The Masque is a project initially created by singer, songwriter and guitarist Dan Lavorel with drummer Shane Whittemore. The band enjoyed almost 7 years before disbanding for awhile in 2001 and had 3 different lineups during this period, Dan being the only consistent member all the way through and the only one still pursuing it!

 Let’s let Dan tell it in his own words…

“Once upon a time in a desert far away there was a hard rock band that played throughout the Southwest and at one point achieved the lofty title of “The undisputed kings of Gothic hard rock in town” according to the Albuquerque Journal. After two or three lineup changes and a couple of recordings, people went their separate ways as they are often want to do in the biz. and I, not knowing how to quit or say no, moved to California to pursue musical ambitions and all the other things mad artists do. A new band developed, then an acoustic trio, then a solo outing, then a duo, and then finally the world was enveloped in a pandemic and everything came to a standstill. Lurking beneath a pile of recordings spanning years, and gazing at a hauntingly quiet earth outside, I decided that as well as a good bottle of something red, I should delve into this and see what was there. Naturally this led to a flurry of activity and an obsession to mix, remix, remaster, re-record, or simply record a song for the first time. What came of this was 3-4 albums worth of material culled from well over a decade or two of music. The first of these little monsters I called “Bad Juju Medicine” which is probably the heaviest and most hard rocking of the bunch and certainly captures the early sound of the band at the time. Focusing on guitars and crunchy rhythms this album is pretty much a no frills rocker with a few mellow moments but not many. Next we have ‘The Darkness Unwinds” which is more conceptual, has more instruments, and could almost be considered progressive rock at times. The underlying theme is pretty clear, it’s a tribute to the whole hippie generation, which of course did not end so well did it? At Woodstock it rained you might say.  The latest release entitled “Vampire Theater” is by far the most ambitious, and is essentially a mini vampire rock opera which combines hard rock and classic rock sounds with a healthy dose of cello in it. What does most of the music on these albums sound like and who are the major musical influences you may ask? Well, it’s a mashup but I have always loved early British hard rock so there is definitely some Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull, and Led Zeppelin as well as a smattering of Uriah Heep in there. Throw in some Sisters of Mercy, Concrete Blonde and season it all with some Jim Morrison and well, I think you’ve got the whole enchilada now. It could all be considered a bit over the top at times but as you get to know me you’ll find that’s precisely what I almost always intend to do, go for the big epic. I hope you enjoy it and if you do that’s wonderful because there’s a lot more on it’s way and I’m even writing new material as this is being posted!

Thanks for listening,

Dan Lavorel