If there’s one thing you know about Palaye Royale, it’s that you know nothing until you’ve seen them live. You’ve listened to their music, you sing your favorite songs, and you know the three brothers’ favorite colors or their last Instagram post. While we tip our hats to you for having incredible music taste, a Palaye Royale show puts you on another level.
Palaye Royale was the last band to perform on night one of The Gathering. We had just spent hours listening to amazing sets from various bands; everyone in the room had a common love of music and thought we knew what we were getting ourselves into. However, 15 seconds into Payale Royale’s set our jaws were on the floor. Their energy made the entire room vibrate and not one person could take their eyes off of the stage. No one wanted to miss what was going to happen next.
I don’t think there was a square inch of that room that frontman Remington Leith didn’t perform on. He jumped off the stage, climbed amps, and stood on cocktail tables. (It’s the exact performance my ADHD brain dreams of). Emerson Barrett and Sebastian Danzig may have not been able to jump off the stage at any moment, but their presence was powerful. The way they punched you in the gut with perfectly meshed music is hard to wrap your head around.
So you can imagine how excited we were when Sebastian let us in on a bit of their world, and what makes them so unique.
Perhaps one of the more surprising things we learned about the band is how they got started. Sebastian told us, “The time we wanted to do music was funnily enough when we saw Hanson. I had to be 8. We ended up picking our instruments because of Hanson. And full circle because of it, we saw Taylor Hanson on tour in Tulsa, on his last tour. We told him the whole story. We met them first when we were 12 on Disney. They told us, ‘keep going, keep doing it.’ That stuck with us forever and then seeing the Black Crowes live.” You might not have ever thought Palaye Royale is a mix of Hanson and Black Crowes, but it somehow makes so much sense. They might not be your typical band of brothers, but their connection to one another is clear every second they are creating music together.
“They told us, ‘keep going, keep doing it.’ That stuck with us forever…”
Some of the best news for their fans, is they don’t plan on stopping. This is the life they want to live until the end. Sebastian continued, “Our biggest favorite band is The Stones. So seeing something you can do your whole life has always been the goal. Of course, you want the spike but we’ve done 8 years of straight touring that we went from the 50 to the 100 counts to 200 hundred counts to the thousand and now we’re doing like 10,000 people. The ramp is just going and it’s not ever enough. But you’re thankful because your foundation is so strong because of the fans. So I think getting to that point is never getting to your spike. You can build the brand and the lifestyle that you want for the fans.”
To put it simply, he wants to “build an empire of things that make the Palaye Royale universe live past us.” A legacy. You don’t always know what bands are going to become legends until you look back and realize how far they’ve come. However, Palaye Royale is different. You know that they’re going to keep on getting bigger and better and they know it too.
To put it simply, he wants to “build an empire of things that make the Palaye Royale universe live past us.” A legacy.
Of course, I had to ask my most cinematic question: If they were going to mix things up and use their music to make a movie, exactly what kind of movie it would be? We should have known they would have the perfect answer. Sebastian said, “Definitely would have to have Tim Burton direct. It would have to have a little bit of the vampire-esque type thing. It could be a bit fictitious. We talked about documentary-style versions of our lives and about our pasts and presents, and which actors would portray our futures. No band could do that because we have documentation from when we were kids.” Who wouldn’t pay to watch home videos of a mini Palaye Royale playing music? It’s not unheard of for siblings to be tied together by blood and music, but this band does it differently.
So, how did they come to be the unique powerhouses they are? Well, Sebastian got into it further, “We’ve definitely got influenced by the bands we’ve toured with. When we first got signed we were a rock band at heart. We went on tour with deathcore and heavy metal bands and just got eaten alive because we were walking around with makeup and velvet suits and scarves. That’s why our shows became so punk. Because you’re fighting for your life in front of those crowds. We had to find our footing. There was a lot of heavier stuff, and a lot of songs that were capturing who we are, but that wasn’t us collectively as Palaye Royale. Remington can go into that. Emerson gets into that angry side. But this next album is literally the embodiment of who we are as Palaye Royale and what makes us happy about Palaye Royale. The visual that comes with it is if Tim Burton directed a movie.”
They moved past adversity to become exactly who they are meant to be as a band. Sebastian shared some of that saying, “The fans just hated us from the fucking beginning. People were throwing bottles at us and stuff. On our second tour, I was like ‘we gotta start fucking going at them.’ Then Emerson started throwing drums and stuff and that energy just stayed with us. Sometimes it’s the only release we have.” They’ve also been known to throw coffee as KERRANG reported in 2020 but they’ve refocused their wildness these days. He also happens to agree that you need to see them live. He says, “The songs are good and they keep getting better but once you see the show it doesn’t matter.”
Palaye Royale’s growth has taken off recently. Reflecting more on goals, Sebastion said, “I would love to headline Glastonbury. I think Reading and Leeds [festival] is more obtainable. Which is a weird thing to even say. Three years ago it was like, there’s no fucking way. Oh shit, we’re doing over 25,000 people over three shows. If we keep on going we could do Readings Leeds.”
Something we love about this band is that they are who they are. Sebastian mentions, “Every one of our fans knows everything. Either you fucking hate the band or you’re obsessed with the band. Now we’re getting the middle person too.” He went on to say, “We would just throw a camera up and throw it on YouTube. That’s who we are and we aren’t hiding anything.”
“That’s why our shows became so punk. Because you’re fighting for your life in front of those crowds. We had to find our footing.”
At the end of our interview, we had to know if Sebastian has any relationship advice, since their music goes into some crazy heartbreak. He said, “Relationships are a mutual thing. You have your needs but people are too stubborn about what you want. You can compromise. Perfect does not exist. Understand it doesn’t exist but know your worth. It’s not just about you. People forget that you can just meet someone in real life at the grocery store.” (Fun fact: I went on to meet my person in real life just 36 hours later. Thanks, Sebastian?)
Palaye Royale is kicking off the UK/EU leg of their tour on January 20th for Fever Dream. Even if you have never heard a single song of theirs in your life, it’s time to experience it. We promise it will be the best fever dream you’ve ever had.
