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‘He can be whatever you want him to be’: Identity and intimacy in the masked performance of Ghost

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 April 2018

Catherine Hoad
Catherine Hoad*
Affiliation:
School of Music and Creative Media Production, College of Creative Arts, Massey University, Wellington. Mount Cook 6021, New Zealand E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Using Swedish metal band Ghost as a primary case study, this article examines how anonymous bands mediate their identity through the use of masks. The isolation of the band members’ ‘real’ identities from their musical performance complicates traditional modes of ‘knowing’ the performer, but in turn enables the formation of a multitude of connectivities, as audiences utilise masked bodies as sites upon which to project their desires and fantasies. Such projections are integral to the ways in which masking allows performers to mobilise and sustain their connections to audiences, who themselves become complicit in the maintenance of anonymity. This article thus considers how masks might challenge established notions of popular music performance, celebrity and authenticity, particularly within heavy metal contexts, and investigates how masks, rather than de-identifying a performer, can invite intimate connections among musicians and audiences.

Type
Articles
Information
Popular Music , Volume 37 , Issue 2 , May 2018 , pp. 175 - 192
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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