People who think bands who wear masks and costumes are stupid for just that reason, have no imagination. I don't wanna pay 75 dollars to see a concert and watch a bunch of dudes in t shirts and jeans stand around looking all sad, when I can go and see a band actually put on a show.
I think both things can be awesome...for one I love masked musicians with cool music, but a band that are only wearing a T-Shirt and Jeans are also able to make a great show with a super atmosphere (Ahab for example)
When Gorillaz first came out with their awesome animated music videos I had no idea who they were. Google was not the font of all wisdom back then. All I knew was that I liked them. Then when I found it was the guy from Blur and the creator of Tank Girl, it kinda made sense. I loved both those. I loved anything in 2000AD.
"I'm curious if Prozzak meant anything to anyone outside of Canada" Are you kidding me? I'm in Texas, and I was utterly blown away that you brought them up. I remember hearing them literally one time on a super obscure video that I don't even remember the content of and trying to find their music only to find literally nothing about them anywhere. No one I've ever met has ever brought them up. Years later, at 7am when I should be asleep, some Canadian guy whose show I regularly binge watch, just blurts out "Prozzak" like it's no big deal and fills in all the gaps. Thank you, sir. You are a God, and you have pretty rad taste in music.
PROZZAK!!!! I still listen to that album often. Having Much Music on satellite tv in middle America got me through the 90s. Also, Stardust had that one amazing video and included a Daft Punk member.
Daft Punk deserved much more than a breif mention. Only 1 leaked image has circulated from recent years. Sure, you can find tons of pictures from the 90's, but it was the goddamn 90's.
these bands are vastly different than daft punk. the concept of masks didnt arise until the first album cought alot of steam and started playing alot of clubs or showing on french tv. they used it as a way to help with stagefright and to separate themselves from the music. they were ok with people knowing their faces, but it made being themselves on camera or in packed clubs easier.
Daft punk haven't publicly released a picture of themselves unmasked since 1999. I agree that they deserved at least a brief mention. They are also the most talented and polished masked musicians (or any musicians) in my opinion.
i feel like artists with rocky histories could most certainly use anonymity to start doing what they love again with a fresh slate without people associating it with their past missteps or immoral deads. but i think anonymity can be used as a really fun tool as well, for instance, death grips used it to mess with people when they released fashion week, and it can also be a pretty good way to cut your past works from yourself and begin anew in the music world provided you're able to mask yourself really well and cover your tracks.
How could you do an episode of anonymity in music without mentioning the residents, 40 years making music and no one know who they are, and their music is amazing
I'm surprised Buckethead wasn 't mentioned more. I mean, he has been releasing music at such a rate for the last few years, that I was convinced that he lost his mind after ten albums came out. Now he's on like 3-400 albums in the last few years. The craziest part is that he still manages to make songs that are really,really good, even though he's practically writing, recording and releasing them all in real time. Any time I listen to melting man Pt. 2(or others, that one came to mind though), I can't fathom that it wasn't written as the first single of an album, just something he wrote and recorded on a tuesday before lunch, and then the rest of that album after lunch. If there were any musician that was really 12 dudes in a mask or something, it's him. But his trademark tapping shit is so unique, I don't think there are many people who could duplicate it.
And yes, I'm sad Ghost wasn't on the list either. For those not in the know, they're a doom-metal/doom-rock band whos lineup consists of one guy dressed up as a satanic skeletal pope, known as 'Papa Emeritus', and 4 guys in black robes and masks who all refer to themselves as 'Nameless Ghouls', and otherwise differentiate from eachother by wearing symbols of the 4 elements on their robes.. They're pretty awesome, and their music is surprisingly mellow considering their image.
