Introducing: Your Paris - “Heartbreak Pop” Duo
It’s easy to see the chemistry that inspires the music of the new Toronto and Kingston based duo, Your Paris.
The two formerly solo acts, Laila Kharouba and Nick Babcock, joined forces at the beginning of this year to form a dreamy duo that can only be described as “Heartbreak Pop.” I sat down with them on a chilly January morning to talk love and music over coffee.
“[W]e both were kinda pursuing a solo career in the last year or so,” notes Nick. “After being out of my band for a while, I met Laila back in June and she started doing her solo thing and eventually we both were kinda side by side pursuing the same thing but on different paths.”
“Dating in the meantime,” Laila chimes in.
Nick notes that the duo came about in the same breath as their partnership. Time spent together turned into collaborating, and eventually the duo. “I think ultimately it evolved into us singing a lot together, so we came to the decision “why don’t we actually just do this, take this on together.””
“One of the first things we did together was that Nick had a song, that he had a verse and choruses for but he didn’t have a second verse, and he was kinda stuck on it, and I helped him finish it. That was one of the first things we did together so we sorta started our relationship by working together.”
Laila also notes on how their different influences make them a good musical match. “We’re similar in that we have pop that connects us, Nick has a bit more of a hip-hop influence and I have a bit more folk, but we kind of meet in the middle with acoustic stuff and pop.”
“We definitely vibe on the same things,” adds Nick.
I ask them how Laila’s background in musical theatre, and Nick’s background in alternative rock plays into their process.
“I think musical theatre is always going to influence my storytelling,” says Laila, “because I'm an actor in general and it’s inherent to how I’ve learnt to tell stories.”
“Laila’s a lot cuter than I am,” laughs Nick.
“I’m a little bit more dreamy, Nick’s a little bit more edgy. I think that’s why we make a good pair writing-wise.”
“We did a show in Kingston in the summer and we did a cover of “Somebody Else” by The 1975,” notes Laila, “and afterwards someone came up to me and said “You guys make me want to fall in love” but it wasn’t a love song, so that was cool to me.”
Your Paris is a vehicle fresh for 2020 - Nick and Laila are excited for what the year ahead holds. “We’ve got a few songs we’re pretty stoked on to record and finish up and set to release, and that’s the plan moving forward,” says Nick, noting that they’re excited to release what they’ve been working on for the past few months.
Though the two are a couple, they make a point to talk about love honestly, and draw from their past relationships for inspiration. “We’re romantic, but not in a cutesy happy way,” says Laila.
“We’re not sugar coating anything.”
As we finish our coffee, I ask them where the name “Your Paris” came from.
“Paris by the 1975 is one of the first songs we started singing together,” says Laila. “[I]t’s the first video we put out, so we wanted to include that in some way. And we liked the idea of being “your” something, like giving something to the listeners. When we came up with Your Paris we were like, oh that’s kind of cool, because Paris is one of those places that everyone thinks they know what it’s all about, but no one really knows it, it kinda goes in with Wanderlust. I feel like the second you hear “Paris” images come to mind and we had this idea that we could be “Your Paris” for an evening, or for a song. We’ll be that escape for somebody.”
You can check out Your Paris at https://weareyourparis.com/, on Instagram @weareyourparis, or give them a listen at https://ffm.to/yourshirt