Jamie Paris

"...However, before you dismiss "Freakout!" as another, well, downtown freak show involving young artists who aren't old enough to know better, you need to hear a musician like Jamie Paris.

Paris -- who's about as far away from psychedelia and shoegazer rock as you can get -- has posted a few songs on his MySpace page (myspace.com/jamieparis) that display that rarest of talents: the ability to sing in tune and fingerpick an acoustic guitar like he's been sleeping with it under his pillow for years. His songs possess poetic vulnerability and a deep knowledge of earlier folk-music formats: Bob Dylan, Nick Drake, Cat Power.

Paris had played a downtown show that Sturtsman was DJing. Sturtsman mentioned he was putting together a "Freakout!" show every other month and asked Paris to take part in it all. "I see Freakout! as being this laid-back, cool collective of different kinds of artists," says Paris. "What's most exciting for me is how the originality that everyone brings to the show."

Jamie says he's played piano since he was 8, and after spending his high-school days as a teenage thespian in Vegas, he then switched to guitar. Although he's only been writing songs for two years, his rough demos contain the necessary polish to make him a big star. Paris, however, remains humble, preferring instead to talk about his good friend Ian Shane Tyler (formerly known as Red Light School District), who will be manning the keyboard in Paris' backup band.

"Like with Ian joining my band," adds Paris, "Freakout! is about people who are passionate about music, and that's what matters to me. That's why I'm a part of it."

In any case, it'll be interesting to witness the juxtaposition of Paris' introspective balladry with the highly unusual spectacle of Swing Shift Sideshow, a two-person performance team that specializes in things like sword swallowing, which doesn't sound all that unusual ... until you realize the swords are on fire..."

-JARRET KEENE - Las Vegas CityLife Magazine

"...Yes, Jamie Paris is still alive. After breaking from playing shows in 2007 to devote time to recording, the former solo artist finally achieved his goal in November, releasing an eight-song EP, Show Your Insides, with new band Gray Matter Academy.

The name? “We wanted to emphasize the intellectual side of pop,” Paris says. His once-simple acoustic sound has evolved into full-on rock ’n’ roll, his vocals echoing Savage Garden—minus the adult-contemporary suck. “The music has definitely grown more,” Paris agrees. “It isn’t what people expected. They were surprised because they knew they’d be my songs and my words, but they didn’t know how the aesthetic was going to change.”
Expect to see GMA hit the local circuit hard as the band promotes its EP with an energetic live show. “We’re trying to make every live performance more interesting,” Paris promises..."

– Laura Davis - Las Vegas Weekly Magazine