Everyone else is mentioning that they were disappointed for not seeing The Residents mentioned, and I must concur. They differ from the other bands mentioned here in that were arguably the first masked/anonymous band: since 1969, meaning they've not revealed their identities for what's closing in on 50 years now. And secondly, I believe that The Residents did not choose to remain anonymous and masked purely to cultivate an image like is the case with bands like Slipknot and the majority of the others in this video. If you delve into The Residents' reasoning behind their anonymity, you will always see cited the so-called "Theory of Obscurity", a concept credited to The Residents' supposed mentor figure, a composer/musical theorist named N. Senada. The gist of this theory is that an artist supposedly will create his or her most sincere and "pure" creations if the influences and expectations of others are not taken into account, something which anonymous releasing or keeping the artistic work to oneself would especially facilitate. Since there is no record of this N. Senada person outside his affiliation with The Residents, the overall consensus is now that he never existed, or that N. Senada may just be a pseudonym for someone else, namely noted experimental/avant-garde composer Harry Partch. The Residents again exemplified and put their "Theory of Obscurity" into action with the recording of their album "Not Available". The story goes that the band decided to follow their theory to its fullest, to undertake a project that would be created in a manner that would ensure that it would be completely and utterly free of the conscious or unconscious influence of outside opinions and expectations--in that it was not to be ever released or heard by anyone outside of the band, or forever remain "not available". It was recorded in the early '70s and supposedly locked in a vault in a studio for five years or so until the band's label, antsy to release something from them (after their "Eskimo" album was repeatedly delayed and they had hit a short dry spell), found the master tapes and released the album against the band's wishes as they were legally contractually free to do. Anyway, I am a bit bummed that, given the topic of this episode, The Residents weren't even briefly mentioned and it's not like you will probably make a followup episode and retread the same topic. But since the overarching theme of this channel seems to be bizarre and/or obscure/esoteric subjects, with most episodes centered around music (The Residents being a perfect specimen of all this), I think the band could fill an entire episode themselves. There are tons of other oddball facts and aspects to them other than the masks/anonymity thing anyway.
Funny how you would quote Harry Partch, if I'd read your comment just last week I'd have no idea who you were talking about. Read about him in Songs in the key of Z by Irwin Chusid, a light read but nicely written, and you seem the kind of guy who'd enjoy it. I'd really love an episode on the Residents. I always thought they self-released that stuff, by the way.
Studio Killers are also fairly anonymous, they use animated band members and no one's sure if the main singer is male or female. There's popular theories about who they are, but all we know for certain is the animator's name. I think they even use a different voice for Cherry in all their 'vlogs', since she sounds English in their music and American in their videos on TH-cam.
+LAS Guitars But it's easy to find who they are. He's talking about completely anonymous bands where listeners cannot figure out what the artist's actual identity is. You could go on the internet and find the identity of all the members of those bands.
residents anyone? they were actually the first anonymous band, started in 1969 and they still bring out albums regularly. they're the pioneers on awesome avant-garde music and if you have time you should totally check em out
I have no idea how I failed to comment on this episode before now, but Prozzak meant a HUGE deal to me in the early 2000s. I was in sixth grade when they had a song on the soundtrack of a Disney Channel movie starring Lindsay Lohan called "Get a Clue". As an eleven year old, I still got crushes on cartoon characters constantly. I had a gigantic crush on Simon. And the album they released here as "Simon and Milo" is still something I listen to all the time. I LOVE THEM.
I've found your channel today and I've kind of been on a "This Exists" marathon for the past few hours. Good job, man and good job to your team as well. I LOVE your channel. Your videos are high quality, your topics are relatively well researched and you deliver your lines pretty easily, thus making everything run smoothly. I love your channel even more for the fact that you post the links to the videos you're talking about AND your script in the description box. You're awesome. I really wish you all the best and I hope your channel will get more "popular"..more subscribers?..more views? You get what I mean :P
Nice of you to mention two Swedish bands (iamamiwhoiam and The Knife), making me giddy, but The Knife haven't really been anonymous to begin with. Even since their debut album they've used their real names (Olof and Karin Dreijer). However what they have in common with "anonymous" bands is that they let the music speak for itself. In their music video for "Pass This On" another woman is performing Karin's vocals. When they were invited to play it live for the "Sen kväll med Luuk" (a sort of Late Night With David Letterman kind of thing) the girl from the video "sang" the song and Olof is the one that goes up on stage first and starts to dance. So it's a kind of anonymity in full view I'd say. As you've poignantly mentioned, this "anonymity" is more prevalent in the metal scene. One of my favourite black metal bands, Deathspell Omega, doesn't list band members or where the album was recorded and mixed etc in their booklets. They let the music, lyrics and artwork to speak unto themselves. And perhaps they are right. I myself have recorded a black metal demo ten years ago and used a "nome de plume". So there is perhaps an attempt to let the music and lyrics speak for themselves. But since we have a celebrity cult worshiping we tend to forget the material itself if the artists don't become more public, so to say. There can however be some sort of balance, like the Swedish band Ghost. In their home town Norrköping everybody knows who they are. In an interview they've said "Norrköping is such a small city that everyone knows each other and to deny being in Ghost would have only seemed pretentious and false." So it's like Fight Club: those that know about it don't talk about it. And even though I have friends in the Norrköping black metal scene and could find out the identity of Ghost's members, it doesn't really help or cheer me up one bit. Art must always stand on its own terms.
tbh can really appreciate anonymity in art it helps prevent the pop star/celebrity mechanic of the modern music industry from impacting everyday life of these often great artists
I think It gives an outlet for talented people with stage fright. gimmicky? idk maybe, but i'm not one to judge, especially as I have social anxiety myself.
