Masquerade

photo credit to come with
finished project.

The name of my band is Masquerade. They are actually a rotating group of well known musicians that collaborated to form this band. The name comes from the fact that no one knows who the members are. They all remain anonymous. Being famous and recognizable from their craft, they wanted to make the music the forefront and not all the personal publicity that goes with it. Fed up with the industry's marketing the music with photo shoots, appearances, and corporate profit mongers. Masquerade engages their fans with their sound, and not their image. The first album, Listen, is a collection of songs written by each member, giving the album a range of styles and sounds.

Their thought process behind this project came after one of the member's band were approached to do a corporate sponsor ad while promoting their new album. “The promoting and marketing of today's music relies heavily on posing us in clothes we don't wear in front of a green screen with all of us looking far off in all directions. We wanted our music to be appreciated, not the image of what they want it to be perceived as. Music should sell itself...leave the lipstick and jean commercials to the actors and models.”

Part of the allure of this band is not knowing who the members are and trying to fgue it out. The music itself is strong and worth listening to again and again, but the mystery of the artist's identities makes ou want to keep listening just to try and figure it out. Masquerade is a rotation of artists that for at least a brief moment in their career, the can make music they love, without the pressure of the industry's demands.

The images I chose were masquerade masks, a woman saying shh, money, and paparazzi. The oversize picture of money I would use either on the background or a floor, sort of speak. Going to get creative and see what I can do!