Mason
Guitar / Vocals / Keyboards / Melodica
Photo - Kate Armenta
My name is Mason Hensley, and I am the keyboardist, background vocalist, and auxiliary guitarist for Dorian Tide. I also produce, mix, and master all of Dorian Tide’s recordings. I grew up singing in a small church where I learned to read music at a young age. I started playing the trumpet at around nine years old, and because I had some experience reading music, I had a bit of an advantage for the first couple years of playing. By the time I was 11, I was playing trumpet and french horn in the school band, and I had started messing around on my dad’s 1976 Fender Stratocaster, while occasionally pecking away at the family’s cheap electric piano. My grandparents had an organ at their house, and we would visit them every Friday night. I’m not sure how often I would play the organ, but I remember having a great time reading decades-old music that was buried in the piano bench.
As freshman in high school, a few neighbors and I started my first band, Silence Breaks. I had all of my first experiences with that band: playing with a drummer, writing songs with someone else, performing, and recording (also drinking and smoking cigarettes). We performed at the local youth activity center, a couple back yard parties, and a few times at a local venue called The Wire, where I first got the itch for the lifestyle of a performing musician.
As high school went on, I formed a pop-punk band (Midnight in Montreal) with a few of my best friends, and started playing guitar as often as I could. I started learning a bit about DIY recording, and we played about a dozen shows over the course of a couple years. The end of high school was pretty much the end of the band, and so I started bouncing around a few other pop-punk bands, but nothing felt like a creative match for me at the time.
In my first year of college, a coworker took me to see a local reggae band called Inhale, and I immediately fell in love with the genre. The rhythmic syncopation between the guitar, bass, and drums was so interesting. They put on a great show every Monday night at a dive bar down the street from my house, so I started going every week. That’s where I ended up joining my first reggae band, Better Daze. Since then, I’ve played in a handful of different reggae bands, and I currently play with Calvin Banks and the Tellers, and Davy Brown Sound, in addition to Dorian Tide.
After a year and a half of community college, I had an opportunity to audition for a scholarship for Classical guitar. I had very little experience in classical music, but I ended up getting a scholarship to University of La Verne for Classical Guitar Performance. While studying there, I learned new techniques for playing guitar, and I started to experiment with recording. My guitar instructor gave me a few gigs around town, so I started performing as a solo guitarist. One of the most important gigs that I had was performing at a local dinner theater called Candlelight Pavilion. Performing in that setting really helped me to manage my stage fright, and having to perform by myself forced me to learn to focus and improved my practice habits because I was so terrified of making a mistake in front of people. That gig also helped me to learn that many mistakes go unnoticed if you don’t draw attention to them.
While I was in college, a friend of mine connected me with a music producer/recording engineer who needed session musicians. I started going out to his studio on the outskirts of L.A. and I recorded guitar, bass, and keys on several songs for a few clients of his. During the recording process, I saw that he was using the same type of computer that I had at home, and there were a few sweet pieces of hardware that we were running stuff through, but most of the work he was doing to mix those songs was being done with software. I started asking 1000 questions, and got really into watching him work after all the instruments had been recorded. I was (and still am) in awe of the process of recording a song. I asked him to recommend some equipment and software, made a few purchases, and quickly realized that recording a song is just as much of an art as writing the song itself. Since those sessions in 2013, I have been on a nonstop journey to learn about music production. I built a studio in my house and named it Fistpipe, and I have recorded dozens of bands and hundreds of songs. I am addicted to the feeling of spending all night recording something, then playing it in my car the next day, then making 5 tiny adjustments, then listening again; make 3 adjustments, and listen again, etc. Once that song has gone through its multiple iterations, it becomes something that everyone who is involved can be proud of, and that is the mood I always want to be in!
Miguel Diaz
DRUMMER / BACKGROUND VOCALIST
Photo - Kate Armenta
To be completely honest, I never saw myself playing drums in a reggae band. In fact, this genre is still very new to me!
I grew up in a Colombian & Mexican household where Salsa, Norteño, and Spanish Rock was played daily. Since my father is also a musician, guitarist and vocalist, I was constantly surrounded by instruments and musicians. I quickly developed a sense of time and rhythm, that by the age of five I started performing at some of his shows. I am very grateful for these early experiences as it helped me get over my stage fright and insecurities early on. These are my earliest memories of playing drums!