It would've been nice to hear some commentary on Daft Punk since they're my favourite anonymous DJs but major props for mentioning Klaatu and Zolar X. This is why I love being subscribed! XD
4 years btw, and later amalgamation of Zolar Lyricals include Startrek and Galactic Basic, for the first 6 years it was unique , in 2004 a deluxe edition was released, although rumored that in the clean up the audio may have been altered and pieced together (im not a sound expert) Zolar seems to have used pre existing languages to create an amalgamation of languages to produce their lyrical work although never proven, i persoanly beleive these sci fi glam rockers, had a nerdy dirty secret after zory left of course.Cameron Holley
This Exists You didn't cover them, you mentioned them and didn't go into any aspect of them aside from their game. They totally deserved some part of this video.
I always thoroughly enjoy these videos, they arent really topics anyone I see from day to day discuss, and I enjoy your narrative tone Sam. Always look forward to a new video! Just wish you guys did more each week.
That's awesome, thanks! No way we could make more than one a week - between the researching and the editing, sometimes I'm worried we'll be late with just one. But that's really encouraging!
Ryan Watts Slipknot isn't anonymous, they just wear masks. A quick google search will tell you all their names. For bands like Ghost, the most you'll find is speculation.
With the ease of electronic music and how quickly things can become mega popular due to social media, I could see if someone would just not want a million people snooping into their life.
The knife and Fever Ray are by far my favorite in terms of what they use their anonymity to try and achieve artistically. I also love the residents. I honestly listen to a lot of anon music now I think of it lol
How in the hell did you manage to get through this video without a single mention of The Residents? REALLY?! I would also have mentioned Jandek, Cromagnon and Caroliner, but those are obscure enough to slip under most people's radar. But then, so are a lot of the acts that you brought up! I'm not so much annoyed as completely flabbergasted.
Philemon Arthur and the Dung won the Swedish equivalent of a grammy in 1972, and that decision was protested to such an extent that the awards were canceled until 1987. Their identities are still a mystery.
When Rush first appeared on radio in the early 70's, people in Michigan thought is was new Led Zeppelin music. Not that Rush were trying to remain anonymous, but when people found out it wasn't LZ, it clearly didn't destroy their career.
Hey, don't forget "Here come the Mummies"! I have no idea who these mummies are, but they stuck to their Egyptian act and they make funny-as-heck songs!
There's an artist, and the character or persona they choose to use. Sometimes, anonymity merely helps the artist find and refine their stage presence through that guise.
That was Destroid. It's 3 Djs/producers. Excision, Downlink, KJ Sawka (a.k.a Space laces). Thats footage from their first show. It was in SF at the warfield. I'm in that video a couple times. HA! Nice.
The Residents has had a massive impact on electronic and experimental music, all while maintaining anonymity in a truly cryptic fashion, and they probably have a cooler beatles rumor in their career as well.
I'm not surprised he hasn't heard of them but there was a anonymous Australian band called TISM (short for This Is Serious Mum) who wore masks and went by fake names. IMHO their best song is "Whatareya?"
failingcyber I know I have, I just have to listen to Existence VIP, Raise Your Fists and a few Shambhala mixes, I actually just finished 2012 this morning for the first time, some sloppy and boring parts but it was amazing nonetheless and had the best ending ever.
I aooreciate anonymitiy, IN MUSIC. it lets us enjoy more of what we love, with the imagination of illusion. especialy, when its a genre we love in my case, metal and punk. -jake cosplays
Excision is a massively popular dubstep artist. He's not anonymous at all as far as I know because he has his own record company and you can find his name on Google. The logo on the drum kit is pretty recognizable as well.
"creature feature" is my favorite mysterious band, they've said that their known names (Curtis and Rufus, if I recall) might not even be their real names
At 4:22 the band there is the ponies that made the song Destroid,I can tell by there logo.Excision,Downlink, and Spacelaces made Destroid.So at 4:22 that is Jeff Abel, Sean Casavant, But I couldn't figure out Who made Spacelaces, the last band that made Destroid,the song they were playing at 4:22. Just look up Destroid Logo.
I would have loved to hear the Australian electronica Alternative band TISM mentioned. I heard they tried to claim they were a collection of famous people.
