All too often, when a local band starts to build a bit of a following, they can start to take themselves too seriously.
The chance to have some fun is usually the main reason why most people start playing in a band, but what starts out as a fun hobby with a group of mates can end up being a boring obsession for a bunch of egomaniac wankers. Every now and again, though, a band comes along that remembers how to have fun.
That’s what so good about Sydney heavy-rock band Gay Paris – they like to take the piss a lot. After starting out playing in technical, metal bands around Sydney, the band decided they wanted to play something with a little more mojo.
Frontman Luke Monks explains the simple reason why they needed a change from the scene that was beginning to get boring for the group. “There’s a real short answer to that – sex. It just didn’t have any sex.
“There was no sex in metal. Maybe that’s changed now, but certainly when we were doing metal – no-one would ever want to fuck to it. With rock & roll you still get to hang with Satan, but people will get hard about it.”
After deciding that metal had lost all of its sex appeal, Gay Paris was formed as a type of party band of sorts, mainly so the four members could have some fun playing music once again. “It’s a party for the world that we get to take part in. I would like to think that it’s contagious. We always have a good time, if not a productive time. Plus if you put all of your time and energy and money into this and you work terrible jobs just to keep the show on the road, then we’ve gotta party.”
Gay Paris clearly having a lot of fun on stage and it helps to set them apart from a lot of other bands on the local circuit who take themselves a bit too seriously. “With bands that take themselves too seriously, I don’t really mind. I don’t really have a problem with them per se, unless on stage it comes across as a performance where you may as well just buy the CD. Also, if you’re gonna act like a big shot – then really act like the king of Persia. There’s not really any space for a middle of the road rock star that still has to work at JB Hi-Fi.”
There’s no shortage of humorous, satanic references in the band’s songs, and in Monk’s overall lifestyle too. “I’ve always had the devil’s music in my mind. I’ve got the metal, the blues and the rock & roll. It’s something that just sort of clicked into place. I didn’t discuss with the dudes – they just tend to let me put the window dressing on the band, as it were. I started the party-band thing, and now we’re a satanic-party band. But now there’s more than ever a philosophy in the lyrics – particularly in the last album which comes from more of a protest angle, but I do like to dress it up in the underwear of the dark lord.”
The satanic antics of the band are so far yet to receive any criticisms from righteous, extremist, religious types. Oddly enough the only hate for the band’s satanic ramblings came from a lead singer of another metal band. “We were playing at a festival when one of the other bands came up to us. Everyone was drunk and this dude comes up who’s wearing a shirt that’s metal as all get out. You know – a band logo you can’t read like some sort of black-metal band t-shirt. I was thinking, cool, this guy is going to come up and give me a high five over Satan and have a few beers with us but he said to us ‘Why are you on about Satan, man? Don’t you know the dark lord can get inside your mind!?’ I just thought great, this is hilarious.”
The band is due to play a show at Mojo Burning Festival this weekend, but despite being their first performance at Mojo Burning, Monks says the show will almost be like a reunion for the band. “It’s our first time at Mojo Burning, but it’s kind of a reunion in a way because so many of those bands are dudes that we’ve played so many gigs with across the years.”
Monks says the band is also looking forward to being the heaviest band at a gig for once. “It’s also interesting because I feel like we used to play with a lot of blues bands when we first started. I don’t know why – I think it was because we dressed more sharply and people thought that we were going to be a French-blues band or something. Now we play with a lot of really heavy bands, so this gig will be fun because we’ll be the brutal dudes.”
Gay Paris play Mojo Burning Festival at the New Globe on 21-22 March. The band also have hometown shows at Studio (Sutherland) 2 April and Tattersalls Hotel (Penrith) 11 April.