I continued playing drums for years to come, but I wouldn't be where I am today if I had never joined my high school's marching band, college jazz band, and other band experiences.
Tim Apple
Lead Vocal / Guitar
Photo - Kate Armenta
Tim Apple is a musician, singer-songwriter, guitarist and vocalist from Southern California.
Growing up in his household he was always surrounded by music. Starting at age five he began learning voice and piano which led him to learn multiple instruments throughout his childhood. Never slowing down with his musical journey, he began to front his own bands.
After high school, he attended Musicians Institute in Hollywood for Guitar. He had the opportunity to study under some of the biggest names for guitar in the business, including Paul Gilbert, Prashant Aswani, Robben Ford and many more. He toured and played with various bands over the next two decades.
He is currently a solo acoustic act that incorporates live looping and song arrangements into his live shows. He performs at wineries, breweries, weddings, hotels, clubs, corporate and private events in the Southern California area. Tim released his debut solo album titled “Time” in 2018 which is available on all platforms.
Tim is performing full time for a living while vigorously writing and recording new music. Whether you catch a solo performance or a full band experience, his powerful, catchy, soulful-rock inspired vocals and tasty guitar licks will immediately grab your attention. You get that chill soul-reggae vibe on each verse and those endless catchy sing-along melodies when the chorus hits. His lyrics hit hard from the depths of his soul and portray powerful emotion. Tim is passionately working on his solo career and is dedicated to sharing his music with all the world.
In 2022, Tim teamed up with local business owner Will Bitonti from OG Juice Co. in Murrieta, Ca to form OG Juice Jams. They spotlight local artists to come perform at the OG Juice Co. location and put the performances up on the OG Juice Jams YouTube page. They also put on live events and concerts.
In 2024, a new band was created called Dorian Tide. The band consists of Tim Apple, Mason Hensley, Miguel Diaz and Chad McMillin on bass. They are currently working on their debut full length album, while releasing singles until the record is finished.
His style is best described as a blend of soul, rock and reggae. Performing full time for a living while vigorously writing and recording new music, Tim is on his way to releasing his most inspirational music yet. His newest band Dorian Tide formed in 2024 and are about to release their debut album.
Chad McMillin
Bass
Photo - Kate Armenta
I’m Chad McMillin. I was born in Southern California and grew up in Rancho Cucamonga, where music was always part of life. My parents raised me on great music, and by the time I was nine, I was hooked — especially on the bass. I remember staying up with headphones on, replaying songs and focusing on the bass lines, drifting in and out of sleep.
At 12, I finally got my own bass guitar. I spent my free time learning to play along to Red Hot Chili Peppers, 311, Nirvana, Green Day, Sublime, Bob Marley, and more. I took private lessons from the amazing Dean Rosco at Alta Loma Music, who helped develop my technique and ear, and introduced me to a wide range of styles — especially funk.
I joined the church youth group band, played my first shows, and started writing and recording music with my friend Andrew Ikenberry in junior high. Then in 2003, I saw Red Hot Chili Peppers live — Flea absolutely blew my mind. I left that show knowing exactly what I wanted to do: play bass and make people feel the magic I felt that night.
Throughout high school, I played in several bands — The Rising Vibes, and later Dr. Spaceman & the Cosmonauts — while jamming with some incredible local musicians at Jam It Music, including David Gardea and Tim Apple. After graduating, I attended Musicians Institute from 2008–2010, where I honed my craft and met musicians who became lifelong friends — including Mike Gonzales.
During my time at MI, my (soon-to-be) wife Melissa and I welcomed our first child, and my priorities expanded — I wanted to build a life around both family and music. I worked many different jobs until 2016, when I founded Second Life Test Equipment, a business repairing RF test and measurement equipment. That gave me the freedom to play more music.
I recorded my own music and played in a handful of bands, including the Pink Floyd tribute Infinite Floyd, where I met the multi-instrumentalist Jason “Juice” Brock. Juice joined me, David Gardea, Mason Hensley, and Mike Gonzales to form Davy Brown Sound. In 2021, after moving to Murrieta, I began gigging more with Tim Apple’s solo project. Mason and Davy soon joined the fun, and then we met Miguel Diaz — and the chemistry instantly clicked.
That chemistry became Dorian Tide. Today, I’m playing bass with some of my best friends, making music that we want to hear, and finishing our debut album Above The Clouds. I’m still chasing the same feeling I fell in love with as a kid — and I aim to share it every time I pick up my bass.