I remember seeing a bunch of people claiming that the members of Justice were Daft Punk. This is of course not true, but it's an understandable theory considering they are both House music duos from France and their music is quite similar but with Justice being a little bit more to the aggressive side. Also they both take endless amounts of time releasing music.
Names of some members of Lordi were common knowledge in Finnish media even before Eurovision. After the Eurovision hype some magazines got pictures of the the members without masks. BTW, band called Kiss used to be "anonymous" before the 80's.
To be a nerd for a moment, this reminds me of a Spiderman situation. Basically he was developing a romance with Black Cat, a former thief turned hero and something of a highclass lady. Eventually this lead to Spidey revealing his identity, and when it turned out he was some boring nobody she was distraught. She got over it though, but it's funny how that's a real life result of losing mystique in an identity.
People who think bands who wear masks and costumes are stupid for just that reason, have no imagination. I don't wanna pay 75 dollars to see a concert and watch a bunch of dudes in t shirts and jeans stand around looking all sad, when I can go and see a band actually put on a show.
Judge Lazar Just saw KISS last week and I am solidly on your side.
I think both things can be awesome...for one I love masked musicians with cool music, but a band that are only wearing a T-Shirt and Jeans are also able to make a great show with a super atmosphere (Ahab for example)
booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
When Gorillaz first came out with their awesome animated music videos I had no idea who they were. Google was not the font of all wisdom back then. All I knew was that I liked them. Then when I found it was the guy from Blur and the creator of Tank Girl, it kinda made sense. I loved both those. I loved anything in 2000AD.
You did not recognize Damon Albarn's voice? Or did they have a different singer? They might have several, not sure right now.
"I'm curious if Prozzak meant anything to anyone outside of Canada"
Are you kidding me? I'm in Texas, and I was utterly blown away that you brought them up. I remember hearing them literally one time on a super obscure video that I don't even remember the content of and trying to find their music only to find literally nothing about them anywhere. No one I've ever met has ever brought them up.
Years later, at 7am when I should be asleep, some Canadian guy whose show I regularly binge watch, just blurts out "Prozzak" like it's no big deal and fills in all the gaps. Thank you, sir. You are a God, and you have pretty rad taste in music.
What about The Residents? The band with almost 50 years of anonymity?
Right....
Kyle Quinn exactly! The first and the best
yours is the only comment here worth putting a like on, these guys forget to add a lot of great bands
An egregious omission indeed
HOW DID YOU FORGET THE RESIDENTS?!
I was going to leave the exact same comment until i saw you beat me to it
At least it keeps the drama bullshit of the artists' personal lives out of the media. That's the real silver lining :P
Really hope sam never takes these videos down
I was really hoping you would talk about Ghost/Ghost BC :(
Same
me too man
He clearly doesn't have everything ;)
Fuckk thats the only reason I watched this video lol. Also nice pic ;)
Will Hush XD
PROZZAK!!!! I still listen to that album often. Having Much Music on satellite tv in middle America got me through the 90s. Also, Stardust had that one amazing video and included a Daft Punk member.
Does Studio Killers count, even though they're animated? Nobody knows who the singer is.
It's a really good band and their music videos are beautiful.
no mention of "the residents?" anywhere? they should get the award for longest time anonymous.
Trevor Hazen When I wrote this episode I had just covered the Residents here, but I get this complaint a lot: Video games with pop stars are insane
This Exists cool! thanks!
Daft Punk deserved much more than a breif mention. Only 1 leaked image has circulated from recent years. Sure, you can find tons of pictures from the 90's, but it was the goddamn 90's.
Daft punk aren't really anonymous enough
samtheking25 He included Daniel Dumile so I don't see why daft punk wasnt included
these bands are vastly different than daft punk. the concept of masks didnt arise until the first album cought alot of steam and started playing alot of clubs or showing on french tv. they used it as a way to help with stagefright and to separate themselves from the music. they were ok with people knowing their faces, but it made being themselves on camera or in packed clubs easier.
Daft punk haven't publicly released a picture of themselves unmasked since 1999. I agree that they deserved at least a brief mention. They are also the most talented and polished masked musicians (or any musicians) in my opinion.
also Gorillaz and GWAR
i feel like artists with rocky histories could most certainly use anonymity to start doing what they love again with a fresh slate without people associating it with their past missteps or immoral deads. but i think anonymity can be used as a really fun tool as well, for instance, death grips used it to mess with people when they released fashion week, and it can also be a pretty good way to cut your past works from yourself and begin anew in the music world provided you're able to mask yourself really well and cover your tracks.
