alexander Battery. This later grew to include Elyzabeth Meade on keys, Didier Bouvet with guitar, and the drummer from Repairman, Matt Berg. Unable to find a bassist that fit the group's chemistry, Peter took it up and Alexander Battery, with its bigger sound, performed around San Francisco area for a few years, until Peter moved to the Oregon Cascades to make a family with his wife Lillian.

​

The arrival of MISsING MAsS is a result of a visit with Tony Blake, who traveled with a box drum, the cajon. Being a woodworker, Peter then made one, though he was not a percussionist. The ensemble grew to include Lefty Lewis III (right foot) on the cajon, Jennifer Headlock (left foot) played the hi-hat and snare, while Peter picked at the guitar, crooned, spoke and sang. Monkey is less predictable, and doesn't contribute much to the sound. Putting it all together formed a vast range of sounds for a single instrumentalist. The beauty of it all is that everyone gets along and there are no scheduling conflicts. MISsING MAsS allows the sound to develop changing dynamics, tempos, and textures, from a sleepy solitary guitar or vocal, to a driving rhythm usually reserved for bigger ensembles.

​

Peter has been sharing MISsING MAsS at breweries, vineyards and small venues in and around Eugene, Oregon. He continues to compose, record and paint in his home studio called "The Dungeon".

​

​