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One-on-One with Gay

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Gay (l-r Neil Rankin, Tom Avis, Cam Murray, Paul Erlichman)

by Michael Thomas

“And the interview turns xenophobic on the first question,” Tom Avis, a member of the Toronto band known simply as Gay, laughed. I met with him, Neil Rankin and Paul Erlichman on St. Patrick’s Day, and Avis commented on how he was disappointed in himself for wearing green, though the green wasn’t quite the “Irish” green the “holiday” is known for. Rankin pointed out that it’s almost like Avis is fighting the Irish with the more military-colour green which leads Avis to make the comment at the beginning of the article.

A strange quote to open with, but this is just a simple example of the chemistry that Gay has. You get the sense that these guys have known each other almost all their lives (even if that might not be the case) especially in their music, which is playful and sly.

The four have been a band for two-and-a-half years and have a fairly simple origin story. Erlichman and Rankin first started making in a “very silly” band called Gentleman Villains before deciding on doing something more serious. Rankin mimicked the conversation he had with Erlichman: “‘Do you want to make a band?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘It’s going to be called Gay.’ ‘Excellent.'” And that was that. The two recruited Avis on his birthday and after auditioning a few people, they chose Cam Murray (absent from the interview) as their final member.

Their interesting band name doesn’t have any kind of hidden or subversive meaning to it. “I just picked it,” Rankin said. “I thought it was a good, catchy, punchy name. Didn’t realize how un-Googleable it is. It keeps up the air of mystery… I just liked it and it was a very freeing name.”

The name Gay is not, however, meant to be a joke in any way. “There’s no reason why that should require people to giggle or something,” Avis said. He particularly takes issue when their audience thinks the name is a big joke. “We’ve played shows where people were yelling shit and we’re like, ‘It’s not that funny,'” Avis added.

At the beginning of 2012, the band officially released their first recording, the Talking Points EP. Previously they released a 7″ split with White Suede and after that did a “collaboration” 7″ with fellow Pleasance Records label mate Sexy Merlin. “He’s kind of the best,” Avis said.

The EP is full of songs with people’s names in them such as “Shotgun Harry” and “Don’t Leave Me Hangin’, Olga,” but they aren’t based on real people. Rather, a lot of the songs were written thanks to a network of friends of the band who email each other with themes for songs. The challenge then is to write and record a song based on the theme and then send it around. “When you’ve got [a theme] it becomes more of a puzzle than it is any kind of artistic effort,” Avis laughed.

It also helps that all four members of the band write songs, so the band has the ability to produce a large volume of songs in a short period of time. It’s very rare for the band to sit and write songs together, but they’ve known each other for long enough that they can play to each other’s strengths.

The band has seen plenty of support from Toronto. “Pretty much right off the bat from my standpoint,” Rankin said. “All the bands we’ve played with have been very supportive…I can’t say it’s been a struggle,” Erlichman added. They’re also liking the innovative approach that different groups of people are taking with regards to shows. Gay is still saddened by the loss of the bar Teranga, but appreciate shows in unconventional venues, such as the shows put on by Silent Shout at The Cave. Toronto also seems to be the perfect size for a music scene.

“It’s small enough that people will return to your shows and not so big that you don’t know anyone,” Erlichman said.

In the near future, Gay is going to be going on their first-ever tour, going to places like Ottawa and Montreal, then heading to the eastern United States, hitting places like New York City and Philadelphia. They’re also planning to release an as-yet-untitled full-length release in the fall, the bulk of which was recorded in January. The recording was done at the Renaissance Cafe, a place no longer in operation. The choice of space will give the album a live-recording feel even though the band obviously wasn’t playing to a crowd.

What’s most remarkable about Gay is how much their personalities match their music. Much like their music, the guys are carefree and looking for fun. For example, Avis’ dream is to have a pizza delivered while they’re playing a show and eat the pizza on stage (something they might try at their upcoming Canadian Music Week gig). At the end of the interview, Avis spontaneously decided that he wanted to play basketball, and Erlichman and Rankin immediately agreed.

Gay will be playing on Saturday, March 24th at the Velvet Underground with Old English, the Dying Arts and the Mark Inside.



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