Rock & roll music has a long and storied history with the fallen angel known by many names, but more commonly called The Devil.
From preachers proclaiming rock “devil’s music” to records with hidden messages proclaiming love for ‘sweet Satan’, The Devil has always been in rock’s details. Continuing this tradition is the music of Sydney-based hard rockers Gay Paris, who’ve released their third album, ‘Ladies And Gentlemen, May We Present To You: The Dark Arts'.
With proclamations of “Hail Satan!” at their shows, the band has been away from the live circuit, having had to deal with the troubles of a lengthy recording process. “We flew to the US to record [the new album], came home, hated everything, scrapped it, and started again,” explains lead singer Luke Monks of the 13 months spent on recording.
After spending three weeks in the US, Gay Paris came home disappointed for not completing a satisfactory record, significantly cutting down their touring schedule, and not meeting their crowdfunding campaign deadline. “We’re sick of not having people hear it; we’ve had that hanging over our heads.
"We were meant to deliver the album to the crowdfunding people, but we’re way over our deadline. We couldn’t just leak it because we have an obligation to these people who’ve kicked in their hard-earned dollars to fund our possibly, over-the-hill rock-n-roll dreams.”
Despite the long wait, Monks says the extra time was well spent, as they “got such a killer record from coming home”. Working with friends of the band who understood them – producer Daniel Antix and mixer Dave Hammer – helped with making sure the energy of the band transferred on to the album. “They know us too well. But, working with people who want it to be a monster instead of a cowering lamb ghost really brought it to life in a way that is special.”
While working with friends has helped, it doesn’t mean their brand of Black Sabbath-influenced rock hasn’t evolved. “Normally, I have an album worth of lyrics beforehand without any music, but this is the first album where we’ve had melodies.
"I felt I had to write a story and somehow pull that back into rhyme and melody structure, which was actually a more fun process. Even though I was still attached to all of my verbal children, I still had to give them a shake.”
This move towards adding melody wasn’t a completely natural progression Luke admits. “We got all our friends to make a diss video about us as part of our crowdfunding campaign. [Sydney band] The Snowdroppers said something that really got to me at that time, saying we’ve got no hooks, and I thought, ‘Shit! We’ve written two albums and they’re kind of right.’ I thought it’s time to make peace with that. I’m in the business of songwriting and not just showing off my vocabulary for the sake of it.”
After a long time away from the road, with the exclusion of supporting The Dillinger Escape Plan and sleepmakeswaves, the band are ready to tour again. With a reputation for energetic, live shows, fans can expect things to get crazy, especially since their Queensland dates are so close to Halloween. “I might show up in horns and red-metallic body paint. Don’t expect any banners or light shows, but our music will still summon Lucifer.”
'Ladies And Gentlemen, May We Present to You: The Dark Arts' is out now.
Gay Paris Tour Dates
Thu 22 Oct - Crowbar (Brisbane)Fri 23 Oct - The Helm (Sunshine Coast)
Fri 6 Nov - The Cambridge Hotel (Newcastle)
Sat 7 Nov - The Carrington Hotel (Katoomba)
Thu 19 Nov - The Prier (Port Macquaire)
Fri 20 Nov - The Northern (Byron Bay)
Thu 26 Nov - The Prince of Wales Hotel (Bunbury)
Fri 27 Nov - The Odd Fellow (Fremantle)
Sat 28 Nov - The Boston (Perth)
Fri 11 Dec - The Grand Poobah (Hobart)
