Project Description
Interview with
PARTY DOZEN
Interviewer – Vicky Hebbs
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Has music always been a major part of your life? What music did you listen to growing up?
Yeah, totally! My dad was a mad Beatles fan, and every weekend started with the ceremonial blasting of their “live at the BBC” recordings. I had three older siblings growing up, so I had quite a bit of exposure to alternative music from a younger age than I probably should have.
How did you first form ‘Party Dozen’? And how would you describe your personal sound as a duo?
We formed around 2015 in London. I’d describe it as two people making a shit tonne of noise, making it up as they go along and having a really good time.
How do you incorporate all the instruments you play into your music?
Party Dozen has a pretty clear vision sonically. We both wanted to start a band on the instruments we were best at, which I think is a good approach because it lets you really explore your own capabilities. Plus it’s a bit more impressive to the average punter from a live standpoint. Then we make loops that get triggered on a sampler, played by all the instruments we’re second best at, like synth and guitar.
Your second album ‘Pray for Party Dozen’ is scheduled for release May 22! How long have you been working on the album?
Around two years I’d say. We never like to rush our output because the variation of songs and tone colour on our releases is important to us. If we do it all in the same week or so, it all sounds the same. When we spread it out, we are more adventurous and try new things.
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Can you share the concept or story behind the album?
It’s all about humanity really. And its extremes. We were pretty inspired by cults, religions, authoritarian governments and the like while we were making the record. Mostly we want the music to cohesively make you feel like you’ve gone on a bit of a journey through our world, weaving in and out of new sounds. Join us.
How would you say your music evolved or changed since the release of your debut album, “The Living Man”?
We both feel like we’ve developed the bands overall sound quite a bit since the first record. On The Living Man, we wanted to make a noise album that threw heaps of sound at anyone who’d listen to it. Pray For Party Dozen is more cohesive. Sure, it jumps around a lot in tone and tempo, but it gives you a broad spectrum of colour and takes you into every room in our house.
You just released single “The PDD” from the album. What is the story behind that single?
We’d done quite a few weird and gentle songs for the record at that stage. When we made the loop for The PDD, we were wanting to make something pretty rockin’, chaotic and energetic for the record.
What has the reception to the song been like so far?
Pretty good I think!
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Is there any song on the album of which you are especially proud and can tell us a little about?
I personally love Play the Truth. It’s got this real late 60’s new york vibe for me and it builds so epically and then has the most satisfying drop. Jono is really proud of The Great Ape.
What inspired you to write the song ‘Scheisse Kunst’?
We were playing around with a korg monotribe one day in the studio, and Jono came up with the loop. It felt great and we ended up with a real suicide-inspired jam from it.
How are you connecting with your fans and sharing your music in this time when you probably cannot play live gigs for a while?
We’re doing the odd live stream, chatting to people and releasing lots of songs before the album drops. It’s all you can do really.
Your tour dates to promote the album have been rescheduled – where can fans see you live? What can we expect from the planned live gigs?
We’ve rescheduled our east coast tour to November. It’s gonna be loud, and we’re gonna blow the budget on lights and visuals.
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You have played quite a few festivals in the past – do you have any memorable festival moments or sets you have played that you could share with us?
When we played MONA FOMA it was at their late Faux Mo party which ran from about 11pm-4am. I walked into a room full of naked people, with some punters taking part in a life drawing class, and others just watching it all unfold. By the time we played, the place was packed and we had a roller skater covered in lights performing a routine to one of our tracks mid-set.
If you had the opportunity to perform live with any music artist, who would you choose and why?
Grinderman, because we love Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. Just gotta get someone to convince them to make album 3.
Do you have any other plans as a music group for 2020? Where do you see yourselves in your music career three years’ time?
We’re just going to keep writing albums we love and playing live as much as possible. We want to get overseas and play at some point but, while the world is in its current state, we’ll just keep on making music we’re proud of.
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TRACKLIST:
01 World Prayer
02 The Great Ape
03 Party Dozen
04 Auto Loser
05 Dead Friends
06 Gun Control
07 Play The Truth
08 Scheisse Kunst
09 The PDD
10 Shit Faced
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Check out PARTY DOZEN below
Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
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PARTY DOZEN
“PRAY FOR PARTY DOZEN”
Album out May 22nd
VIA GRUPO RECORDS
+ June shows rescheduled
for November 2020
Sydney noise duo Party Dozen, saxophonist Kirsty Tickle and percussionist Jonathan Boulet, recently released single “The PDD” taken from their second album “Pray For Party Dozen”, and announced rescheduled dates for the postponed June tour.
“Pray For Party Dozen” is a typically DIY affair, produced by Jonathan and released May 22nd on their own label, Grupo. The album is the follow-up to their 2017 debut “The Living Man”, which established Party Dozen amongst Australia’s foremost sonic adventurers. Since then they have played incessantly, performing at festivals as varied as WOMAD, Dark Mofo, Falls, MONA FOMA and Farmer & The Owl, and playing shows with the likes of Liars, Viagra Boys and Tropical Fuck Storm.
The latest taste of “Pray For Party Dozen”, following 2019’s eponymous “Party Dozen” and the recent “The Great Ape”, comes in the form of “The PDD”. Contrasting with the slow, doomy groove of previous single “The Great Ape”, “The PDD” is Party Dozen at their frenetic best, tearing through the track, more punk than rock.
Speaking of the track, the band offer: “If you follow the trajectory of our fictional cult, The PDD is the point after we became less friendly and started to enforce our values. This time was known as the reign of The PDD.” Elaborating further they add, “we were definitely inspired by cults while making this record and talked about it a lot, but it’s also very tongue-in-cheek. The whole record was meant to be about creating our own little world and we’ve woven in little bits of cultish shit in the form of photos, font types, colours. ‘The PDD’ came from a joke about the Party Dozen version of the DDR.”
Meanwhile, ‘The Great Ape’, which was played by Henry Rollins on his KCRW show, has been referred to as “an absolute noise rock scorcher” by Clash and a “skull-shaker” by Music Week, while also being championed by NME, Tom Ravenscroft and Stuart Maconie’s Freak Zone on 6Music and John Kennedy on Radio X.
Pray For Party Dozen is the perfect synthesis of their renowned live show. Tracks like the aforementioned ‘Party Dozen’ act as a bridge from The Living Man, where evil sample loops build the foundations upon which the duo erect a brand new temple of irreverence. Elsewhere, they flirt with electro-Krautrock (‘Auto Loser’), stoner (‘The Great Ape’) and even subtlety (‘Scheisse Kunst’). It still sounds like Party Dozen, but somehow louder; more hushed; even wilder. Plus there are two songs with lyrics. It’s smart enough to make you move and dumb enough to make you think. But it’s not greater than the sum of its parts. There are no parts – there is only Party Dozen
Meanwhile, the original June dates have been rescheduled to the below:
November 19th – The Lansdowne, SYDNEY NSW
November 20th – The Grace Darling, MELBOURNE VIC
November 21st – The Bearded Lady, BRISBANE QLD
A limited edition pre-order pack featuring a vinyl copy of the album, a tee shirt and an exclusive Party Dozen prayer candle, lovingly handmade by the band, is available.
Pre-orders: HERE
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