The Romance Of Paris

"I don't think it was unreasonable, and if you strip all the cowbells and whistles off the whole goddamn process, it's the easiest way to pre-order the album and so you know, everyone gets the album, and if you want the music that's how you get it. And I don't care if you get it and then put it on Pirate Bay or something, because we're not at a level where we can make a living out of this; we just want [to be able to make it] and have people hear the goddamn stuff,” says Wailin' H Monks, Gay Paris vocalist and today's spokesman for the band's upcoming tour, The Death of Spring. He's talking about the band's Pozible campaign to crowd source their second album The Last Good Party. It was a campaign that asked for six grand in return for tunes, as well as the odd stunt. “We wanna make it and we want it to be good quality, and without everyone helping... we [really] didn't think they would,” he says, pragmatically.

“At first we thought 'We're not going to hit $6,000, maybe we should ask for a bit less', but then the money just poured in very, very quickly. And once again, it was like we said 'Would you like some of this high octane, high-quality rock'n'roll with all the fine lyrics and beats that you so sorely desire?' or 'Would you like us to debase ourselves, because we will also do that for you, whatever you want'. And you know, I guess it says more about the character of the Gay Parisian fan base, but I'm just looking forward to seeing Slim [Pickins, bass] breakdancing in a one-piece in the Pitt Street Mall.”

Indeed, having a bass player humiliate himself in public, in lyrca, is just one of the warm and fuzzy added extras to be had via Gay Paris' Pozible campaign (that kind soul gave $102). In addition to providing music, Gay Paris have offered quite a bit of themselves in exchange for cash, including weird and wonderful musical (and not) rewards. Among the perks is a personalised birthday wish for several years in the row; having Ol' Blacktooth [Marks, guitars] re-enact any film (or trailer) in ten minutes using only cutlery from the kitchen; having the band make and deliver a candlelit dinner; exclusive show access and early releases, and this writer's favourite, having Slim and W.H re-enact 'The Fake Orgasm' scene from When Harry Met Sally in a Maccas and send you the catastrophe on film. For $750 Monks will even “Have a fan with him forever”, offering to get the name/face tattooed on his person (includes the cost of the tattoo), with a signed copy of the CD and a T-shirt.

While the offering of exclusive swag is now the custom for crowd sourcing projects, few are quite as direct (and funny) as this Sydney four-piece. Their Pozible promo video shows a rags to riches story, which sees them doing the full hobos to heroes experience (as well as seeing Monks dressed as a hooker, threatening to turn a nasty trick), which serves to get right to the heart of the matter while taking the piss. Making music costs money – not an outrageous amount – but more than the standard door price or crappy rider of warm VB. “We had some money, so we could either write the record or tour the record or record it, but we couldn't do all three. And we thought, 'This is what the people need. They have heard enough of the last album, they want to hear some new outrageous stories',” says Monks.

Having said that, he is clear that the band are grateful for what they've already been given, and won't take it for granted. “I don't know if we'd do it again, because I think if you ask for too much too often people might get a bit pissy and you might have to answer for yourself in a way we're not prepared to.” This acknowledges not only the band's gratitude, but also their want to remain relatively independent. So yes, it seems Monks might wear a fan's name on his person, but he won't necessarily take too many musical requests. “People can ask for what they want, but that's exactly the same as being in front of a crowd who are screaming 'They owe the doom mechanics more than they will ever know', which is a silly hip hop song we did for a silly idea – and we're never going to play that song live. But there's no control over this band – the music is for the people but it's got to be by us and what we're feeling. People haven't heard the new album yet except for the first single, and I don't think that's a good indicator, but we've already got ideas for where we want to go next and it has to be on us otherwise we're not Gay Paris – it'd be Gay Paris plus contributors.”

Said single, The Demarcation Of Joseph Hollybone, is a heavy but strange little ditty that shows the band proudly walking the line between serious rock and straight up piss take. It's two separate worlds that the band have long managed to balance (see in particular stellar tracks like My First Wife? She Was A Fox Queen! and And Lo! She Beheld The Pale Surgeon). “As long as we don't fall we're happy to walk the line,” Monks says. “I would hate to slip into a nice rock'n'roll combination, or to fall into being another goddamn novelty band.” Of the band's latest track, he can give some clues, noting that ...Hollybone is a good indication of the standard to come, but not necessarily the form the entire album will take.

“I think overall this album is more cohesive, and I don't want to be the band guy who says, 'This album shows how much more mature we are', but I think it is more cohesive in so far as, and I can't speak for the others, but it's less about showing off the talent pool and about how many riffs we have (that are awesome!), and it's more about being stripped back. Maybe ...Hollybone is an extreme of that, as it gets in and gets out very quickly, but we've also got more mellow songs than that,” says Monks. “We've got these big travelling stoner doom songs as well, but I like to think that the stoner dudes also carry a hipflask of something to keep some fire in their belly as well, because it's not just about hanging out on the longue watching Fear and Loathing... with the sound turned off.”