Pride of The Gays.
by Q Review Staff
Well, this being Pride season, it seems only fitting we get to know the one and only electro-rock, alt-pop chameleon of sound that is Will Riley and The Gays! Set up in Montreal, Que., The Gays is anything short of boring. With heaps of humour and bags of badassery wound up in originally unique and quirky music, style and performance, The Gays are everything you want during Pride Season.
Step on up and meet your best Gays!
Hi Will. This being Pride season, and your band being called "The Gays", I can't think of a better band than yours to interview. But before we get to the here and now, tell us a little about how things began. How long have you been making music and how did it all get started?
Hmmm, I've been making music since I was a teenager. In the gayest of fashions I started writing songs for my high school's musical, it was a loose adaptation of little red riding hood. It was a generous mediocre if you ask me but it ended up winning some awards at a few festivals which encouraged me to keep at it.
When you were young, sitting at home in your bedroom, playing music – who were you listening to?
Ohh, good question. I grew up in the forest of Ontario, real Rural like. We didn't have internet so I started off listening to my moms CD's. Sarah Harmer, Cat Stevens, The Mama's and The Papa's. After that I remember getting an Our Lady Peace CD, Clumsy if I'm not mistaken, and i was soooo hooked. That saw me through until around 15 or 16 when we got dial up internet and I discovered Limewire haha. It took at least a day to download a song but I found bands like Metric and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Killers Hot Fuss record, Broken Social Scene and Feist. Pretty sure I smoked my first joint to Broken Social Scene's Pacific Theme. Life was good :P
Did you know then that performing was going to be something you would pursue? Were there other things you were equally passionate about?
Yeah I remember realizing that I liked music in a special way. I remember performing a song I wrote with some other music nerds at our schools talent show and it not being a disaster. When high school ended I applied to do a music degree at Concordia university in Montreal for which I was ultimately rejected but ended up moving to the city anyways. I have other things I enjoy but music has always been my main bitch.
Now you are living and performing in Montreal. What's the queer music scene like there?
Haha living yes, performing no. TBH The Gays have never played a show. That would be for two reasons. First that I used to perform with a band and I never really felt that all the effort it takes to get a show onstage to be worth the pay off, which was often just breaking even. And secondly that since I named my project The Gays I have been under close scrutiny from The Church Of Political Correctness, which has a strong footing in Montreal. At one point I got a call from Pop Montreal, the city's major pop music festival. They offered me a spot which I accepted but was ultimately cancelled due to an anonymous allegation that The Gays are problematic. That hurt alot, further cementing my intentions to stay as a recording artist.
Well, this being Pride season, it seems only fitting we get to know the one and only electro-rock, alt-pop chameleon of sound that is Will Riley and The Gays! Set up in Montreal, Que., The Gays is anything short of boring. With heaps of humour and bags of badassery wound up in originally unique and quirky music, style and performance, The Gays are everything you want during Pride Season.
Step on up and meet your best Gays!
Hi Will. This being Pride season, and your band being called "The Gays", I can't think of a better band than yours to interview. But before we get to the here and now, tell us a little about how things began. How long have you been making music and how did it all get started?
Hmmm, I've been making music since I was a teenager. In the gayest of fashions I started writing songs for my high school's musical, it was a loose adaptation of little red riding hood. It was a generous mediocre if you ask me but it ended up winning some awards at a few festivals which encouraged me to keep at it.
When you were young, sitting at home in your bedroom, playing music – who were you listening to?
Ohh, good question. I grew up in the forest of Ontario, real Rural like. We didn't have internet so I started off listening to my moms CD's. Sarah Harmer, Cat Stevens, The Mama's and The Papa's. After that I remember getting an Our Lady Peace CD, Clumsy if I'm not mistaken, and i was soooo hooked. That saw me through until around 15 or 16 when we got dial up internet and I discovered Limewire haha. It took at least a day to download a song but I found bands like Metric and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Killers Hot Fuss record, Broken Social Scene and Feist. Pretty sure I smoked my first joint to Broken Social Scene's Pacific Theme. Life was good :P
Did you know then that performing was going to be something you would pursue? Were there other things you were equally passionate about?
Yeah I remember realizing that I liked music in a special way. I remember performing a song I wrote with some other music nerds at our schools talent show and it not being a disaster. When high school ended I applied to do a music degree at Concordia university in Montreal for which I was ultimately rejected but ended up moving to the city anyways. I have other things I enjoy but music has always been my main bitch.
Now you are living and performing in Montreal. What's the queer music scene like there?