Holy crap he mentioned Buckethead, damn this guy knows his stuff.
How could you do an episode of anonymity in music without mentioning the residents, 40 years making music and no one know who they are, and their music is amazing
I'm surprised Buckethead wasn 't mentioned more. I mean, he has been releasing music at such a rate for the last few years, that I was convinced that he lost his mind after ten albums came out. Now he's on like 3-400 albums in the last few years. The craziest part is that he still manages to make songs that are really,really good, even though he's practically writing, recording and releasing them all in real time. Any time I listen to melting man Pt. 2(or others, that one came to mind though), I can't fathom that it wasn't written as the first single of an album, just something he wrote and recorded on a tuesday before lunch, and then the rest of that album after lunch. If there were any musician that was really 12 dudes in a mask or something, it's him. But his trademark tapping shit is so unique, I don't think there are many people who could duplicate it.
that destroid shout out at the end, hell yeah, respect +1
And yes, I'm sad Ghost wasn't on the list either. For those not in the know, they're a doom-metal/doom-rock band whos lineup consists of one guy dressed up as a satanic skeletal pope, known as 'Papa Emeritus', and 4 guys in black robes and masks who all refer to themselves as 'Nameless Ghouls', and otherwise differentiate from eachother by wearing symbols of the 4 elements on their robes.. They're pretty awesome, and their music is surprisingly mellow considering their image.
The Residents, GWAR, Ghost, and Deathspell Omega deserve some recognition as well.
YOU FAKE ASS CARTOON is going to be my yearbook quote lol
Everyone else is mentioning that they were disappointed for not seeing The Residents mentioned, and I must concur. They differ from the other bands mentioned here in that were arguably the first masked/anonymous band: since 1969, meaning they've not revealed their identities for what's closing in on 50 years now. And secondly, I believe that The Residents did not choose to remain anonymous and masked purely to cultivate an image like is the case with bands like Slipknot and the majority of the others in this video. If you delve into The Residents' reasoning behind their anonymity, you will always see cited the so-called "Theory of Obscurity", a concept credited to The Residents' supposed mentor figure, a composer/musical theorist named N. Senada. The gist of this theory is that an artist supposedly will create his or her most sincere and "pure" creations if the influences and expectations of others are not taken into account, something which anonymous releasing or keeping the artistic work to oneself would especially facilitate. Since there is no record of this N. Senada person outside his affiliation with The Residents, the overall consensus is now that he never existed, or that N. Senada may just be a pseudonym for someone else, namely noted experimental/avant-garde composer Harry Partch.
The Residents again exemplified and put their "Theory of Obscurity" into action with the recording of their album "Not Available". The story goes that the band decided to follow their theory to its fullest, to undertake a project that would be created in a manner that would ensure that it would be completely and utterly free of the conscious or unconscious influence of outside opinions and expectations--in that it was not to be ever released or heard by anyone outside of the band, or forever remain "not available". It was recorded in the early '70s and supposedly locked in a vault in a studio for five years or so until the band's label, antsy to release something from them (after their "Eskimo" album was repeatedly delayed and they had hit a short dry spell), found the master tapes and released the album against the band's wishes as they were legally contractually free to do.
Anyway, I am a bit bummed that, given the topic of this episode, The Residents weren't even briefly mentioned and it's not like you will probably make a followup episode and retread the same topic. But since the overarching theme of this channel seems to be bizarre and/or obscure/esoteric subjects, with most episodes centered around music (The Residents being a perfect specimen of all this), I think the band could fill an entire episode themselves. There are tons of other oddball facts and aspects to them other than the masks/anonymity thing anyway.
Funny how you would quote Harry Partch, if I'd read your comment just last week I'd have no idea who you were talking about. Read about him in Songs in the key of Z by Irwin Chusid, a light read but nicely written, and you seem the kind of guy who'd enjoy it.
I'd really love an episode on the Residents. I always thought they self-released that stuff, by the way.
Studio Killers are also fairly anonymous, they use animated band members and no one's sure if the main singer is male or female. There's popular theories about who they are, but all we know for certain is the animator's name. I think they even use a different voice for Cherry in all their 'vlogs', since she sounds English in their music and American in their videos on TH-cam.
Slipknot
GWAR
Ghost
KISS
Residents
+LAS Guitars But it's easy to find who they are. He's talking about completely anonymous bands where listeners cannot figure out what the artist's actual identity is. You could go on the internet and find the identity of all the members of those bands.
