BIO

(left to right: Kliph Scurlock, Steven Drozd, Cory Franklin)

Who is this delightful band, how did they meet and what do they do?

The Paris Gun consists of Steven Drozd (vocals/guitar/keyboards), Cory Franklin (bass) and Kliph Scurlock (drums). These three men came together through involvement with the marvelous Flaming Lips. Steven, who has been a purveyor of music since his polka days and beyond, spends much of his time as the Lips' very own guitarist/keyboardist/drummer/back-up singer/composer/prodigy/pink elephant. Cory was a roadie for the Lips in the '90s and was in three bands with Steven during that period - The Wizards, 9mm Dilaudid and Gnome, which played only one gig before the singer got into an argument with Wayne and that was the end of that. After a break during the Soft Bulletin period, Cory rejoined the Lips on the Beck tour. Now Cory dresses like Santa Claus and provides the Lips with endless amounts of excited, sweaty fans wearing animal costumes, ready to dance and wave flashlights around in their whimsical stage show. Kliph joined up with the Lips when he hung around the band on the Soft Bulletin tour and ended up doing odd jobs for Wayne and becoming an official roadie. One thing led to another, that thing being the Lips seeing just how awesome a drummer Kliph is, and now Kliph dresses like a dog-bear and rocks out on the drums with the Lips in order to free up Steven to play guitar and keyboards and to allow plentiful disciples of the band to witness, well, Kliph rocking out on the drums.

Eventually, these three decided to form their own group, combining their individual awesomeness into a collective awesomeness known as the Paris Gun. This project has been planned for some time, but their band-ness has long been limited to jams at Lips sound checks and enthusiastic tour bus discussions. This was the case until a studio session in April of 2003, when they wrote and recorded demos of their first two songs, "I Thought You Said I'm Alright" and "Plan B, Part Two". Steven once described their music as "Black Sabbath meets Aphex Twin meets Mahler or something". Whether or not the music lives up to that, you may judge for yourself. We hope it does.

What are they doing now and when can we hear them?

The band have recorded three songs with Dave Fridmann at Tarbox Road Studios in Cassadaga, NY. This was in late May, 2004. They plan to go into the studio again sometime in the Fall and release their first official work in the Spring. The Paris Gun regrets that there has been so much talk about their band and that nothing much has happened yet. They can only create music in the holes in their schedules that are not filled by obligations to the Flaming Lips, but waiting for their music to be released will only intensify the anticipation and make it an even more brilliant moment when their rock is fully realized and enjoyed by their soon-to-be legions of adoring fans.

Where does the name come from?

The original Paris Gun was a weapon used in World War I. For more information, visit this website. Steven, who is a history buff, chose the name after they decided against the original name, Flights Of Fancy. Keep in mind that he does not wish to bring any harm upon Paris.

Written by Nell (BruceyLucy1@aol.com).