Hey there, Soldiers of the Royal Council: Musical March Madness champs Payale Royale just want to let you know that you are all family — maybe a little in the cultish sense.
“We have such a loyal fan base — we’re a close-knit family cult kind of thing,” Emerson Barrett told MTV News after finding out that the unsigned band beat out Linkin Park for the title. “A little bit like the Manson family. Our fans would coordinate and schedule mass voting periods. They were very set on us winning and it paid off.”
Palaye Royale was definitely the Dark Horse of the epic MTV tournament, which crowned Ed Sheeran last year as the winner. A uniquely DIY band, the trio from Vegas writes and records all their own music, shoots and edits their music videos and has been steadily building up their fanbase online since day one. That dedication helped them beat out the likes of Tokio Hotel, Vampire Weekend and Coldplay in our tournament — and, ultimately, Linkin Park.
“We’re very personable,” Sebastian Danzig told MTV. “As an unsigned band you have no one exploiting you; it’s just creating music, editing all our videos and keeping the connection with the fanbase. I think there’s something pure and honest about the music we’re doing and the work we’re doing — it resonates with a group of people that actually want to see it succeed.”
“The youth does want to see a revolution and I think we are the band to do that,” Barrett added.
When the guys heard about their win, still rubbing the sleep from their eyes, they could hardly believe it. “It doesn’t feel quite real right now. I don’t think it’s hit us yet,” Remington Leith said, while Danzig told us how the band’s fan army stayed home from work and school the last two days to vote.
“As an unsigned band it was remarkable to even be a part of the competition and having our fans vote us in was wonderful and winning is just outstanding. We’re speechless,” Barrett said.
Now that the guys have a shiny trophy coming their way, they’re primed to share it with their fans via a new video, which they’ll shoot from the prize’s POV. They’re also busy working on their debut record and booking shows, so this is likely not the last we’ll see of Palaye Royale.
Now hit the showers and grab a refreshing drink, Soldiers of the Royal Council. Your toils are over — at least for now.
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