“Pay to Breathe” is the new single from Garry McCluskey, better known by his stage name GAZ. It comes off the back of his recent offering, Super Sexy Hot. GAZ became an influential musician in the South African music scene during his time as frontman and lyricist for the 90s band Crush.
GAZ explains the inspiration behind his new song, “Pay to Breathe”
“The single considers and challenges one of our fundamental rights and freedoms – The Universal Right to Breathe. Air is the one thing that survives all life on earth without judgement, prejudice or a second thought…but will it become a commodity, or is it already? A message of warning that the ‘last straw’ will be paying for the earth’s free air or similar if we choose to let that happen.”
GAZ tells us what the song is all about
“It starts with a reflection on better days versus where we may be heading to in the future. Days when humanity had more freedoms, and a simpler less-regulated life. The track then draws you into how people may be programmed into believing they need things that they actually don’t.”
“The song repeatedly warns the listener not to ‘pay the man’ for the most basic things in life, earth, the sky and everything in between… To value the important things first, eg: our mortality, family, health, freedom, and the world around us first and foremost whilst not taking for granted the value of every breath while we do so.”
More info about GAZ
GAZ was front man of a 4-piece band called Crush in the late 90’s. He played the Johannesburg circuit for about 3 years with other prominent bands at that time. GAZ moved to the UK for 5 years so things came to an end and the band split. 2020 brought him some time to start writing again and this has led to where we are now.
What can we expect from GAZ in the future?
“Pay to Breathe” is one chapter of a bigger story from his upcoming EP (which centers around renewal and rebirth). The EP will ultimately have 4 or 5 tracks and will certainly be pushing boundaries. Mark Beling produced and mastered “Pay to Breathe” at his Johannesburg Studio.
Watch this space for updates in the Music News category on SA Music Zone.
To stay in the loop with all things SA Music, Subscribe to our newsletter.
Looking for something to do? Check out our Upcoming Events section or the SA Gig Guide.
Want to explore the SA Music Scene? Check out our Artist/Band/Group Profiles section.
Want to discover fresh music? Follow our editor's 2025 playlist on Spotify.