Haha living yes, performing no. TBH The Gays have never played a show. That would be for two reasons. First that I used to perform with a band and I never really felt that all the effort it takes to get a show onstage to be worth the pay off, which was often just breaking even. And secondly that since I named my project The Gays I have been under close scrutiny from The Church Of Political Correctness, which has a strong footing in Montreal. At one point I got a call from Pop Montreal, the city's major pop music festival. They offered me a spot which I accepted but was ultimately cancelled due to an anonymous allegation that The Gays are problematic. That hurt alot, further cementing my intentions to stay as a recording artist.
How supportive has the community been of your music? Have you found any success as a gay artist in mainstream music?
The gay community has been supportive I suppose. By that I mean I get alot of dick pics sent to my bands inbox and the odd album sale once in a while. As far as monetary success I have managed to land some commercial placements, most notably as the opening and closing themes to the danish Colbert Report (Ugen Plus De Los) which although intially attempting to steal my track Pretty Boys Make Me Feel Ugly, has begrudgingly agreed to pay me, although i havent seen the money yet. Theres a Vice article about it if you're interested. https://www.vice.com/fr_ca/article/xwbm7k/the-gays-et-la-bizarre-affaire-du-salut-nazi-scout-danois?fbclid=IwAR1HWGUnzQQiZIscqiFrasfKGN-GoE3-cVLSXufwSy_jzP6LlEH6mzlxLwc
Your band's name now is "The Gays", but as I understand it, the change to "The Gays" was slightly delayed by Facebook. What was the story behind that and how long did it take "The Gays" to become Facebook official?
Ouf, Yeah lol. Facebook was actin a fool as per usual. When I changed my old bands name to The Gays they were like WOAH WOAH WOAH nonononononon. At one point they offered me the title of Gay-Z as some sort of consolation prize but i feel that would be misleading and people would think i was a Jay-Z hip hop spoof.
If you wanna get into it more theres an Xtra post https://www.dailyxtra.com/why-facebook-wont-let-this-gay-artist-change-his-bands-name-to-something-gayer-84661
The music you've released so far has been a variation of rock meets electro meets grunge meets whimsy with a whole lot of humour. That’s our take, but how would you best describe your music?
Um yeah, I think u hit the nail on the head bud. No further description needed :)
You have 2 albums and a double song "Jimmy Eat Wheatus" release. Are you a fan of both bands (Jimmy Eat World and Wheatus) and where did the idea come from for the recording?
haha thats actually just a cell phone rec of our band practice for popmtl. I got a group of my straight-guy friends together to play the show, i guess you could say they were gay for pay for a day and wanted to choose songs that they would like playing :P
Conceptually, how did you go about creating your latest album 'The Agenda' – the most aptly titled album for a band called “The Gays” ever by the way.
haha well thank you very much, as for the direction of The Agenda I wanted to make a heavy hitting sorta rock core album that if shown to a die hard st8 bro could potentially be head banged to. The LGBTQ+ community has spawned some fucking fantastic artists (owen pallette, perfume genius, the scissor sisters) but I wanna be the Joan Jett of my gay generation. I feel like that spot's not taken yet and I could fill it well.
'Pretty Boys Make Me Feel Ugly' is my favorite track on ‘The Agenda’. I got a Beastie Boys vibe from it which I absolutely loved. And there's a definite 90's alternative flow throughout the album that brings Beck (circa Odelay) to mind. Do you approach your writing with certain styles or artist references in mind?
yassss beastie boissss. I approach my writing style based on what ever instruments I have available at the time. When I was writing the agenda i had an electric guitar, a drum sampler and a loop pedal. So i would start with a one handed kick snare rock beat on the sampler, loop it, and write the riffs on top. 95% of what you hear on the agenda are loop sequences and often (opening remarks, wrong #) its the original me in my bed room punching the sampler cut.
The gay community has been supportive I suppose. By that I mean I get alot of dick pics sent to my bands inbox and the odd album sale once in a while. As far as monetary success I have managed to land some commercial placements, most notably as the opening and closing themes to the danish Colbert Report (Ugen Plus De Los) which although intially attempting to steal my track Pretty Boys Make Me Feel Ugly, has begrudgingly agreed to pay me, although i havent seen the money yet. Theres a Vice article about it if you're interested. https://www.vice.com/fr_ca/article/xwbm7k/the-gays-et-la-bizarre-affaire-du-salut-nazi-scout-danois?fbclid=IwAR1HWGUnzQQiZIscqiFrasfKGN-GoE3-cVLSXufwSy_jzP6LlEH6mzlxLwc
Your band's name now is "The Gays", but as I understand it, the change to "The Gays" was slightly delayed by Facebook. What was the story behind that and how long did it take "The Gays" to become Facebook official?