***** not the residents
***** fine whatever, never heard of that band anyways, and I don't care to.
+Noah Harned it's easy to find who there are now, but not when they came out
+Noah Harned The Residents are fucking dope you're missing out.
residents anyone? they were actually the first anonymous band, started in 1969 and they still bring out albums regularly. they're the pioneers on awesome avant-garde music and if you have time you should totally check em out
I have no idea how I failed to comment on this episode before now, but Prozzak meant a HUGE deal to me in the early 2000s. I was in sixth grade when they had a song on the soundtrack of a Disney Channel movie starring Lindsay Lohan called "Get a Clue". As an eleven year old, I still got crushes on cartoon characters constantly. I had a gigantic crush on Simon. And the album they released here as "Simon and Milo" is still something I listen to all the time. I LOVE THEM.
I remember them from Get A Clue as well as a kid and seeing them on this list was a huuuge throwback :)
You can't talk about anonymous music without talking about the residents
right?!
or GWAR or TISM
Daniel Kane I was hoping for the residents to show up, especially considering they're still anonymous (as far as I know)
I've found your channel today and I've kind of been on a "This Exists" marathon for the past few hours. Good job, man and good job to your team as well. I LOVE your channel. Your videos are high quality, your topics are relatively well researched and you deliver your lines pretty easily, thus making everything run smoothly. I love your channel even more for the fact that you post the links to the videos you're talking about AND your script in the description box. You're awesome. I really wish you all the best and I hope your channel will get more "popular"..more subscribers?..more views? You get what I mean :P
+CristinaWithoutAn H Same lol Iove it I just subbed
Nice of you to mention two Swedish bands (iamamiwhoiam and The Knife), making me giddy, but The Knife haven't really been anonymous to begin with. Even since their debut album they've used their real names (Olof and Karin Dreijer). However what they have in common with "anonymous" bands is that they let the music speak for itself. In their music video for "Pass This On" another woman is performing Karin's vocals. When they were invited to play it live for the "Sen kväll med Luuk" (a sort of Late Night With David Letterman kind of thing) the girl from the video "sang" the song and Olof is the one that goes up on stage first and starts to dance. So it's a kind of anonymity in full view I'd say.
As you've poignantly mentioned, this "anonymity" is more prevalent in the metal scene. One of my favourite black metal bands, Deathspell Omega, doesn't list band members or where the album was recorded and mixed etc in their booklets. They let the music, lyrics and artwork to speak unto themselves. And perhaps they are right. I myself have recorded a black metal demo ten years ago and used a "nome de plume". So there is perhaps an attempt to let the music and lyrics speak for themselves. But since we have a celebrity cult worshiping we tend to forget the material itself if the artists don't become more public, so to say.
There can however be some sort of balance, like the Swedish band Ghost. In their home town Norrköping everybody knows who they are. In an interview they've said "Norrköping is such a small city that everyone knows each other and to deny being in Ghost would have only seemed pretentious and false." So it's like Fight Club: those that know about it don't talk about it. And even though I have friends in the Norrköping black metal scene and could find out the identity of Ghost's members, it doesn't really help or cheer me up one bit.
Art must always stand on its own terms.
Did I miss Gwar or something?
Or the Residents...
yeah what the fuck. was the video edited or something?
Jacob M'Boi R.i.p. Dave... God they're terrible now. Regardless if the new singer is a former member they suck anymore
@kevin willems
GWAR died with Dave, now they just sound like an edgier version of WASP.
R.I.P. Oderus Urungus
You know, you're pretty brilliant. Well done, consider me subscribed.
tbh can really appreciate anonymity in art it helps prevent the pop star/celebrity mechanic of the modern music industry from impacting everyday life of these often great artists
Studio Killers is a pretty awesome band that is pretty anonymous~
I think It gives an outlet for talented people with stage fright. gimmicky? idk maybe, but i'm not one to judge, especially as I have social anxiety myself.
GWAR
GWAR
GWAR
It would've been nice to hear some commentary on Daft Punk since they're my favourite anonymous DJs but major props for mentioning Klaatu and Zolar X. This is why I love being subscribed! XD
Studio Killers is another anonymous band. The singer for Cherry is widely believed to be Teemu Brunila but no official reveals have been made.
You like Destroid?? Makes this show 10xcooler!!
Destroid = Jesus
"Rob Ford is Buckethead" LOL XD
Did anyone notice Zolar X's language is the Galactic Standard font from Star Wars?
I looked into it, Its a Mix of Klingon and Galactic Standard
+Game Goofs Then where did they get Galactic Basic if it predates Star Wars by 6 years?
