Q&A by Luke Monks
The new single is the greatest Satanic soul song ever penned by reckless party boys. It also calls out some interesting flaws in the male psyche and an entitled warrior culture that has been played out ever since Achilles sulked in his tent (anyone interested in reading the full screed, please contact us via Facebook and you can give me notes on the essay I am working up). We’re hitting the road with sleepmakeswaves to teach them how to party (and hail Satan), but also to hopefully form friendships and possibly drink their rider if it looks nicer than ours. We will have ample opportunity to do so, as we are hitting NSW, SA, WA and VIC with them. Please forgive us our trespasses.
How would you describe your sound in food form and why?
Have you ever eaten a god? I believe the term would be ‘theophague’. Man, we are some bad, bad dudes. Eating us is like that time that Cronus dropped all bar one of his offspring down his greedy gullet. You get a belly full of conflict and creation and the righteous cacophony of the spheres shall ring out the dinner bell and its toll booms – DOOM DOOM DOOM. But then, you realise that we were coated in some very interested mushrooms and by the blood of our dark father, it is one hell of a party once you get used to the new spectrum of colours.
Which song resonates most strongly and why?
Look, I’m no musicologist or even a physicist, but as a rock n roll guy with really sore knees and a press age of 42, I feel that ‘It Sleeps In Caves’ will probably summon something important, if terminal, in the very near future. I hope that you have all lived lovely and interesting lives. Love you all SO much.
Any on the road anecdotes?
Where do you draw inspiration from?
Dead people: Sappho, Plato, Cornelia Africana, Porphyry, Shakespeare, Lovecraft, Richard Miller. Living people: Nick Anderson, Aretha Franklin,Julia Kristeva, Aesop Rock, Stephen Hawking, Richard Dawkins, Marianne Talbot, John Darnielle and Mike from Totally Unicorn.
What’s next for you?
About Gay Paris
Gay Paris is a primitive beast, sleeping in a cave, chewing bones and growling out its dreams. Soon, it will sleep no more, called by the sound of Ember Season and the sound of Saints dancing in cornfields. One must admit – Gay Paris earned its rest the hard way.
Birthed in 2009 from the corpse of something that kicked and screamed until it died, this monster entered the world running with wolves and howling in the hills, spending its time loping about the dimmest haunts of the Australian music scene. This brute was supposed to be beautiful – but with such terrible tales and a voice like tectonic shifts – heavy, rough – things could only ever have turned out to be ugly. Gay Paris’ first record The Skeleton’s Problematic Granddaughter and ensuing touring schedule took this truculent sound to the people, heaping scorn on those who remained in the back row, celebrating the carnal, asking for everything.
2013’s The Last Good Party took this formless celebration and gave it shape – meaning, something to hold on to while one flailed about in the dark. Fans loved it, critics heaped praise on the more cohesive sound, likening the band to Clutch, Kyuss and QOTSA – more nervous individuals noted that the band was ‘hipster cunts trying to be metal’. On tour, Gay Paris attended to every State and Territory – often giving multiple satisfactions. The party could not stop – because everyone knows that animals cannot lie. This was indeed to be the last good party.
Now, with a new record on the way, Gay Paris is shaking of the dust of sleep, feeling its muscles flex and hunger grow and there will be nothing good to come of this; newly aligned to the ‘Dark Arts’, the band is ready to put the sex back into Satan. Album number three’s first single, The Sackcloth Saint of the Cornfield sees the return of the band’s signature sounds: pounding, sensual rhythms, soul stealing guitar solos and of course, that terrible, terrible voice. The initiated may note some differences, however; the sleep of beasts has made Gay Paris leaner, more grimly focused on eking out every possible moment of satisfaction – there is joy and genius waiting in the dark.
Step into the cornfield and try to keep up.
Check them out live: Special Guests on the sleepmakeswaves tour
FRI 01 MAY: BYRON BAY – THE NORTHERN HOTEL
SAT 02 MAY: BRISBANE – THE ZOO
SAT 16 MAY: NEWCASTLE – CAMBRIDGE HOTEL
FRI 29 MAY: ADELAIDE – ADELAIDE UNI BAR
SAT 30 MAY: PERTH – ROSEMOUNT HOTEL
FRI 12 JUNE: MELBOURNE – THE HI-FI
SAT 13 JUNE: SYDNEY – THE METRO THEATRE
Tickets on sale from sleepmakeswaves.com and w
THE SACKCLOTH SAINT OF THE CORNFIELD First single from Gay Paris’ forthcoming album – “Ladies and Gentlemen, May We Present To You: The Dark Arts”
www.gayparismusic.com.au
www.facebook.com/gayparis?
