Columbia band needs extras for weekend shoot
Although the finished product won't debut on MTV, Fuse or VH1, the members of Death of Paris need you to be in their first music video.
The Columbia pop punk outfit is shooting a video for its single "Narcoleptic" at Art Bar on July 21 and invites anyone in the city to come be a part of it.
The Daily Gamecock sat down with singer Jayna Doyle, bassist Blake Arambula and guitarist Patrick Beardsley to talk about the video shoot and Saturday's show.
"We've always talked about doing a video, but then we have [had] all kinds of setbacks," Doyle said. "I was a media arts major at USC ... so I wanted it to look a certain way."
The video will be directed by USC media arts graduate Shae Winston. The majority of the video will be a performance, but there's a subplot, too. The video will feature a girl who takes pills before attending the concert and experiences out-of-the-ordinary events, such as people disappearing as she touches them. Viewers will have to figure out the ending for themselves once it is released.
"We're hoping to have a person in a bear suit [and] someone in a chicken suit," Arambula said.
Death of Paris plans to feature cameo appearances from several local bands, too.
"It's kind of a nod to all the bands in the music community," Doyle said. "Having them on camera there is like a shout out."
The video shoot will begin at 3 p.m. Saturday and is scheduled to last until 8 p.m. Extras are asked to refrain from wearing clothing with visible brand names and arrive on time so the band can pass out release forms. The first 50 extras to sign up will receive free admission to the band's show that night. Death of Paris will share the stage with local bands Ye Mighty and Latenights as well as Brooklyn-based group Hank & Cupcakes.
Death of Paris has played with all the bands except Latenights and are excited to share the stage with all the acts on Saturday. Doyle describes Ye Mighty as "a Columbia super group" and said they have become great friends with the members of Hank & Cupcakes after meeting last March during a tour stop in Charleston.
"We're so excited to have them there," Doyle said. "I feel like Columbia's really lucky to have a band like them come through. We're big fans of theirs, too."
In addition to the bands, Saturday's show will feature a photo booth, free cupcakes in honor of Hank & Cupcake's CD release and merchandise giveaways from local clothing designers including Boom City.
"It's more than just a concert," Arambula said.
Death of Paris has been together for several years, but this November will mark the two-year anniversary of the current lineup. Doyle, who works at Cool Beans, met Beardsley at the downtown coffee shop after hearing that he was a talented guitarist. The trio met current drummer Bryan Bass, who currently lives in Charleston, while on an acoustic tour last summer.
Doyle, Arambula and Beardsley all attended USC. Doyle studied media arts and theater, Arambula studied print journalism and Beardsley studied German. All three musicians try to apply skills from their studies to their duties with the band.
"We try to use our majors in the band," Doyle said. "With [Blake] being a journalism major, he handles most of our press and PR stuff. I do all the editing and shooting of our videos."
"I speak to all of our fans in dirty German," Beardsley said.
Saturday's Art Bar show will begin at 9 p.m. and doors open at 8 p.m. Admission is $5 and it will be a 21-and-over show.
"It's fun to see yourself in a video," Doyle said. "We're basically trying to throw a big summer party."