4 years btw, and later amalgamation of Zolar Lyricals include Startrek and Galactic Basic, for the first 6 years it was unique , in 2004 a deluxe edition was released, although rumored that in the clean up the audio may have been altered and pieced together (im not a sound expert) Zolar seems to have used pre existing languages to create an amalgamation of languages to produce their lyrical work
although never proven, i persoanly beleive these sci fi glam rockers, had a nerdy dirty secret after zory left of course.Cameron Holley
Bob Log III, my favorite delta-blues one-man band spaceman.
What about the residents?
Michael Watson Had just covered them a few episodes earlier: Video games with pop stars are insane
They're a bit weird.
This Exists You didn't cover them, you mentioned them and didn't go into any aspect of them aside from their game. They totally deserved some part of this video.
kevin van damme
Especialy since they predate Zolar X, the band dude claimed "started the trend"
Jenna Flynn A bit?
Your episodes are getting better and better. And it's cool that you're Canadians.
I always thoroughly enjoy these videos, they arent really topics anyone I see from day to day discuss, and I enjoy your narrative tone Sam. Always look forward to a new video! Just wish you guys did more each week.
That's awesome, thanks! No way we could make more than one a week - between the researching and the editing, sometimes I'm worried we'll be late with just one. But that's really encouraging!
I got super happy when you mentioned Jello Biafra, I'm a HUGE Dead Kennedys fan.
Captain Murphy was pretty anonymous, but FlyLo came out and revealed he is Murphy.
- Angerfist
- Bloody Beetroots
- Doctor Lektroluv
- Mike Candys
- Daft Punk
surprised Ghost isn't in here
Ayy, Destroid!
8 yr later edit:
Wait, you mentioned Excision but NOT DOWNLINK??? JEEZ
One of my favorite anonymous bands is the one-man project Elysian Blaze, funeral doom metal from Australia. Pure gold.
I love Klaatu! Like non ironically... it makes me happy when they're talked about. :)
WHERE THE FUCK IS GHOST??? i watched the whole video waiting for him to at the very least mention them, PAPA EMERITUS FOR PRESIDENT!
I was coming to the comments to say the same thing.
That's exactly what I was thinking!
I was thinking where is slipknot?
Ryan Watts
Slipknot isn't anonymous, they just wear masks. A quick google search will tell you all their names. For bands like Ghost, the most you'll find is speculation.
Ye I gess. But there is the new bass and drum player. But this was released before then.
With the ease of electronic music and how quickly things can become mega popular due to social media, I could see if someone would just not want a million people snooping into their life.
The knife and Fever Ray are by far my favorite in terms of what they use their anonymity to try and achieve artistically. I also love the residents. I honestly listen to a lot of anon music now I think of it lol
How in the hell did you manage to get through this video without a single mention of The Residents?
REALLY?!
I would also have mentioned Jandek, Cromagnon and Caroliner, but those are obscure enough to slip under most people's radar. But then, so are a lot of the acts that you brought up! I'm not so much annoyed as completely flabbergasted.
Philemon Arthur and the Dung won the Swedish equivalent of a grammy in 1972, and that decision was protested to such an extent that the awards were canceled until 1987. Their identities are still a mystery.
RIP MF DOOM
GWAR! is this, and only Gwar
That Buckethead joke was brilliant.
Destroid is like if Cyrax, Sektor, and Smoke were in a band. I love it. XD
"Superstar DJ's" Yes Daft Punk! "Aww"
Yup,Destroid got ya there
surprised that Ghost B.C. wasn't mentioned here, I love them and I thought they are pretty popular.
other cool 'anonymous' bands include Here Come the Mummies and Tupperware Remix Party
Awesome video! Love your Entombed shirt :)
I'm listening to DESTROID right now, and I'm sure all my upstair neighbors can hear is "G-G-G-G-G-GET STUPID *THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP* :
When Rush first appeared on radio in the early 70's, people in Michigan thought is was new Led Zeppelin music. Not that Rush were trying to remain anonymous, but when people found out it wasn't LZ, it clearly didn't destroy their career.
The alien script above the subtitles when zolar x is speaking is actually aurubesh from Star Wars
I am from Pennsylvania I have the Prozzak album Hot Show. I first heard the song "Sucks to be You" on a music station called Much Music
FUCK YES DESTROID!!! I LOVE YOU GUYS FOR PUTTING EXCISION IN THIS VIDEO!
Another really cool modern metal band is Ghost B.C. They have a cool concept and their music is really good
I'm seeing Bucket in may!!
Hey, don't forget "Here come the Mummies"!
