Live attire / accessories ??

[Atrophist]

I'm interested in what the folks here like to, well, wear while playing live.

There aren't fashions or trends as such among noise, PE etc. (which is a wonderful, wonderful thing), but there seem to be a few conventions that repeat themselves now and then. Concealing your identity with masks etc. seems one of them, militaristic/fetishistic gear another.

I myself like the idea of the anonymity that a mask would afford, as a way of communicating my disdain for the cult of personality rampant in the idiotic "rock" scene. Or would that also seem contrived somehow, if done for that reason?

This question is probably a bit vague, but I'd be interested in hearing what (if anything) the peeps here have to say about this side of live shows. 

[Duncan]

the idea of the anonymity that a mask would afford, as a way of communicating my disdain for the cult of personality rampant in the idiotic "rock" scene.

Sounds good apart from the bit where you've been stood in a room with the other 20 people in attendance (including other acts) all night without your mask and have to disappear to put it on and then take it off again once you've finished and everyone there is probably someone you know or someone who knows someone you know anyway and you realise that if you really want to kick against the idiocy of rock n roll you should discard the idea that being on stage for 30 mins makes you some kind of different person from who you are the several hours you'll be at the gig watching/setting up/soundchecking/regretting showing up regardless of whether you decide to wear something special or not etc etc etc

But usually just something clean and button down for me.

[Atrophist]

^ I wouldn't actually expect people to really not know who I am. I wouldn't even have a problem with not having anywhere to go to mask up, I could do it right then and there. I'd be happy letting every one of the 8 people in the audience make what they will of it.

But the point would not be that I am a different person for having been on the stage -- but rather than it doesn't matter who I am in the first place, or who it is up there.

[Duncan]

But how can you possibly make that point effectively if the reality is that everyone in attendance (more or less) DOES know who you are?  There is no denying that things like this will influence the way people experience your work.  If I were to wear a mask onstage I reckon most would think 'why is Duncan wearing that mask?' rather than 'what does this mask say about the performer/audience dynamic'.  It would be different if I was playing in front of 300 strangers, but I'm usually not.

Sorry, it might seem like I'm attacking you over a very harmless and interesting enough point but this sort of thing really bums me out for the same reason all the other tropes in noise/experimental/PE/industrial do: amazing things COULD be achieved in exploring them and sometimes are, but more often than not someone just wants to repeat their own version of something they've seen done themselves.  Doesn't matter if it's a disturbing video projection, mask, camo get up, smoke machine or smearing themselves in some substance or another.  The wish to perform the trope comes way, way before any conceptual purpose later applied to it.

[Atrophist]

But how can you possibly make that point effectively if the reality is that everyone in attendance (more or less) DOES know who you are?  There is no denying that things like this will influence the way people experience your work.  If I were to wear a mask onstage I reckon most would think 'why is Duncan wearing that mask?' rather than 'what does this mask say about the performer/audience dynamic'.  It would be different if I was playing in front of 300 strangers, but I'm usually not.

Sorry, it might seem like I'm attacking you over a very harmless and interesting enough point but this sort of thing really bums me out for the same reason all the other tropes in noise/experimental/PE/industrial do: amazing things COULD be achieved in exploring them and sometimes are, but more often than not someone just wants to repeat their own version of something they've seen done themselves.  Doesn't matter if it's a disturbing video projection, mask, camo get up, smoke machine or smearing themselves in some substance or another.  The wish to perform the trope comes way, way before any conceptual purpose later applied to it.

Well, it's actually in order to explore these types of questions that I started this whole thread. I mean, the points you make above are perfectly fair. But I am only now in the stages of considering what might work and what might not.

But to be honest I would not be especially bothered about not being understood properly -- anyone planning noise record/performance who worries about that might as well give up, after all. If someone wants to know for sure what it is that I'm trying to express they can always ask.

I think I should also make it clear that I absolutely will not be wearing any kind of ski mask/balaclava type thing, or anything fetish/SM oriented. That has been way too many times before -- done very well, I might add, I'm not trying to knock the people who originally came up with those ideas. But I'm not going to copy their ideas for myself. I'm considering a "safety" hoodie, the kind where the hood covers he lower part of the face, and the upper part is covered by a see-through mesh. Which is probably not a terribly original idea, either, but whatever.

That is, unless I end up forgetting all of this and just wearing a t-shirt, jeans and trainers.

[Jaakko V.]

There aren't fashions or trends as such among noise, PE etc.

Not entirely sure about that. Don't know how it is elsewhere, but whenever I have trouble falling asleep, I imagine myself attending a Finnish noise gig, and then I begin counting these:

[FreakAnimalFinland]

this sort of thing really bums me out for the same reason all the other tropes in noise/experimental/PE/industrial do: amazing things COULD be achieved in exploring them and sometimes are, but more often than not someone just wants to repeat their own version of something they've seen done themselves.  Doesn't matter if it's a disturbing video projection, mask, camo get up, smoke machine or smearing themselves in some substance or another.  The wish to perform the trope comes way, way before any conceptual purpose later applied to it.

I would say, many times mask exposes more than it hides. Of course there is factor of anonymity, but also factor of exposing certain ideas. It's not that ones face would expose that much beyond... how one looks. If there is absolutely no purpose of glorification of ones personal mundane appearance, then certainly many kinds of mask manifest ideas.

In such way, it doesn't really matter if people have thought they have seen you, as the guy plugging cables to mixer isn't necessary any more real than guy sporting in commando mask few minutes later.

I recall quite nice discussion when one power electronics veteran's female companion said that she doesn't think the man as ______, but as person she knowns to be real. And the man asks how would she know that project is the act and banal boyfriend behavior is real and not the other way round? This angle is probably someone many people simply do not understand.

