5 Bands Whose Faces You Never See

From Daft Punk to GWAR, you may love their music, but you probably couldn’t pick them out of a lineup.

Justine Goodman

May 22, 2013

From Daft Punk to GWAR, you may love their music, but you probably couldn’t pick them out of a lineup.

Daft Punk

Daft Punk’s highly anticipated new album, Random Access Memories, is out today, and while we are longtime fans of the duo’s catchy, dancy hits, we have no idea what these dudes actually look like, because they always wear these robot masks from the future. What we do know is this: The men behind the masks are Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter. They are French. And we’ll be listening to their new single, “Get Lucky,” all summer long:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3pvx-6nSGE

GWAR

The members of planet Earth’s most gruesome heavy metal band are incredibly nice fellows—despite the fact that they tried to kill one of our editors during a live show last year. But you wouldn’t know it to look at them, since they spend most of their professional lives running around in fishnets, thongs and monster masks, hosing the audience down with fake blood and piss, and assuming such charming personas as Sexecutioner and Balsac The Jaws Of Death. See for yourself in this exclusive Maxim video featuring lead vocalist Oderus Urungus—who is described on Wikipedia as “an intergalactic humanoid barbarian with devil horns and a meaty looking face, [who] always carries around a long sword named ‘Unt Lick’.” (Real name: David Brockie, because, of course.)

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1783580181001?bckey=AQ~~,AAABnwxt8sE~,TdyFq09iMr7kioKT_wX2C8w8xLyk5_f2&bctid=2008487240001

Insane Clown Posse

At the risk of incurring the wrath of this band’s ferociously loyal fans (also known as Juggalos) who, let the record show, are definitely not in a gang, we can’t say that ICP are a regular on the office playlist. But then, if you’ve experienced them firsthand, playing in a homeless shelter, how could an MP3 possibly compare? That said, if you ever have the pleasure of attending an ICP show, you can bet on two things: (1) The band (which consists of Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope) will be decked out in clown makeup that obscures their faces; and (2) It’ll be super easy to buy crystal meth in the parking lot.

Deadmau5

Canadian house music sensation Deadmau5 (née Joel Thomas Zimmerman) is well known for the cartoonish, oversized “mau5head” he dons during live performances. Fun fact: His stage name was born when, as a teenager, he was chatting online with a friend and noticed that his computer was omitting a strange odor. He opened it up to investigate, and discovered an actual dead mouse inside. The episode led friends to begin calling him “the dead mouse guy”—which we assume was a massive improvement over his previous nickname: “Nerd.”

KISS

KISS took the music world by storm almost immediately after the release of their self-titled debut album in 1974, and their elaborate costumes and badass face paint quickly became their trademark. Now, 40 years later and still performing, the getup remains an integral part of the band’s shtick—which is good, because, honestly, no one should have to see a 63-year-old Gene Simmonswithout a boatload of makeup.