Robbie Augspurger's suitably weird visuals for fake band Meat are inspired by cold cuts

For many of us, the dream of travelling the world in a band would be slightly dampened upon realising we can’t play any instruments. Or sing. However, this small matter did nothing to stop creative duo, Ewoudt Boonstra and Zack McDonald.

The pair has been collaborating on advertising, art and “everything in between” at places like KesselsKramer, Anomaly and creative studio Pregnant for over a decade. Having always wanted to be in a band they decided to extend their collaboration into the world of music and so, Meat was born. Comprised of Willy Wagyu, Eddie Entrecote, Chester Chorizo, Pat Pastrami and Jean Pierre Le Bleu, Meat is an unusual band in that, despite having real music and an album (launching today), none of its members actually exist.

“When we originally had the idea, the internet was just a baby,” Ewoudt and Zack tell It’s Nice That. “Since we can’t actually play music, we thought it would be funny to hype up a band with great album artwork, a weird backstory, celebrity endorsements and cancelled tour dates.” Over the years, their ambition regarding the project grew and they knew they had to create real music for their fake band. “When we met Robbie, we felt like he was the key that could help us unlock our bizarre pipe dream. It only took us two years to convince him to join the band,” the pair explain.

Meat’s debut album Nice to Meat You features five original songs with five respective photos to accompany them, all wrapped up in the signature style of Portland-based photographer Robbie Augspurger. Robbie’s photographs, including a recent campaign for Balenciaga, are hilariously kitsch with their ‘80s school portrait-inspired backdrops. As Robbie is also a musician, he produced the music and “cooked up” a series of images, as well as a music video, inspired by his lyrics.

The project, with its suitably weird visuals, launches tonight (16 February) at Newwerktheater in Amsterdam. Meat has no plans to slow down, however, as Ewoudt, Zack and Robbie are currently collaborating with a small group of creative technologists to build animatronic versions of Meat to make their dream of a world tour come true.