Ouf, Yeah lol. Facebook was actin a fool as per usual. When I changed my old bands name to The Gays they were like WOAH WOAH WOAH nonononononon. At one point they offered me the title of Gay-Z as some sort of consolation prize but i feel that would be misleading and people would think i was a Jay-Z hip hop spoof.
If you wanna get into it more theres an Xtra post https://www.dailyxtra.com/why-facebook-wont-let-this-gay-artist-change-his-bands-name-to-something-gayer-84661
The music you've released so far has been a variation of rock meets electro meets grunge meets whimsy with a whole lot of humour. That’s our take, but how would you best describe your music?
Um yeah, I think u hit the nail on the head bud. No further description needed :)
You have 2 albums and a double song "Jimmy Eat Wheatus" release. Are you a fan of both bands (Jimmy Eat World and Wheatus) and where did the idea come from for the recording?
haha thats actually just a cell phone rec of our band practice for popmtl. I got a group of my straight-guy friends together to play the show, i guess you could say they were gay for pay for a day and wanted to choose songs that they would like playing :P
Conceptually, how did you go about creating your latest album 'The Agenda' – the most aptly titled album for a band called “The Gays” ever by the way.
haha well thank you very much, as for the direction of The Agenda I wanted to make a heavy hitting sorta rock core album that if shown to a die hard st8 bro could potentially be head banged to. The LGBTQ+ community has spawned some fucking fantastic artists (owen pallette, perfume genius, the scissor sisters) but I wanna be the Joan Jett of my gay generation. I feel like that spot's not taken yet and I could fill it well.
'Pretty Boys Make Me Feel Ugly' is my favorite track on ‘The Agenda’. I got a Beastie Boys vibe from it which I absolutely loved. And there's a definite 90's alternative flow throughout the album that brings Beck (circa Odelay) to mind. Do you approach your writing with certain styles or artist references in mind?
yassss beastie boissss. I approach my writing style based on what ever instruments I have available at the time. When I was writing the agenda i had an electric guitar, a drum sampler and a loop pedal. So i would start with a one handed kick snare rock beat on the sampler, loop it, and write the riffs on top. 95% of what you hear on the agenda are loop sequences and often (opening remarks, wrong #) its the original me in my bed room punching the sampler cut.
I’ve noticed that many of your song titles are somewhat tongue in cheek. How important is it for you to be able to have fun with the music you are creating?
oh its everything. if i aint having fun, im dead.
Now that you've addressed the gay agenda, what's the next big "The Gays" dream? Who is on your bucket list of artists to collaborate with?
Right now I'm working on an EP to tide people over until my next full length. It's a hip hop endeavor told from the perspective of a murderous drag queen grandmother who kills people with her knitting needles. thats all i gotta say on that for now. as for collabs, Grimes, Mitski, DJ Holiday
When you’ve got some free time, how are you spending it?
I game alot, playing Pathologic 2 right now as well as hanging with friends, biking and coaching aerial circus.
Now, a few Q Review Quickies!
Chocolate or vanilla?
depends what it is. ice cream? vanilla. bar? well i mean c'mon who the fuck wants a vanilla bar.
Favourite movie ever?
the security tape of my friend falling down the stairs at my old Starbucks job.
If you could live in any other decade, which would it be?
1965-1975
If you could force Facebook to change its name, what name would you choose for them?
FarceBark, a dog meme site.
What’s the one thing you want listeners to know about "The Gays"?
I'm a one man band. lol.
______________________________
Follow Will and The Gays on all platforms.
Follow on Instagram / Facebook / Spotify
oh its everything. if i aint having fun, im dead.
Now that you've addressed the gay agenda, what's the next big "The Gays" dream? Who is on your bucket list of artists to collaborate with?
Right now I'm working on an EP to tide people over until my next full length. It's a hip hop endeavor told from the perspective of a murderous drag queen grandmother who kills people with her knitting needles. thats all i gotta say on that for now. as for collabs, Grimes, Mitski, DJ Holiday
When you’ve got some free time, how are you spending it?
I game alot, playing Pathologic 2 right now as well as hanging with friends, biking and coaching aerial circus.
Now, a few Q Review Quickies!
Chocolate or vanilla?
depends what it is. ice cream? vanilla. bar? well i mean c'mon who the fuck wants a vanilla bar.
Favourite movie ever?
the security tape of my friend falling down the stairs at my old Starbucks job.
If you could live in any other decade, which would it be?
1965-1975
If you could force Facebook to change its name, what name would you choose for them?
FarceBark, a dog meme site.
What’s the one thing you want listeners to know about "The Gays"?
I'm a one man band. lol.
______________________________
Follow Will and The Gays on all platforms.
Follow on Instagram / Facebook / Spotify