live performance
MASONIQUE
Masonique is music with the future in mind, fusing the hypnotic explorations of krautrock with the synthetic melodies of synthpop and the seductive swagger of glam. Muscular music with a psychological edge. Like a Scorsese directed prize fight between the heady pomp of Roxy Music and the savage dub of PiL, with Gary Numan as the announcer and John Peel as the referee.
Masonique began in 2015 as a solo songwriting showcase for Portland-based composer and performer Ron Mason Gassaway. Aspiring to achieve a more complex and voluminous sound for Masonique he incorporated the exemplary percussion of Daniel Morris in 2017 (White Rooms, Gang Radio, Perseveration). The spry duo became a more robust trio in 2018 by adding the exceptionally talented Gerry Hathaway on bass (Depravity Scale, Arkham Sunset), releasing their first EP “Island of Disbelief” later that year.
“Hypnotic” - Outkast Sub Scape Magazine
“The glory of Bauhaus and The Jesus and Mary Chain
with a modern spin” - Mustard Relics
“Sci-fi-tinged dream pop” - Portland Mercury
Masonique
Masonique
Masonique
PARTY KILLER
Ron Mason Gassaway is a founding member of the provocative Portland based improvisational group Party Killer, formed in 2005 with Ben Hollenbaugh & Rob Bearak. Given their name there’s nothing shocking about Party Killer’s tendency to push several exhilarating buttons at once. Sonic provocateurs at heart, the Portland based band has accumulated ringing endorsements from rock stars, accolade imbued bewilderment from local weeklies and caustic criticisms from unsolicited strangers.
Post-punk icon and esteemed musicologist Julian Cope described Party Killer's self titled album as "colossal" while drawing correlations to Monoshock and Chrome. Casey Jarman of Willamette Week described their sound as "art so high that most listeners will never see the top or a collection of musicians who sincerely do not give a fuck” and Robert Ham (Pitchfork, Paste, SPIN) succinctly coined them as “unholy improvisational terror.”