David Wilson and MASSTOR Create ‘Monster’ Music Video Celebrating the Queer Masculine Muscle Aesthetic

In the December holiday season of 2022, music video director David Wilson spent his newly available free time exploring the possibilities of AI image generating software, MidJourney. 

What resulted was Instagram account ‘@RetroFuturistDaddies’; a gorgeously curated feed of AI-generated moustachioed men, created by cues provided from David’s vast image library; mainly consisting of photography from vintage gay porno magazines of the ‘80s such as Honcho and Colt. 

The profile infuses sex appeal and playfulness with the occasional soft and plushy muppet-like creature which is cradled in the muscly arms of bodybuilders. This combination explores the strength of the masculine muscle aesthetic, queering it by including the softness of both non-binary and kink-wear fashion, including Jim Henson-inspired plush furry fantasy creatures. 

@RetroFuturistDaddies soon attracted the eye of MASSTOR: an art project based out of Los Angeles, California. 

Chance had it that David intended to escape the long, dark winter nights of his London home to spend some time in LA, where MASSTOR resides. A dinner meet-up in Los Feliz quickly evolved into a unique melding of minds. 

The MASSTOR project explores areas of queer iconography that spoke directly to David’s passions, having carved his name as an ever-growing presence of queer film making, making high profile films for the likes of Lady Gaga, Arcade Fire, Tame Impala, Christine and the Queens, and Arctic Monkeys. One particularly striking film includes his 2019 short-film ‘Deep Clean’: starring and co-written by Harry Clayton-Wright making love to a vacuum cleaner. 

MASSTOR’s visual language is an expression of the ‘high-binary’; a term MASSTOR has devised to describe the fantasy of pushing the gender assigned at birth to dream-like proportions. The primary way this has manifested was the fantastical creation of a Minotaur-esq, jewel-encrusted purple ‘Orc’. 

The manifesto for MASSTOR states that the band’s aesthetic is a ‘high-binary equivalent of Dolly Parton or Amanda Lepore, except with BIG TITS’. 

MASSTOR takes many forms. One incarnation is as a music project which creates camp, minimalist techno in collaboration with Minneapolis-based musician, Mark Mallman. 

This particular expression of MASSTOR sees David come into the fold, creating their first music video for a cover of Raf’s 1984 hit, ‘Self Control’. The film is the epitome of a ‘passion project’; self-funded, with no record label or management, David and MASSTOR have created a ‘monster’ music video, bringing in the talents of an incredible crew, including producer Josh Sondock (Harry Styles ‘Music for a Sushi Restaurant’). 

Co-starring the talents of dancers, Nathaniel Murray, Lola Ray, and Scarlett Kapella… the latter coming onto the project after David and MASSTOR spotted her during a chance adventure to Jumbo’s Clown Room, Los Angeles’ infamous strip club. 

MASSTOR’s manifesto continues: 

“MASSTOR’s goal is NOT to enslave Earth, but to FREE IT. He does NOT simply wish to FEAST ON YOUR FLESH he wants to YOU TO ENJOY IT! MASSTOR is Love, MASSTOR is Freedom, MASSTOR is Creativity, MASSTOR is POWER!”

MASSTOR’s ‘Self Control’ is available now on all streaming services.