Death of Paris shares ‘Gossip’ about EP launch party
What makes an indie band indie? Is it their obscurity, or is it their uniquely “indie” sound?
Going by obscurity, Death of Paris is still indie; their new EP, “Gossip,” was funded on the popular crowdsourcing site Kickstarter, and they’re still in the relatively underground phase of their career.
Their sound, however, is pure pop, bombastic and polished, ready for radio play. Their new EP is more reminiscent of Gwen Stefani or The Killers than Sea Wolf or The Shins.
Death of Paris, comprised by vocalist Jayna Doyle, guitarist/keyboardist Blake Arambula, guitarist Patrick Beardsley and drummer Bryan Lee Bass, is an electro-pop-rock band hailing from Columbia, and they’re releasing their EP tonight at a launch party at Jillian’s.
“It’s going to be a really big night,” Doyle said. “We have a lot of really good bands playing with us. We’re really looking forward to it.”
Among the performers will be local singer-songwriter, Beth Dickerson, Doyle said.
“She is amazing, she has a beautiful voice and she’s a really talented songwriter,” Doyle said.
Dickerson worked with Doyle this past summer at Girl’s Rock Camp, a camp for girls age 8 to 18 that seeks to encourage self-confidence and creativty through music and performance.
“I thought it was cool to have a girl from the Girl’s Rock Camp on the stage since we’re going to be giving a portion of the proceeds from the show to the Girl’s Rock Camp,” Doyle said.
Also playing at the launch party are fellow electropop group HARPS and Charlotte-based band Flagship.
As the band has developed, the sound has as well.
“This EP is the first one where we’ve recorded collectively as a band, so we feel like we’ve grown together as a band,” Doyle said. “We wanted keyboards and all of the weird electronic sounds and quirkiness, (but) we wanted to be more calculating with that. Make it a little grittier and a little more rock-and-roll, not like a cliché gimmicky dance band. … We wanted to be a dance band disguised as a rock band.”
Tonight’s show is a big step for Death of Paris, representative of their growing popularity.
“Everything is falling into place in the right way,” Doyle said. “I feel like we have piqued everyone’s interest a little bit because I feel like we’re a wild card and people don’t really know what we’re going to do, and I like that.”