17.6 C
Byron Shire
March 29, 2024

Gay Paris in Byron

Latest News

Resilient Lismore’s ‘Repair to Return’ funding

On the eve of the second anniversary of the second devastating flood in 2022, Resilient Lismore has welcomed the finalisation of its funding deed with the NSW Reconstruction Authority, which will enable the continuation of its ‘Repair to Return’ program.

Other News

Hiatus Beers

Launched to market in July 2022, Hiatus Beers is all about brewing crisp, refreshing, full-flavoured, non-alcoholic beer.  The founders...

Laid-back but lively

Ooz is an acoustic roots reggae artist with a large, eclectic repertoire of crowd favourites. His unique, laid-back but lively style creates a relaxed atmosphere and his song choices have you remembering many of those forgotten classics.

Democracy on the ropes?

The ancient idea of democracy is under threat around the world. Today, there are only 63 democracies compared to 74 autocracies, and many of these democracies are highly problematic.

Byron Council staff baulk at councillors’ promise of free parking for locals

Will Byron Council deliver on its pledge to make parking permits free for locals across the Shire when paid parking comes into force in Brunswick Heads?

Community grants on offer

Ingrained Foundation is running its fifth annual grants program, with a funding pool of $150,000.

A seasoned bard

Guy Kachel had an idyllic entry to the world of music. Born in Tamworth, he was raised on the banks of the Peel River. The landscape was a fertile ground for his imagination. Seeing this rustic world change, as Tamworth developed into an inland city and friends grew to sometimes troubled adulthoods, provided insights for the artistry that later powered his career as a performer.

The sleepy village of Alstonville has always had a touch of Desperate Housewives Wisteria Lane about it. Perfectly neat houses lined up on perfectly neat streets, all with perfectly neat lawns.

One often wonders what goes on behind those perfectly neat doors. According to Lachlan Marks, guitarist/vocalist for rock band Gay Paris, a bit of heavy guitar. Years back this is where Marks cut his teeth – as a schoolboy playing metal in the garage!

‘When we were kids I had a neighbour who would crank up Madonna or Cyndi Lauper to counteract the punk rock from next door… eventually my parents were happy to shell out the $15 an hour for us to rehearse up at the sports centre!’

Now years on Marks has made his mark in a band that promises ‘to bring Satan back’ on their epic Last Good Party Tour Cycle. All tongue in cheek of course.

Marks is modest about the band’s achievements.

‘I feel like the one thing we do have is that there aren’t a lot of bands that sound like we do and I think it comes from being a little bit uneducated musically – and because of that we have all attacked songwriting sometimes having no idea what we are doing. We are musical dyslexics in some ways!’

Gay Paris have just wrapped up their third album and are looking forward to hitting the road for their summer tour.

‘I constantly write music and then we use a filter process. It’s a four-way process. We rented a room, which was always a goal in the day, a tiny freezing cold room in the bottom of Sutherland in Sydney, and spent 15–20 hours a week hashing out songs over six months. We’d write and rewrite songs all the time.

One time I got home at 2am from a gig in Manly and wrote the end of a song and brought it into rehearsal the next day. During that process we rewrote constantly. It wasn’t about making it more accessible; it was about distilling a song down to its essence. We wanted to make things that are great to play live.

‘For us the process was also about hitting the point where we are agreeing: these are my limitations – this is my set of skills and this is my toolset.

Often we write something I can’t play and hope I can play it onstage! We still do write things we can’t necessarily play right away, but the difference between the first show and the fifth or sixth show in a tour is enormous. We pick up a lot of our songs and rework them as we go. It’s a bit of roadwork!’

Every band has their own process for how they write songs or choose songs or sift through ideas. Gay Paris has a unique approach all of their own.

‘We have a ridiculous process, I am pretty sure no other band does this. I write every day so there are hundreds, almost thousands, of ideas, so it’s mathematically impossible to try to make a record out of that many. So when we have a 15-hour drive from somewhere like Sydney to Brisbane, we get the spreadsheet out and get everyone to vote on the songs as we drive. It’s pretty awkward in a car with four people right there and you hear them vote on your art, 4–0.

But in the end I don’t want to play music they don’t want to play. It’s like the Gay Paris riff convention…’

Gay Paris have just welcomed a new drummer to the fold. Adam Simpson has taken up sticks and the band is forging ahead faster than ever.

‘The most important part of the band is the drummer,’ says Marks. ‘The drummer is the engine room of any band. From a musician’s point of view you know if they are speeding up or slowing down. Things can go a bit weird… We had a transitional period when our last drummer had to bow out and we needed a fill-in and we thought Adam wouldn’t be interested because he had other bands, but he was keen. We’ve been four men married to each other ever since.’

So what should people expect from a Gay Paris live show?

‘We are a live band. It’s not going to rock everyone’s world, but our music is divisive and conclusive; they either say this is my favourite band or else they will walk away and say that was shit!

‘When you were a kid you are sold this idea you can be a rock star if you write just one song, but it’s not that. I like the idea of maintaining the cult status of a band. I would rather be a band that can put 500 people in a room for 20 years, than 20,000 for just two.’

Saturday atthe Hotel Great Northern. Free Entry


Support The Echo

Keeping the community together and the community voice loud and clear is what The Echo is about. More than ever we need your help to keep this voice alive and thriving in the community.

Like all businesses we are struggling to keep food on the table of all our local and hard working journalists, artists, sales, delivery and drudges who keep the news coming out to you both in the newspaper and online. If you can spare a few dollars a week – or maybe more – we would appreciate all the support you are able to give to keep the voice of independent, local journalism alive.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Editorial – Joyous propaganda! 

The NSW Labor government marked its one year in office this week with a jubilant statement of achievements issued from Macquarie Street HQ.

Man charged over domestic violence and pursuit offences – Tweed Heads

A man has been charged following a pursuit near Tweed Heads on Monday.

Where should affordable housing go in Tweed Shire?

Should affordable and social housing in the Tweed Shire be tucked away in a few discreet corners? Perhaps it should be on the block next to where you live?

Making Lismore Showground accessible to everyone

The Lismore Showground isn’t just a critical local community asset that plays host to a number of major events each year, but has also been used as an evacuation centre during past natural disasters in the region.