Ron Mason Gassaway is a composer and live performer with a penchant for video and installation art, not to mention art direction and design. Forever creating and collaborating, he resides in Portland, Oregon with his feline co-pilot Fox.

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He is a founding member of the provocative Portland based improvisational group Party Killer. 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.”

His solo endeavor Masonique has evolved into a powerful trio. Masonique began in 2015 as a showcase for his songwriting. Aspiring to achieve a more complex and voluminous sound 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

Ron is also a founding member of the raw dance music ensemble Muscle Beach ’n Friend(s), which contributed a track to "Let It Rain” a celebration of Oregon music curated by PDX Pop Now and the Oregon Historical Society. Muscle Beach has been on a long hiatus but they occasionally reconvene to play Booberamapaloozafest, curated by co-founder Jon Boober. 

As a composer Ron has written and produced compositions for a variety of filmmakers, theater directors and writers including Grace Carter, Holly Andres, Sue Mach, Philip Cuomo, Karl Lind, Defunkt Theatre and Coho Theatre Productions, where he produced the score and sound design for The Yellow Wallpaper, which opened to critical acclaim in Portland in 2015. He has also produced commercial compositions for a wide variety of clients, including Pragati Leadership and Jaguar Land Rover.

As a visual artist specializing in video and installation art, Ron has exhibited work at a variety of galleries, museums and events, such as the Artists' Television Access, PLACE, the Portland Art Museum, the Taipei Biennial, EFFPortland, the NW Film Forum, Nofest and the PDX Film Festival. His video work has been archived in the American University Shorts Filmography Collection. He has also produced music videos for RLLRBLL, Arkham Sunset, Banimal, Creatureguts, Dark Numbers and Quiet! 

As a commercial artist Ron has contributed art direction, illustration and design to local businesses, non-profit organizations and international corporations such as Adidas, Nike, Dark Horse Comics, U.S. Bank, Intel, Microsoft, Adobe Systems, the Children’s Television Workshop, and Tower Records, where he began his music and artistic career as a store artist for the legendary chain, helping to coordinate and promote in-stores for Devo, Adam Ant, Arrested Development and others.