Palaye Royale
Rightfully christened as both “The Hottest Band of 2018” and simply “the” group of the year, by the English music press, Canadian fashion-rock trio PALAYE ROYALE is a shot of adrenaline into the modern musical landscape. Summoning a thrilling spirit, with throwback sonic crunch, visual flair, and reckless live performances, PALAYE ROYALE has quickly earned a legion of obsessive cult-like loyalists, lovingly dubbed Soldiers of the Royal Council.
PALAYE ROYALE draw as much inspiration from cinema and philosophy as they do from their musical muses, building a story with libertine reverence for Alan Watts and debauchery-fueled nights at the Chateau Marmont, for Johnny Thunders and The Stooges. This band is equally at home in the hallways of Los Angeles Fashion Week or climbing the lighting tresses at the Vans Warped Tour. They sold out theaters on their first-ever headlining tour and steal the show at each major festival.
Each member of PALAYE ROYALE doubles as musician and visionary. The Pirate, The Vampire, and The Gentleman inspire a level of devotion reserved for My Chemical Romance or Twenty One Pilots, as their deep fan connection crosses genre-divides.
Kerrang! declared the band to be “on the cusp of next-level stardom” and with good reason. PAYALE ROYALE went from support act on any tour that would have them to the cover of Rock Sound and Alternative Press. “Morning Light,” “Mr. Doctor Man,” “Get
Higher,” “Don’t Feel Quite Right,” and “Ma Chérie” amassed 30 million YouTube views (and counting). Boom Boom Room (Side A) paved the way for this year’s hotly- anticipated follow-up, Boom Boom Room (Side B), heralded by the arrival of the overnight smash lead single, “You’ll Be Fine.”
PALAYE ROYALE brought the juxtaposition of the glitz and grime of their teenage years spent in Las Vegas, when they relocated to Los Angeles in 2011. The ghost of Charlie Chaplin was surely some sort of unseen guide as they took up residence in his old home and rehearsed continuously in a basement. By the time they hit the road, borrowing their mother’s Cadillac Escalade, Remington Leith, Sebastian Danzig, and Emerson Barrett were a tightly wound creative force. (Not long ago, they slept in that SUV outside a Motel 6, unable to afford to rent a room.)
It was Alex Burdon, daughter of The Animals singer Eric Burdon, who insisted Sumerian’s founder see the band. (The label offered them a contract the same night.) Los Angeles radio personality and tastemaker Rodney Bingenheimer introduced PALAYE ROYALE to rock industry legend Kim Fowley, another strong supporter. James Iha of The Smashing Pumpkins/A Perfect Circle and Corey Taylor of Slipknot/Stone Sour also count themselves among the band’s true believers, having worked with them as a producer and taken them out on tour, respectively. Sleeping With Sirens’ Kellin Quinn made a guest appearance on Boom Boom Room (Side A).
Sumerian’s Ash Avildsen handpicked Remington to voice the lead character in American Satan, Johnny Faust, a young rock star trapped in a literal deal with the devil. As the voice of the fictitious singer’s songs in the movie, Remington collaborated closely with Asking Alexandria guitarist Ben Bruce and Black Veil Brides singer Andy Biersack, who invited PALAYE ROYALE on tour with Andy Black.
As their moniker itself evokes (Palaye Royale is the name of the Toronto dancehall where their grandparents met in the ‘50s), the brotherly trio is eager to connect themselves and this generation to the spirit of the past, but reinvigorated for today
with eclecticism and fierce individuality. Their tours are like a traveling circus. Clad in scarves, hats, paisley shirts, and makeup, as the Soldiers of the Royal Council attest, it’s the PALAYE ROYALE lifestyle.
Gretsch guitar tones that shimmer with reverb, drums that shake and pound, vocals that claw forth with the electric urgency of the early punk movement, all swirling together with the swinging cool of the 1960s and the swagger of latter day Brit Pop bands such as The Libertines and early Arctic Monkeys. Each show comes with an element of unpredictability and danger, with the three guys playing as if their lives depended on it, pure showmanship over perfectionism.
As Classic Rock Magazine wrote, “If you want theatrics, these boys deliver in spades – and not just in their headline-grabbing threads and eye-popping stage show.” The Rolling Stones, The Black Crowes, and The Doors collide with The Ramones and Iggy Pop within their songs, with a hint of the early blues that inspired Led Zeppelin.
It’s fast-paced dirty rock n’ roll. It’s glam and grime, spectacle and sweat, showmanship and songwriting. Rock Sound’s in-depth cover story, drawn from an intense 72-hours with the brothers, called PALAYE ROYALE “Rock’s Next Superstars,” predicting they “might just change it all.”
Even as 2016’s Boom Boom Room (Side A) and 2018’s Boom Boom Room (Side B) document the story thus far, PALAYE ROYALE remain focused on the bigger picture. They’ve built something grander than a band. It’s an artistic movement. Ever self- assured in their ambition and staunch in their support of individuality, PALAYE ROYALE are “outfitting the revolution” (as they like to say).
As Sebastian put it best, PALAYE ROYALE is entertainment at full volume.