My Gold Mask

Chicagoans Gretta Rochelle and Jack Armondo have been making music together for almost as long as they’ve been romantically involved.

After playing in a “sex rock” band together for a few years, they launched My Gold Mask as a more electronics-based, pop-oriented project that over the past half decade has found a sweet spot between Siouxsie & the Banshees and Robyn. After last year’s Leave Me Midnight LP the band–now a trio thanks to the addition of drummer James Andrew–is focusing on the release of a series of singles recorded by metal guru Sanford Parker. The latest, “Explode,” is heavier than anything they’ve ever recorded, filled with dense synthesizer tones and a relentlessly pounding drum part, but with plenty of big hooks the song can gracefully slide into your brain and wedge itself there. - Entertainment Weekly

"Chicago duo strike a productive bargain between raw primordial stomp and self-aware homage to 1990s alt-rock."
"..the bottled lightning of "Violet Eyes" makes My Gold Mask a band to watch" - Pitchfork

Chicago's My Gold Mask is gearing up to release some new music in the next year, but before any of that, they've released "Battles." Gretta Rochelle's vocals paired with the bubbly synths and heavy-hitting percussion on "Battles" shows just how versatile the band's sounds have become.

“Battles is about struggle and duality,” Rochelle said in a statement. “Lyrically, I was inspired by the conflict of society vs nature.” Well, that makes perfect sense once you listen to "Battles" below: - Noisey

The big time premiere of My Gold Mask. It’s been a long time coming for Chicago’s dark wave trio My Gold Mask—that is, finding a primetime spot on a festival lineup. And Siouxsie/Karen O/Elvira frontwoman Gretta Rochelle filled the spot well alongside her comrades, American Gothic guitarist Jack Armondo and standup drummer James Andrew, who brought a fiery mix of ‘70s horror, European gypsy flair, new wave electro pop and murderous garage rock to the Radical Stage, presented by Red Bull, which has been all over this troupe the past couple of years. Older numbers like hit “Violet Eyes,” paired well with the upbeat roar of new singles like “Dissipate,” that had Rochelle spouting at the mouth with a range of voices, all of which spoke to us. - Boxx Magazine

Last week, Chicago synthpop outfit My Gold Mask brought their dark and brooding take on pop music to Consequence of Sound’s new video series, Treehouse Sessions. In the accompanying interview, the band announced plans to release a full-length record sometime later this year. However, guitarist Jack Armondo suggested that they’re much too eager to wait that long to unveil some new music.

“We’re always working on the next thing…that’s how we keep ourselves going,” Armondo said. “To be able to just put the song out and be like ‘Here it is, here’s our new song and here’s our other new song’, that’s really a satisfying thing for us.”

Keeping with their rapid-fire approach, the band’s released “Dissipate”, produced by Sanford Parker (Local H, Chris Connelly). While the hooks and melodies are pure pop, the track is influenced by Parker’s metal background. Here, pulsing synths rush in and sweltering guitars crack like thunder, lending the song a sense of manic urgency. Gretta Rochelle’s vocals, a mix of bubbly and demented, serve as the glue for this cohesive sonic assault. - Consequence of Sound

Chicago trio My Gold Mask are dark-pop purveyors who cut their thick, smoky atmospherics with buoyant rhythms and elevated melody. Singer/percussionist Gretta Rochelle has a voice capable of both slinking and soaring within the mix of gushing textures, blurting effects, canned drums, and echoing guitar. And thanks to all of that amassed might — assisted by ax-man Jack Armondo and drummer James Andrew — a song like "Severed" is as prone to pretty as it is ugly, and in both ways positively dazzling. The band is still fresh off of the release of their second album, Leave Me Midnight, but "Severed" shows they're already looking to push their sound further. - SPIN Magazine

The latest album from Chicago band My Gold Mask has been some time in the making.

Four years ago, the band -- Gretta Rochelle and Jack Armondo, joined last year by drummer James Andrew -- released their first album and since that time, they've been amassing a cultish following for their signature sound, which blends Rochelle's Siouxsie-esque vocal melodies with driving percussion and dark riffs that simultaneously recall the Cocteau Twins and look toward "futuristic gypsy tribe shit," as their bio aptly describes.

Rochelle explained to HuffPost that "Leave Me Midnight," out last week, was significantly influenced by the look, feel and sound of Italian giallo films, particularly the witchy Dario Argento horror classic "Suspiria."

"There is a tension in those sorts of giallos," Rochelle said. "The colors and saturation of the film 'Suspiria' and the dark beauty I found in that movie were really influential in our own saturation of layered vocals and sounds. Even the album cover's an homage to that style."

In the latest edition of our ongoing My Chicago interview series, Rochelle recently spoke with HuffPost ahead of the band's March 9 record release show at Schubas Tavern. - Huffington Post

Chicago musical duo Gretta Rochelle and Jack Armondo, otherwise known as My Gold Mask, bring their gothic pop sound to life with their new album Leave Me Midnight. At times it's a slice of contemporary funky indie, but more often than not, My Gold Mask manage to imprint their own brooding darkness on each track.

