Q&A: Party Nails
AN ALBUM OF SINCERITY, HUMANITY AND PURE POP - Party Nails' Past Lives and Paychecks, hits all the marks. Elana Carroll, the mastermind behind Party Nails, is making music "somewhere between pop, alternative and electronic" and yes - it's gonna make you dance. The Los Angeles based artist draws influences from Haim, Grimes and Robyn, making indie-pop dream music.
With her latest album, Past Lives andPaychecks, Party Nails explores the ideas of money and power, love and heartbreak, loss or death, a higher power, and of course: past lives. Carroll explains, “On this album, I really tried to achieve a blend of SZA and Robyn, with bittersweet writing, some dance vibes, some sad vibes and a very real and raw anti-diva singing them. I wanted to create an album of memorable songs that landed all across the spectrum of alternative pop. I wanted it to feel fresh, but not too trendy”.
The 12-track album features elements of both pop and punk, making for a powerhouse album full of energy. Party Nails will finish out the year with a US tour so make sure to fall in love with Past Lives and Paychecks, see Party Nails and read on for our interview with Carroll.
LUNA: How do you describe your new album in comparison to your previous music?
ELANA: The Come Again EP was created with the intention of making a cohesive statement. I wanted the whole thing to feel upbeat and pop, and I wanted each song to be something you could dance to. For my new album Past Lives and Paychecks, I wanted to continue on that path of upbeat, pop and dance, but also instill vulnerability, rawness, and deeper and darker confessions into the lyrics and music. I wanted it to feel like a deeper cut.
LUNA: What was the creative process for Past Lives and Paychecks like?
ELANA: I would wake up early every morning, get dressed, and work on music before doing anything else. Usually, I would start by making a beat in Ableton or Logic and see where that took me. Over weeks and months a sound palette and song fragments started to really congeal into something that felt like an album. There were a small group of songs that I’d written or co-written that I’d never put out, and those were finished up so they could be included as well.
LUNA: What is your favorite song off of the album & why?
ELANA:"Paycheck" is probably my favorite! I had some doubt that I could write, produce and play everything on a song and still make the song bump. I had been conditioned to think that I needed a trendy producer dude to help me, and it was hard to work through the doubt. But I’m glad I did. Also it means a lot to me lyrically. That first verse was sitting in my voice memos for a couple months before the rest of the song was born around it.
LUNA: Where do you get inspiration from for your visual aesthetic?
ELANA: Everywhere. Movies, photos, other artists, my friends, my family, driving, walking, reading, writing.
LUNA:What do you want people to take away from your music?
ELANA: I want them to feel less alone and less crazy. I want them to cry in grief, and give love openly to the people in their lives that deserve it and need it. I want them to feel how they feel and feel it loudly. I want them to feel what it is to be themselves.
LUNA: You teach music production with the non profit Beats By Girlz, which provides free music production education and mentorship for female-identifying youth. Can you talk a little bit more about how you got into this and why it’s important to you?
ELANA: Beats By Girlz is incredible! I first learned about it as a volunteer assistant for founder Erin Barra (who now teaches at Berklee as well as runs BBG). I knew *just* enough about Ableton to be helpful to the students at that point. That was years ago, and I hope to continue to contribute to this and similar groups in any way I can. It’s important that classrooms are gender balanced, and sometimes that means giving female-identifying people their own space, especially in fields that have historically been male-dominated. I love watching someone discover their own power and creativity. During the teenyears this usually comes with a lot of emotions about family, growing up, life path, traumas, fears, etc. It’s an honor to bear witness to someone’s growth and to help them on their way. It means a lot to just be seen.
I’m not able to teach this year because I’ll be touring which makes me sad. I’m in touch with former students and doing workshops here and there.
LUNA: What’s next for Party Nails?
ELANA: I’ll be on the road until the new year promoting Past Lives and Paychecks.Hopefully I’ll tour in the spring as well, but I also want to keep making stuff. I want to make another album yesterday. I like to keep myself busy.
