The band behind the mask: Who are Glass Beams?
Whether you think it’s a massive gimmick or not, wearing a mask on stage to conceal your identity is a surefire way to get people talking. While everyone these days can quickly find an image displaying the real faces of Daft Punk and discover their real names, there are other acts who have kept up the facade for much longer and revealed much less information about themselves to the public.
The Residents are a prime example of a mystery band, with Hardy Fox remaining as the only named member of the collective to this day, having formed 55 years ago. The eyeball-head-wearing experimentalists aren’t alone in that regard either, with several rappers such as Casisdead, Billy Woods and Mach-Hommy all avoiding showing their full faces and refusing to divulge who they really are.
Sometimes, it’s understandable that an artist may want to obscure who they really are due to shyness or simply because they don’t care for the publicity that comes with being recognisable in the local supermarket, and other times, it’s more of a ploy to get people asking questions about their true identity. There might be an underlying desire to have the public choose not to focus on their identities and only on the music they create together, but by carefully curating a look for your band or stage persona, are you not, therefore, drawing attention to your anonymity?
Australian psychedelic trio Glass Beams certainly have a memorable look, draping jewelled and beaded masks over their faces to shield their identities, and while primary founding member Rajan Silva has chosen to reveal himself to the public, the donning of the golden doilies certainly gets people spreading rumours as to who they could be. They’re a lot less shy about performing live, unlike similarly private acts such as Sault, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to crack easily when it comes to unmasking.
However, does it truly matter who is making the music when it’s enjoyed by so many? Their fusion of Indian classical music inspired by Silva’s heritage and psychedelic fusion akin to the likes of Yin Yin and Khruangbin has caused them to accumulate legions of fans in the past four years, and despite not having a full-length album to their name yet, their two EPs, 2021’s Mirage and 2024’s Mahal have proven to be incredibly popular for their laid-back and groove-laden instrumental rock.
If they’re getting their music heard and appreciated for what it is, and if people are lapping up the idea that nobody will ever know who they are, then there’s absolutely no reason for them to ever disclose such information. Considering how unhinged some music fans can be and their tendencies to form unnerving parasocial relationships with their idols, there are plenty of arguments to be made about how, in the current climate, it’s perhaps safer to keep personal information under wraps.
Yet, there’s still a burning desire among music fans to be able to attach a face to music, as not being able to do that removes all sense of humanness from a project. While Glass Beams are an inventive band with some unique ideas backing themselves up, their music could, in theory, be made by anyone. Without any personality to reinforce their identity, they become nothing more than an empty void from which music is inexplicably produced.
In an age where robots are able to produce music that can supposedly pass the Turing Test, why wouldn’t you want to be more human?
