The Red Masque
Encyclopedia
Biography
The Red Masque was founded by vocalist Lynnette Shelley and bassist Brandon Ross in February 2001, incorporating elements of psychedeliaPsychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
, heavy rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
, rock-in-opposition
Rock in Opposition
Rock in Opposition or RIO was a movement representing a collective of progressive bands in the late 1970s united in their opposition to the music industry that refused to recognise their music...
, zeuhl
Zeuhl
Zeuhl means celestial in Kobaïan, the constructed language created by Christian Vander. Originally solely applied to the music of Vander's band, Magma, the term zeuhl was eventually used to describe the similar music produced by French bands, beginning in the mid-1970s...
, gothic
Gothic rock
Gothic rock is a musical subgenre of post-punk and alternative rock that formed during the late 1970s. Gothic rock bands grew from the strong ties they had to the English punk rock and emerging post-punk scenes...
, and kraut rock. One of the group’s first concerts was at the Prelude to the 2001 North East Art Rock Festival (NEARFest)
NEARfest
The North East Art Rock Festival, or NEARfest for short, is a multi-day event celebrating the resurgence of progressive and eclectic music in the United States and around the world. The event is held annually in early summer in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, approximately one hour north of Philadelphia...
; other notable shows have included the 2005 The Rogue Independent Music Festival
The Rogue Independent Music Festival
The Rogue Independent Music Festival, also known as Rogue Fest, was a two-day festival of progressive rock and art rock held annually in Atlanta, GA from 2002 to 2006....
in Atlanta, the 2001 WorldCon Science Fiction Convention
Worldcon
Worldcon, or more formally The World Science Fiction Convention, is a science fiction convention held each year since 1939 . It is the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society...
, and the NJ Proghouse concert series.
The Red Masque has opened for notable performers and musicians such as Chris Cutler
Chris Cutler
Chris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
(Henry Cow
Henry Cow
Henry Cow were an English avant-rock group, founded at Cambridge University in 1968 by multi-instrumentalists Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson. Henry Cow's personnel fluctuated over their decade together, but drummer Chris Cutler and bassoonist/oboist Lindsay Cooper were important long-term members...
, Art Bears
Art Bears
Art Bears were an English avant-rock group formed during the disassembly of Henry Cow in 1978 by three of its members, Chris Cutler , Fred Frith and Dagmar Krause...
), The Muffins
The Muffins
The Muffins are an American Maryland-based progressive rock/avant-jazz group. They were formed in Washington, DC in the early 1970s and recorded four albums before disbanding in 1981. In 1998 the group reformed and recorded a further five albums and a DVD...
, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum is an American experimental rock band, formed in 1999 in Oakland, California. The band fuses classical, industrial, and art-rock themes throughout their music...
, and Present
Present (band)
Present is a Belgian progressive rock group formed by guitarist Roger Trigaux in 1979.- Biography :Trigaux was a founding member of Univers Zero and participated on the first two albums. After Heresie he left Univers Zero to concentrate on his own vision and founded Present...
. In 2006, Dave Kerman
Dave Kerman
David Kerman , better known as Dave Kerman, is a United States experimental rock drummer and composer, best known as the founder and member of the Los Angeles avant-rock group 5uu's. He is also a member of the Belgian progressive rock band Present and the Israeli avant-rock band Ahvak...
(of Present
Present (band)
Present is a Belgian progressive rock group formed by guitarist Roger Trigaux in 1979.- Biography :Trigaux was a founding member of Univers Zero and participated on the first two albums. After Heresie he left Univers Zero to concentrate on his own vision and founded Present...
, 5uus, Thinking Plague
Thinking Plague
Thinking Plague is a United States avant-rock group founded in 1982 by guitarist/composer, Mike Johnson, and bass guitarist/drummer, Bob Drake. Based in Denver, Colorado, the band has been active off and on since 1982, taking on a number of musicians over the years...
, etc.) and Paul Sears (of The Muffins and Thee Maximalists) performed with the band on stage as guest drummers/percussionists at the NJ Proghouse.
The Red Masque has released one EP ("Death of the Red Masque" in 2001), and four albums ("Victoria and the Haruspex" in 2002, "Feathers for Flesh" in 2004, "Fossil Eyes" in 2008, "Stars Fall On Me" in 2009). "Feathers for Flesh" was released through Big Balloon Music, and has been favorably reviewed in such publications as The Wire
The Wire (magazine)
The Wire is a British avant garde music magazine, founded in 1982 by jazz promoter Anthony Wood and journalist Chrissie Murray. The magazine initially concentrated on contemporary jazz and improvised music, but branched out in the early 1990s to various types of experimental music...
(issue no. 248) and Harmonie Magazine (issue no. 52). "Fossil Eyes" and "Stars Fall On Me" were both released through ReR USA.
Shelley has performed on other progressive
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
/space rock
Space rock
Space rock is a subgenre of rock music; the term originally referred to a group of early, mostly British, 1970s progressive and psychedelic rock bands such as Hawkwind and Pink Floyd, characterised by slow, lengthy instrumental passages dominated by electric organs, synthesizers, experimental...
-oriented albums as a guest vocalist, including Magus (on the album "the Garden"), Church of Hed (space rock project by Quarkspace founder Paul Williams; Shelley performs on their debut album under the moniker "Sister Mary Haruspex"), and Ethereal (on the album "Beyond Neptune"; Ethereal is a solo project by former Alien Planetscapes member Richard Orlando). In June 2007, Shelley performed as a guest vocalist with Bob Drake
Bob Drake (musician)
Bob Drake is an American multi-instrumentalist musician and recording engineer. He was a founding member of the avant-rock band Thinking Plague in the early 1980s, and a member of the 5uu's, Hail and The Science Group . He formed his own band, Bob Drake's Cabinet of Curiosities in 2007...
during his set at NEARfest
NEARfest
The North East Art Rock Festival, or NEARfest for short, is a multi-day event celebrating the resurgence of progressive and eclectic music in the United States and around the world. The event is held annually in early summer in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, approximately one hour north of Philadelphia...
. She is also a professional artist.
Ross has composed two soundtrack pieces for the website of Karl Welz, inventor of Orgonite
Orgone
Orgone energy is a theory originally proposed in the 1930s by Wilhelm Reich. Reich, originally part of Sigmund Freud's Vienna circle, extrapolated the Freudian concept of libido first as a biophysical and later as a universal life force...
and Orgone Radionics.
Members
- Lynnette Shelley - vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration... - Brandon Ross - bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments... - Nicholas Giannetti - guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
- Steve Craig - drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
Former Members
- Brian "Vonorn" Van Korn - drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, thereminThereminThe theremin , originally known as the aetherphone/etherophone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox is an early electronic musical instrument controlled without discernible physical contact from the player. It is named after its Russian inventor, Professor Léon Theremin, who patented the device... - Andrew Kowal - guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, mandolinMandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello.... - Kevin Kelly - drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
- Steven Blumberg http://www.sblumberg.com - guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s - Nathan-Andrew Dewin - keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, concert harp, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration... - Kiarash Emami - guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, mandolinMandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
.
Discography
- Death of the Red Masque EP (2001)
- Victoria and the Haruspex (2002)
- Feathers for Flesh (2004)
- Fossil Eyes (2008)
- Stars Fall On Me (live album) (2009)