Victor Hayden (1948-2018), known by his stage name The Mascara Snake, was an American painter and musician. He is mostly associated with experimental rock, but painting occupied much of his life.
A cousin of Don Van Vliet, better known as Captain Beefheart, Hayden joined the Magic Band as a guest bass clarinet player in 1968 and can be heard on the 1969 album Trout Mask Replica. That same year he performed with the group at the Amougies Festival in Belgium. Afterwards he devoted himself mainly to painting and graphic design. He co-founded Alchemy Records in 1986 and, from 2007 until his death, worked as A&R director for PIG Records, also creating cover art for bands such as Melvins and Poison Idea. His paintings were shown in New York, Seattle, Austin and Los Angeles, and one of his paintings was used as the cover of Beefheart's 1974 album Bluejeans & Moonbeams. He died on December 7, 2018, after being struck by a van.