You know what`s truly crazy? One of your favourite bands dropping a gorgeous, blindingly colorful video to a single and doing it without any fanfare or notification in advance. Just one day you pick up your phone and find a message from YouTube that JW Paris posted new “content”. That`s it. Imagine, some bands have to resort to paying big bucks for actual fraud and criminal activity (we mean marketing) to have a fan base or to be noticed, while authentic bands just nonchalantly release new videos like it is a normal thing to do. No drama, no cartel type of deals, no breaches of The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act of 2024. We know, absolute bonkers behaviour.
But it gets weirder, bear with us. It is like an episode of “Black Mirror” or “The Twilight Zone”. I hate the word “content”. It implies that an artist or writer is some sort of a factory worker and has to produce a certain quantity of a product to appeal relevant. This feels like zero houring not just of entire creative industries, but human existence in general. Everything has to be timed, measured and delivered.
JW Paris on the other hand have deadlines and marketing objectives where the sun don`t shine. Even blogs like us, who know the band personally, are not updated on their schedule. It may be annoying but at the same time it draws a clear boundary. We can be mates but JW Paris are still doing their own thing at their own time.
No compromises.
So, here I was eating dinner last Sunday when my phone pinged. JW Paris had a new video out aptly called “Crazy” and I had another review to squeeze in. Day later it turned out that I`d be writing from an A&E somewhere between a CT scan, MRI and a blood test as a part of my right eye unglued and caused an eight day long migraine. Fun times. Indieterria already reviewed the single itself when it came out back in February, but since I had some hours in the waiting rooms I thought I`d follow up about the video as well. It feels good to concentrate on the visual side of things sometimes and I have to say “Crazy” has a lot of small details that are just waiting to be picked up.
There is a children`s play known as “telephone” (give or take few variations of the name exist in different countries) where a message is being passed around and it will get gradually distorted. It gives some truly funny results and it aims to teach kids not to listen to gossip and unreliable sources. JW Paris took that idea and played around with it, in their usual tongue in cheek mannerism.
In the center of the video we have got drummer Gemma Clarke, drinking her tea and hanging on the line, trying to get though to somebody. In the background bassist Aaron Forde and guitarist Danny Collins are doing their utmost to disturb and irritate Gemma with their antics. Like a pair of unruly brats, Aaron and Danny run around, jump and try to get a reaction out of their band member. To their annoyance, Gemma looks bored and almost motionless.
Then you see who is on the other side of the phone and it is actually Danny and Aaron singing into the receivers from somewhere else and communicating the song lyrics to Gemma. Talk about being in two places at the same time. The effect is very simple yet fresh. I like the fact that just having three persons and a very minimalistic set up, JW Paris managed to create a lot of dynamic on the set. Kudos to Gemma for remaining almost motionless to the tune of a very upbeat song that almost forces you to sing along.
“Crazy” is paying a homage to American visual artist Amina Mucciolo, creator of Dopamine Décor movement, owner of famous Cloudland and author of children books that focuses on palette of vibrant colours. Paints may not always go together, but somehow create a lively and intriguing environment. It`s not invention of the wheel but independent artists supporting each other is quite a nice touch. And it doesn’t cost a fortune either.
The whole concept of “Crazy” is about joy – in the purest, strangest and simplest form. Being around those that uplift you, having small but significant ideas and supporting a community of like minded individuals. It may just be the recipe we all need to get by.
As I said before JW Paris are masters of sneaking some serious concepts that you need to dig for to get. Like that small Jolly Roger emblem on Gemma`s cardigan. And a song about joy. Now put some dots together and see what you can come up with!
You can follow JW Paris online:
https://www.facebook.com/jwparismusic
https://www.instagram.com/jwparismusic
https://www.tiktok.com/@jwparismusic
https://www.youtube.com/@JWPARIS
https://twitter.com/jwparismusic
https://soundcloud.com/jwparis-music
https://open.spotify.com/artist/7Eh8L6V40D5B70XCOucwE3
Record label:
https://www.blaggersrecords.co.uk
Our coverage so far:
https://vanadianavenue.co.uk/tag/jwparis
Further reading:
https://thelutonian.com/jw-paris-return-with-riotous-new-single-ahead-of-new-ep
https://auralaggravation.com/2026/02/18/jw-paris-crazy
https://www.anrfactory.com/jw-paris-let-insanity-born-from-mundanity-of-the-reins-in-the-riotously-grungy-alt-indie-anthem-crazy
Malicia Dabrowicz
Indieterria 