Premiere: Wolf Mask – “LIQUIDCRYSTALDISPLAY”

This morning, Doom Flamingo and Lureto’s Ross Bogan unveils the debut single for his new project, Wolf Mask, “LIQUIDCRYSTALDISPLAY”. The release comes in advance of the band’s live debut this coming Saturday, October 1st at Charleston Pour House for Extra Chill Fest.

“LIQUIDCRYSTALDISPLAY’ is a driving, synth-fueled electro rock experiment that brings with it the feral energy of a wolf howling at the moon. Wolf Mask gives us a melody to hang onto amidst the madness and then proceeds to take us for a ride, with plenty of subtle details to enjoy along the way.

According to Ross, the Wolf Mask project was born of spontaneity.

“I had been making music and writing demos for other bands, and recently have been writing a lot of music for Doom,” Ross explains. “I was recording these demos, and singing them in my apartment, and I was kind of whisper singing them, and I started to like the way that sounded.”

Ross goes on to explain that he had more creative output than could possibly be picked up by other artists, and instead of letting the demos gather dust on a hard drive, he decided to bring them to life, and Wolf Mask was formed.

The wolf costume that Ross sports with Wolf Mask was another spontaneous idea that he says lent itself perfectly to the project. He initially bought the mask last fall at the Hocus Pocus Halloween store on Highway 61 in Charleston, with the intention to wear it during a Lureto video shoot at the Woodlands Nature Reserve.

“I grabbed this mask and we went out to Woodlands and camped out that night,” Ross recalls. “By the end of the night, we had a video. I wore the mask and grabbed some fake blood, and I already had some Dickies coveralls that I had rocked with Doom. It turns out that I just really enjoyed being a wolf.”

“I think when people put on masks it kind of brings out a character and gives them a certain boldness that they wouldn’t normally have. People do weird things when they have masks on.” Ross continues. “I just decided to channel that energy into a whole project.”

Now, preparing for the live debut of Wolf Mask, Ross has assembled a stellar band for a headlining set at Extra Chill Fest. The band includes Ross on keys/vocals along with Thomas Kenney (Doom Flamingo) on guitar, Dylan Dawkins (Persona La Ave) on bass, Dries Vandenberg (Human Resources) on guitar, Matt Zutell (Human Resources) on drums, and backing vocals from Eliza Novella and Shannon Vogt.

“I just want the live show to be all about fun,” Ross says. “We’ve been going into it with the energy of ‘how can we make this as fun as possible?’. Whether it be through outfits or the crazy musical ideas, or whatever. That’s what we’re all about.”

“LIQUIDCRYSTALDISPLAY” comes from the full-length album that Ross has been working on at Coast Records, with collaboration from Matt Zutell and Aaron Utterback of Human Resources, plus Eliza Novella and Shannon Vogt contributing vocals.

Stay tuned for the music video on Thursday, more singles coming later this year, and the full Wolf Mask album dropping in early 2023.

Listen below, and get your tickets to Extra Chill Fest here.