Parisian Orgy Offer You an Art Punk Escape Hatch in a World Afire

Photo credit: Matt Wallace (@citizenblitz)

Parisian Orgy go a long way to convince you they aren’t that great. They call themselves a “slapstick” band, speak with cheeky disdain about their use of “toy instruments,” and, at first glance, seem to relegate their music to something that veers closer to good kitsch than art. All of this self-deprecation betrays how adroitly the collective plait together playfulness and malaise. How they write fantastically frantic, pin-eyed songs, packed with sharp-angled turns, rubbery basslines and twee vocalizations. Or how their newest self-titled full-length may just be one of the finest art punk albums released last year.

Transmitting from the Red House Studios, a multimedia art space in Calgary, they cram themselves at a work-table, trying to all be visible in my camera. Still, with six of them (and this with a couple of key members missing!), Kyle, the guitarist, is left out of view, a mythical voice that chimes in intermittently with a sarcastic riposte.

Gwen Morgan, the band’s de facto leader, had first started the project in 2015. Slowly since then, it has been accumulating members and instruments, and rotating roles, shaping itself into the Parisian Orgy we know and love today.

“Some people wanted to be in the band. Some people got wrangled into the band. But once you join, you cannot leave. That’s the rule,” she quips.

“For a long time, Parisian Orgy was a very femme band. Then Tyler joined and ruined it by fucking bringing penis into the band! Now there’s three of them,” laughs Nyssa Brown, the band’s singer/singer, and occasional bassist.

Photo credit: Matt Wallace (@citizenblitz)

Their live shows, already legendary for elaborate costumed themes and random instrument-swapping, have been drawing rave reviews for some years, scoring them an opening gig for Lydia Lunch, and prompting Vancouver punk vet, Josh Nickel, to sign the band to his Neon Taste Records. It’s all made even more impressive when you find that Parisian Orgy are yet to play a show outside their hometown.

Once you listen to Parisian Orgy though, most of that mythology becomes crystal clear. All the best aspects of Delta 5, the Slits and the Mo-Dettes get passed through their singular prism into a tight nine-song set heaving with great ideas and instincts. They add a tasteful touch of dub on “Jazz Song for Shrimp,” pump “Parasite” full of cavernous atmospherics, and throw in a wicked cover of Tokow Boys, an oft-forgotten gem from the catacombs of 80’s post-punk. Altogether, their album is an intoxicating listen, bristly and lyrical, as melodic as it is unhinged.

Throughout our chat, Parisian Orgy project as one of those bands that are a rowdy pleasure to be around, a close-knit collective, whose lives are imbued with art of all walks. They frequently tumble into a giggling mess of inside jokes and strange asides, spend fifteen minutes arguing over specific tints of their individual favourite colours, then suddenly swerve into talking about double salted licorice, and The Lucky Ducks, a five-pin bowling team that Gwen and trumpeter Emily are on. A few questions later, and we abruptly dive into discussing pets and side art projects, and then, laughing uproariously, the band remember sweating up a storm during one show, while dressed in medieval cloaks and chainmail in 30-degree weather. 

In that euphoric scrimmage, their self-described “Pee-wee Herman meets cabaret” atmosphere takes on full life, and it becomes easy to see why both their recorded material and live performances pulse with such an addictive frenetic spirit.

At some point in the midst of this, I ask about the infamous “breast wall” in their rehearsal space, and cause another caterwaul of laughter and odd factoids:

“In our jam space, we have a boobie wall! We jam in Gwen’s garage, and behind Tyler’s drum kit are 50-odd breasts made out of plaster! They’re really heavy. There’s also a headless cat that no one ever talks about. There’s a ton of charm to the way we get together that is hard to explain, but translates perfectly into how we’re perceived,” says Nyssa.

“My mom’s also a doomsday prepper, so half of the garage is full of canned and dried food. There are lentils, oats and potatoes,” Gwen adds.

Unhappy to contain themselves to Calgary, taking their fantastic live show on the road is definitely a priority for the band over the coming year. And though corralling so many people on a prolonged tour, with work schedules and other daily grind factors factored in, will undoubtedly be difficult, Parisian Orgy are markedly elastic in what their line-up, sound and sets might look like.

“We have played shows, where the line-up is completely different every time, and the songs sound different every time,” says Gwen. “Sometimes there are four of us playing, sometimes there are eight.”

“That’s the key to a good orgy. We’re all very flexible,” Nissa adds.

Photo credit: Matt Wallace (@citizenblitz)