The Chicago duo have a distinct taste for the cinematic, instilling songs with an industrial inspired symphony comprised mainly of just guitar and drums. When I heard that My Gold Mask had featured heavily on the insanely vacuous dull-fest that is Gossip Girl, I had to admit I jumped to some conclusions about the band. In fairness, it's nothing like the twee electro-indie you might expect, and even though there are moments of indie-pop inspired pretension, this is actually a much darker record. They have more in common with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs than Marina and the Diamonds, and they're all the better for it.
Read more at http://hangout.altsounds.com/reviews/156582-review-gold-mask-leave-midnight-album.html#F6L29AIuZp2ZCL7M.99 - Altsounds

After first hearing about the band My Gold Mask on Music Mondays, I was pleasently surprised to hear that they were from Chicago. It's not that my city doesn't have tons of awesome Indie bands, it's just that the sound of this band is so melodically sexy that I assumed they came from somewhere near the Siouxsie and the Banshees' launching base in London. Check them out live this Wednesday at the Buskirk-Chumley Theatre in Bloomington, IN or at Schuba's on November 13th. It's a definite good time. -Justin - Urban Outfitters Blog

At this point, the breakup album has been bent into countless shapes. So rather than try to re-shape it, on their debut album My Gold Mask’s Gretta Rochelle and Jack Armondo simply amplified its effects. They didn’t skimp on dramatics, with Rochelle’s pleading vocals, Armondo’s spiraling guitar riffs and lyrics that grapple with psychosis and reference Gothic literature and Italo horror flicks. The result achieves a spellbinding emotional intensity that’s easy to inhabit. - eMusic

It doesn’t take more than a couple of people and a pile of effects to make a healthy din or at least to drum up some atmosphere. Going beyond that to command an audience’s attention, however, demands at least a modicum of inspiration. Local newcomers My Gold Mask boast a certain spark and seem to know they’ve got it going on, too. The duo of Gretta Rochelle and Jack Armondo play with an attitude—as if it’s only a matter of time before people fall head over heels for its spooky racket.

Whether that trait comes off as arrogance will be up to the listener, but it’s plenty easy to give in to the menacing, minimalist swagger of the band’s new A Thousand Voices EP (this gig celebrates the record’s release). The gothy rock further advances Rochelle’s nascent star power. You can name your pick of influences—Siouxsie Sioux, Karen O, Alison Mosshart—but to her credit Rochelle growls, snarls, howls, moans and drums over Armondo’s gritty, reverberating guitar as if she’s the world’s first girl gone wild.

The pair’s soulful tempestuousness boosts songs such as the aching, rambling “Violet Eyes” and the jet-engine-intense “All Up in the Air” into entrancing duels. It sounds less like a rookie’s first shot than a confident return from a band on its way up to even bigger things (formerly the two were in Bang Bang). Get on at the ground level.


Read more: http://chicago.timeout.com/articles/music/81812/my-gold-mask-at-the-hideout-concert-preview#ixzz144rgmyAj - TimeOut Chicago

My Gold Mask - A Thousand Voices EP (2010) [Self-Released] // Grade: A-

My Gold Mask are a Chicago-based duo that first hit my radar last year sometime when their track “Bitches” landed on a few music blogs. Not unlike the XX, My Gold Mask’s music possesses a poised minimalism. Gretta Rochelle contributes moody vocals performed while multi-tasking on percussion and partner Jack Armondo adds a cool echo via nylon string guitar. Their gloom pop shines black across their newest self-released EP, A Thousand Voices, their sophomore effort and followup to last year’s (also self-released) debut.

A Thousand Voices favors slowly paced intros and thought-out builds. Rochelle’s voice mixes the drama of Siouxsie Sioux with the raw edge of KASMs vocalist Rachel Mary Callaghan. Her tone is not only unique, but far more mature than you would expect from a band whose name you’re probably hearing for the first time. Rochelle’s voice immediately commands attention, but never completely steals the spotlight or overpowers Armondo’s accompaniment. They’re perfect partners, taking cues from one another and working towards the same musical goals.

While My Gold Mask’s debut is worth seeking out, it’s A Thousand Voices that’s the better statement on the band’s potential. “Violet Eyes”, the EP’s lead track, single and soon-to-be first video is the strongest work across their full catalog, offering an upbeat darkness that is only topped by their live performance of the selection. “Fingerprints” falls solidly into position as the EP’s second best tune, a slow companion number, full of the same droning pacing and haunting echoes that made for much of my mid-to-late-90s obsession with Switchblade Symphony. “Circle Mass” and “All Up In The Air” are enjoyable, but could benefit from further development and lack the compositional tightness of “Violet Eyes” and “Fingerprints”, acting as gentle reminders that My Gold Mask are still a young act coming into their own.

