THE RIDER: partygirl's Top 10
The maximalist rock band on Carmex, color-coding and beer-shot combos
It may be Monday but please prepare to party bc the new single from NYC’s maximalist rock group partygirl is OUT NOW!
Okay, this isn’t exactly a ~traditional~ party anthem.
We’re not pumpin’ up any jams. Hands are not goin’ up to shout. The Venga Bus, I regret to inform you, is nowhere to be found.
Instead, we mean party in the get alllll up in those feelings sense. (Which might not be a traditional definition, but c’mon, it’s Monday — back off, Merriam-Webster.)
“‘Clean’ portrays the introspection of hitting rock bottom and the clarity found in promising to do better,” the band shares of the new song.
So maybe it’s more about examining your actions post-party. Which, actually, might be pretty perfect for right after the weekend.
While the band’s songs might be emotion-packed, the partygirl live experience is nothing short of a spectacle, and lots of lucky fans outside of our fair city will have the chance to see them as the gang makes their way down the coast to bounce around the south all week.
(TELL ALL YOUR ALABAMA/LOUISIANA/TENNESSEE/VIRGINIA-DWELLING FRIENDS!)
As for what’s keeping partygirl surviving and thriving on this tour and beyond, read on for the band’s top 10—a list featuring some quite neatly categorized necessities. (Budweiser/Jameson is, we can all agree, a truly ~spiritual~ experience.)
Then get outside and enjoy that sun, baby! Hope you have a really great week! <3
PARTYGIRL’S TOP 10
Beauty & Fashion
1. Carmex (Pag & Fran)
We’ve said it before - we’ll say it again. We live and die by Carmex. It is always on our person. It is the one true solution for chapped lips. Does it get you addicted to the menthol? Maybe? Doesn’t really matter. It feels good because it feels bad and it works and gives you a glow. That’s really all you need. (Pag & Fran)
2. Ribbed tank tops and jean shorts (All)
Probably the only onstage outfit that all of us will wear - aka truly androgynous and truly classic - and will feel and look spectacular in. As functional as it is fashionable. Versatile, honest, true. Can sweat, move, mosh, dance, jump, sit, run, dive, climb, and it stays on.
3. Frye boots (Pag) and Tabis (Claire)
Onstage essentials - comfortable and fashionable. Surprisingly all purpose (yes, we wore them on the beach in New Jersey before Chloe Sevigny did). We love having both a Frye girl and a Tabi girl in this band.
Lifestyle & Wellness
4. A 9-5 (All)
You think this would be self-explanatory, but it isn’t always. The music political economy is rotting, and musicians are exploited cultural workers. None of us can afford to do this full time and only make it possible by holding down 9-5s to pay rent, utilities, health care, etc, while also self-managing this band, and funneling our earnings back into it as the main source of capital (as we are completely independent). Far from a perfect system, but definitely a must-have. Wouldn’t know what we’d do without it, literally.
5. Treating performance as an Olympic sport: Lifting & Carbo-loading (All)
Think Beyonce on a treadmill in high heels, or something. Not only a serotonin boost and a way to build muscle mass when done regularly At The Gym, but purely practical. Our equipment is both heavy and there’s a lot of it. Lifting a Nord keyboard, or drum hardware, above your head into a van is hard work, and you gotta do it. There’s something about carrying a guitar amp up a flight of stars so as to not have a mental breakdown, you know? Similarly to lifting - carbo-loading is the way to get through shows without passing out. If you’re anything like Pag - who sometimes when hitting high notes gets light-headed and loses vision - or Jonathan - whose low blood sugar makes a sad man - it’s important to play on a full, energized stomach.
6. Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa with Throat Coat, and Vicks Sinus Inhaler (Pag and sometimes Claire)
This is the vocal care routine. I (Pag) can’t bring myself to not talk or go on vocal rest so it’s become all about what is best to drink or breathe in while on the road and in general. Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa is Chinese herbal medicine/cough syrup, made of loquat and honey, which I SWEAR by. It soothes your throat and is yummy. Two giant tablespoons of that, dissolved in a giant mug of Throat Coat, at least two of those per day. Then you gotta steam with Vicks Sinus Inhaler 20 minutes before a set, for at least 15 minutes (yes, using a device to breathe in hot steam in my face). These practices are absolutely necessary before ripping a set. I fear Nodes with a paranoia bordering on Nixon’s.
7. CAFFEINE: Yerba mates mostly, unless you’re Fran - then sugar-free Redbulls, or Pag - then espresso, if it’s available, if not, circle back to Yerbs
Got to bring your best-self (energy wise) to the stage. Sometimes when you’re playing so late at night and you’ve been either up at 7 for work (see: 9-5s) and/or up all night because you have insomnia (it plagues Pag, Jonathan and sometimes Claire) you need a little kick in the ass to bring your all. Not too much to tweak though… it’s all about drinking the right amount…
Spirituality
8. Color coded spreadsheets (Pag and Fran)
Nothing, and literally nothing, could be achieved without our spreadsheet. It is a perfect system for organization, not only making us fulfilled with a wave of indescribable satisfaction but it manages the pathological anxiety that sits in the very core of this band. This is how we tour - managed, we produce, we write songs, we arrange, we manage finances, we manage merch, we produce music videos all of it ALL OF IT. This band has a lot of intensity that bottles up and transforms into stress and so the breadth of ambitious projects and the resulting mania can only be analyzed and managed by multiple colors tracking progress through shared spreadsheets online.
9. Budweiser X Jameson beer shot combos (Pag, Fran, Jonathan)
This is a classic– A perfect combination of warmth and buzz, of celebration of a perfect night, or a special person or thing. Few combinations in this life are as perfect as this.
10. “Like a G6” by Far East Movement followed by “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Want to Rock n’ Roll)” by AC/DC (All)
Spiritually grounded by an energy of truth and ambition, we ended our nights on tour blasting these songs, driving home, exhausted and beautiful, one with the world, the spirit and God, knowing that we are not alone in the things that are difficult or that are beautiful. It’s “the sound of everything was beautiful and nothing was hurt” and it’s “go to the limits of your longing” but it’s 2AM and you’re somewhere in Virginia or Massachusetts or New Jersey and you’re completely delirious and are having the time of your life, and not trying not to take yourself too seriously, if that wasn’t obvious already.
Top 10 written + submitted by partygirl. Follow Partygirl at @partygirl.band, buy music on Bandcamp and add the songs to your Spotify playlists!
Feature image (provided by the band): Lauren Baliscao