I do not have hard time believing guy standing in t-shirt, plugging the cables to mixer may be the outer shell what expresses nothing. People wouldn't know anything no matter if they have seen the face or assume to know the guy. It is possible on the stage one sees few reflections of what often remains hidden for public.

That said, I have mixed feeling of live attire. I have quite limited tastes, and I don't much care for "costumes". I would assume that most people who wear leather, came or whatever, do it on their lives much more widely than merely on stage. It's not costume per se. But I also like when noise is beyond the mundane moment. Very fine ideal line somewhere between plain ordinary and theatrical performance.

[bitewerksMTB]

When I saw Con-Dom perform, he pulled on a ski mask for "Moor Rapist". He pulled it on crooked & it looked like he could only barely see out of one eye-hole. I think that little detail enhanced the performance.

At the same festival, Genocide Organ performed in masks but one of the members kept pulling his on and off. I'm guessing it was hot.

Slogun once told me he showed up to perform as a member of Intrinsic Action  in shorts, Vans, & a t-shirt. Needless to say, Mark wasn't happy.

I can't remember which noise guy it was but he wore long sleeves all day b/c he didn't like people asking about his tattoos but right before his performance, he changed into a ratty, short-sleeve Slayer t-shirt then changed back to long sleeve afterwards. Maybe the weather was cool & venue, hot...

I'm wearing bdu pants right now & I have a bdu cap (it's green & made by Levi's). Want to book me?

[holy ghost]

1) Nothing is ever going to top Vomir wearing a garbage bag, so why even bother

2) Any kind of military outfit just makes me think of TG or DiJ

3) Any kind of cloak or robe is just going to make people think of Sunn O)))

Personally, based on this I'd not be so into costumes and shit because it can easily feel contrived, forced or just played out. But you gotta do what feels right. If you're honest with what your intentions are it shouldn't matter what I or anyone else thinks - if it's actually authentic it'll translate that way hopefully. It probably won't, but hopefully....

[HongKongGoolagong]

Have sometimes worn female clothing, performed naked, used fetish objects with personal significance - I am interested in transformative states for myself onstage which with luck may lead to transformative atmosphere for an audience, sometimes theatrics can help this - other times just used what I have on that day - really depends on which kind of act and what you are aiming for on that day.

Of course it is also a kind of statement to wear your normal clothes. Like those folky type guys who wear workshirts to symbolise how honest they are or something. Whatever the size of an audience, be it 500 or five friends, it really isn't a natural sort of place to be onstage is it?

Wearing something because your hero looked cool in it is silly but everyone has to start somewhere.

[Andrew McIntosh]

It depends, I suppose, on how you treat your performance. I started off in love with the idea of complete anonimity - my first solo gig I had hidden myself in a shadowy corner of a stage not directly in front of the punters, and the first time I played, with others, I came up with the idea of having a curtain between us and the punters, with the chairs arranged in a circle. The idea was the sound was the focus, not the people.

But as I kept playing I came to realise that performing was exactly what I was doing - what people saw was as important as what they heard. As HKG has stated, it is an unnatural situation, and the whole notion of plug-in-and-play began to feel more like just having a home jam in front of people who have payed to be there. Live and recording became two very different things. I still kept it sparse, focusing on what I did (which often involved physical confrontation with punters) rather than what I wore, but the idea of some kind of live attire became more interesting to me. As it happens, I haven't played live in a while and have no plans to for a while more, so if it ever happens again I'll have some time to put more thought into it.

As for masks, I'm with Mikko on this one. Since it is a performance it's totally acceptable to put on some kind of image. I'm thinking of Armour Group, both of whom are well known to everyone in the Melbourne scene but who wear balaclavas when playing. It suits their sound and their image. and I also think it rather helps with their own natural shyness.

[ANDROPHILIA]

mine
2 woodman shirt ( 1 close+ 1 open )
1 hoodie
1 vintage 70'  jacket striped velvet beige
1 balaclava

stop

i like the style of SNUFF with his creapy mask + hoodie

[Johann]

maybe it's geographical, because most noise shows you see in my part of the states are going to be in someone's living room, basement or some shitty bar. So to imagine that scenerio and have someone slip on a gimpmask or balaclava would be kinda weird and seem very forced. I prefer the much more layed back kind of thing, doesn't mean it can't get physical, but seems much more authentic.

That said, while I think posturing type shit is weird and a turn off I love really absurdist stuff, like Emil, s&q, Caroliner fucking killed it. If your gonna seek out to make it a spectacle bring it all together because half way there is just half assed.

[Leewar]

There aren't fashions or trends as such among noise, PE etc.

Oh i dont know about that, personally i see many from subject matter to fashion accessories such as balaclavas, masks, hats..etc etc..

[gasskammer]

Ive used different clothing..Some years ago i performed in modified policeuniform, sometimes the usual balaclava, hood over face, blood etc.. Not to sound too pretensious, but it is about transformation from the usual face, when giving a performance, into something else. It can be of ritual nature, or an outfit more fitting to the subject matter treated during the concert. I have a background from metal, so this maybe comes with the territory. It is amazing to see that people you know as calm from daily normal life can be transformed into raging creatures on stage, and im sure it helps to be drenched in blood to get "into it". For it is about that really, it helps to get totally into the atmosphere of what i am doing by putting on something specific. It could easily be something i wouldnt have trouble with wearing in normal life, but when this specific piece of clothing is meant to be used as stage attire, it suddenly helps to get there. Sometimes a hooded sweatshirt is all that is needed, sometimes gallons of blood, backdrops, video etc. All about what is going to happen, what the aim of the performance is.
I guess for some the aim is to make live music while having a good time as usual daily life also, that is of course allright.