I have no idea who these mummies are, but they stuck to their Egyptian act and they make funny-as-heck songs!
There's an artist, and the character or persona they choose to use. Sometimes, anonymity merely helps the artist find and refine their stage presence through that guise.
The alien text at 1:45 is just Basic, the main language of the Star Wars universe.
That was Destroid. It's 3 Djs/producers. Excision, Downlink, KJ Sawka (a.k.a Space laces). Thats footage from their first show. It was in SF at the warfield. I'm in that video a couple times. HA! Nice.
The Residents has had a massive impact on electronic and experimental music, all while maintaining anonymity in a truly cryptic fashion, and they probably have a cooler beatles rumor in their career as well.
I'm not surprised he hasn't heard of them but there was a anonymous Australian band called TISM (short for This Is Serious Mum) who wore masks and went by fake names. IMHO their best song is "Whatareya?"
scrolled down through comments just to find someone else who knew who TISM was! the sound of TISM takes me back to my teenage years.
For the Zolar X video, those subtitles are in Aurebesh. Which is basically the Star Wars alphabet, for the uninitiated.
That dubstep is awesome! I love your taste in music!
Charlotte Lola I'm a refined dude.
This Exists slipknot is a anonymous band right they have masks;)
This Exists Have You Earned Your Elevated Existence Yet?...I Have...
failingcyber I know I have, I just have to listen to Existence VIP, Raise Your Fists and a few Shambhala mixes, I actually just finished 2012 this morning for the first time, some sloppy and boring parts but it was amazing nonetheless and had the best ending ever.
I guess rob ford is actually burial now
I aooreciate anonymitiy, IN MUSIC. it lets us enjoy more of what we love, with the imagination of illusion. especialy, when its a genre we love in my case, metal and punk. -jake cosplays
Excision is a massively popular dubstep artist. He's not anonymous at all as far as I know because he has his own record company and you can find his name on Google. The logo on the drum kit is pretty recognizable as well.
I never knew Excision preformed anonymously, so when I saw the mark on the drums I was like ofc it's Excision!
This video introduced me to Klaatu. Thank you so much
"creature feature" is my favorite mysterious band, they've said that their known names (Curtis and Rufus, if I recall) might not even be their real names
Curtis rx and Rufus Rex were a great team
That last band is actually Destroid, which features Excision.
+Christopher Venkus Yeah I love excision. You heard shambala 2015 yet?
Close enough, Destroid has an entire playlist on the group's channel so I guess it's close enough.
you heard fuckin LOST LANDS MIX?!?!?
It was cool when nobody knew who The Sound Of Animals Fighting was.
Ghost BC (now known as Ghost). Awesome band.
At 4:22 the band there is the ponies that made the song Destroid,I can tell by there logo.Excision,Downlink, and Spacelaces made Destroid.So at 4:22 that is Jeff Abel, Sean Casavant, But I couldn't figure out Who made Spacelaces, the last band that made Destroid,the song they were playing at 4:22. Just look up Destroid Logo.
I would have loved to hear the Australian electronica Alternative band TISM mentioned. I heard they tried to claim they were a collection of famous people.
Residents? Need their own episode! Nash The Slash? Kiss? GWAR? Bob III?
Why wasn't the Residents mentioned
I remember seeing a bunch of people claiming that the members of Justice were Daft Punk. This is of course not true, but it's an understandable theory considering they are both House music duos from France and their music is quite similar but with Justice being a little bit more to the aggressive side. Also they both take endless amounts of time releasing music.
I knew Klaatu's live guitarist, who died last year. Dave Cooper.
Incredible guitarist. Great person.
zero mentions of ghost
Ah, well, i didn't ;) but it's been years since i looked it up so...I stand corrected.
The text used for the Zolar x people is the Standard Galactic Alphabet. It is used in Star Wars and Minecraft
Names of some members of Lordi were common knowledge in Finnish media even before Eurovision. After the Eurovision hype some magazines got pictures of the the members without masks. BTW, band called Kiss used to be "anonymous" before the 80's.
To be a nerd for a moment, this reminds me of a Spiderman situation. Basically he was developing a romance with Black Cat, a former thief turned hero and something of a highclass lady. Eventually this lead to Spidey revealing his identity, and when it turned out he was some boring nobody she was distraught. She got over it though, but it's funny how that's a real life result of losing mystique in an identity.
Thanks for helping me rediscover Bucket Head.
The "alien" band at 1:45 is using the Disney Star Wars lingua franca. It says "harmana uva trania steburendom va itropovis"