My Gold Mask sold out their release party for A Thousand Voices here in Chicago a few weeks ago and I can’t recommend enough seeing this band live if you get a chance. - Mishka Bloglin

"Arresting vocals from Gretta Rochelle complement her minimal percussion and balance the guitar backing offered by My Gold Mask bandmate, Jack Armondo. Icy vocal edges slice through moody instrumentals..." - Chicagoist

Gretta Rochelle and Jack Armondo began recording as My Gold Mask back in 2009, but it wasn't until 2013, when they were joined by drummer and programmer James Andrew, that their musical vision began to crystalize. With the help of producer Balthazar de Ley, their sound suddenly became charged with an electric current, and as they began to hone their aesthetic with a slew of dark, whirring synth pop gems, the band came closer and closer sounding the way they wanted.

That nadir was reached with "Battles," a visceral and industrial-tinged anthem and the first single off the Chicago-based trio's upcoming album, Anxious Utopia. We're premiering the song's strikingly minimalist video, which features Rochelle in full rockstar mode. "Battles is the first song we wrote since becoming a three piece that really felt like us to us," she told us. "It's the track that propelled us forward on the path to completing Anxious Utopia, so when director Kasia Koniar expressed interest in directing a video for it, we were so thrilled. We think the minimal, muted palette complements the tone of the song and the themes of struggle, beautifully."

Watch it above. - NYLON Magazine

MY GOLD MASK

Girl-guy duos are hot in Chicago these days (see White Mystery, Fair and Kind), but My Gold Mask rises above the classification with its moody, driving guitar-and-drums rock. Guitarist and backing vocalist Jack Armondo works the spectrum, thwacking his bass strings while spider-walking the high ones, while singer and drummer Greta Rochelle throws her throaty wails over her comprehensive kit. The result sounds like Siouxsie working with Jack Black ("I Don't Need the Reason") or Shirley Bassey with Garbage ("Violet Eyes"), but when the Hood Internet applies their requisite remix, mashing up the white-girl rap of My Gold Mask's "Bitches" with Roxy Music's "Love Is the Drug," they become Blondie.

The "A Thousand Voices" EP debuted earlier this year, and another, "A Million Miles (From Where We Were Last)," is due in November digitally and on vinyl. Rochelle and Armondo premiered the new tunes last month at the Phillip Lim store during Fashion's Night Out in New York City (they also did the music for Lim's fall 2010 show). They open for New Pornographers this weekend in Bloomington, Ind., and are back in Chicago for a release show Nov. 13 at Schubas. - Chicago Sun-Times

My Gold Mask roughened up the selvage of their awesomely forlorn Siouxsie-isms and, on “All Up in the Air,” somehow ended up sounding goth-garage. It’s crazy brolic for them, almost metal in parts, a good example of their breadth—makes one wonder if, when they named their EP A Thousand Voices, they were thinking literally. The duo’s from Chicago and has been relatively on the low as of late, but that will soon change: they’re playing a show for CFDA-winning designer Phillip Lim during New York fashion week this October, a slot that last year launched Lissie Trullie into the iPods of a thousand Beatrice-frequenting (throwback!) it chicks. Get it while you live it!

- The FADER

Whatever else is said about the California Wives + My Gold Mask tour that kicks off tomorrow, the bands can always fall back on the notion that they mix well together in the studio. These aren't the biggest bands you've ever heard of—they're far from it, most likely—but California Wives and My Gold Mask have managed a couple of remixes that would rival that of any collaborative works you're favorite superstars could muster.

Both remixes strip down each song and rebuild it with their own respective flavors, highlighting the differences between the band's styles and magnifying their individual skills. Where the "Marianne" rendition slows the tempo down, the rework of "Some Secrets" does the opposite. If it happens in the future, the pair would make a great A & B side to a seven inch, as the two exhibit enough emotional variation to hold a better audience, from a variety standpoint at least, than the majority of the hundreds of EP's that get sent to me each week. - Earmilk

We’ve been anxiously awaiting new music from My Gold Mask seeing how their latest collection of new material came in the form of 2010's A Million Miles (From Where We Were Last). And, finally today, the waiting (always the hardest part) is over.

My Gold Mask recently debuted a new track slash tease of their upcoming full length, Leave Me Midnight, which was mixed by Sanford Parker (dude gets around) and is set to drop in early 2013.

The track, titled “In Our Babylon,” is dark and moody in all the right places and exactly how I like my My Gold Mask. The song begins with Jack Armondo’s brooding nylon guitar picking while the rest of the song opens up with funky snare cracks and Gretta Rochelle’s reverb-laden croon. - Loud Loop Press

Chicago duo My Gold Mask bring some crunchy melodies and a feral attitude — think early Yeah Yeah Yeahs — and effectively rock your face off with this track. “Further It Gets” hits high all over the place, from the scratchy guitars and Gretta Rochelle’s gliding vocals, to the yelping, party-like outro. If you need to jumpstart your day or shake things up this afternoon, here’s how. - Music Ninja

"One of our obsessions of 2009, is the highly-recommended and "yep, you're all catching on" duo, My Gold Mask, out of Chicago. Gretta and Jack are two super-talented music ans, creating dynamic art-rock that we've been singing the praises of for many months." - Sheena Beaston

"Together they could fill vast caverns with an implosion of their beautifully raw, wondrously imaginative psychedelic rock songs." - Aced Magazine