Gil Mantera’s Party Dream
Words: James Ferreira
Photos: Ben Mistak

That’s not a Pickle….

The 1980’s were an extremely puzzling time for music fans.  New technology was developing faster than the artists were.  This made for one of the most unique periods of time in popular music history.  The progression of electro-pop was rather uneventful through the early and mid 90’s; perhaps this is best explained by the awkward strides made in the 80’s.  The evolution of heavy synth and electro-pop type bands in the mid to late 90’s gave us acts like The Dismemberment Plan, Reggie and the Full Effect, Atom and His Package, and later on The Faint and The Postal Service.  For the past ten years Gil Mantera and his brother Ultimate Donny, have been experimenting with the synth pop genre creating an 80’s electro-pop revival with upbeat synth beats, metal guitars and voice, and some extremely uplifting vocals.  The duo makes up Gil Mantera’s Party Dream.  Together since 1999, the Party Dream has released two full length albums the most recent of which, Bloodsongs, is the most fun anyone could possibly have with their clothes on. 

Hailing from Youngstown, Ohio, I asked Gil if the formation of his Party Dream had anything to do with his home state being about ten years behind the rest of the country, or if it just dealt with familiarity.  “Economically, a lot of Ohio is ten years behind.  I don’t think we came up much different than any other suburban American kids, though.  Ultimate Donny, my older brother, was my primary influence in what kind of music I got into.  He listened to all kinds of stuff from 808 State to Skinny Puppy.  Much of it was electronic based music for a long while.  Our old man supplied us with his disco and funk heavy record collection, which included Kraftwerk, Mann Parrish, Afrika Bambaataa, etc.  It was a natural progression,” he explained.

Since the turn of the century, synth-pop has seen quite a resurgence in music cultures world wide.  The Party Dream has been at it for a while now, so I asked Gil if the success of more well known acts such as Reggie and the Full Effect, Atom and His Package and the Postal Service has had an influence on the duo. “I don’t know if those groups have affected us at all.  I mean I don’t listen to those particular bands.  At this point, it seems the catch appeal of a band with a keyboard and a drum machine is as long gone as the whole two piece band thing that happened before that,” he replied.

With such a wide range of electro-pop and synth bands around these days, there is an interesting dichotomy in how each act approaches their craft.  It seems like a lot of bands take themselves very seriously, while others seem to focus more on having serious amounts of fun.  I asked Gil what he thought of this sentiment and he said, “It’s all in how well it’s done either way.  I like both ways equally, as long as it fits the desired aesthetic or sound.  If a band seems unnatural or bad, then they probably are.”

I asked Gil to explain the Party Dream’s performance-as-art type live shows and how they ultimately influence their music.  “The band started performing before we had music, so to speak.  In the beginning, the shows were much crazier, involving props and a kind of masochistic spirit.  The music was pretty awful, but we always considered ourselves a band and not as performance art.  Basically, the music got better, we tamed it down, and as a result we’re not confused as much with performance art these days.  Writing music is my main focus when we’re not touring.  When we tour, the focus is to put on a good show with music.  There’s a no rules kind of policy with the live show as far as how we want to look, or act, or what kind of crap we say.  That can result in some audience’s not being in on a joke that we know very well sucks, but it keeps things fresh.  We’re still destroying ourselves, but in more subtle ways and still to our own delight,” he replied.

When asked about how their unique approach towards music and performance has broadened their fan base Gil said, “Getting the ball rolling by putting out a record with an indie label and actually getting far away from home by touring a lot has helped increase our fan base.  We were weekend warriors with this band for a long time while juggling college and jobs.  I only think of how to become more ‘successful’ in terms of how well we’re understanding and working the business game.  Ultimately, I make music and rock a show in a way that pleases me first and foremost, but it would be nice to turn that into a comfortable living.”  

The Party Dream’s over the top live shows have placed them in a unique position to expand upon early successes and join the post-punk and indie resurgence from a different angle than that of their peers.  They have toured and played shows with several successful artists from An Albatross, Grand Buffet, and The Rapture.  I asked Gil if remaining on an independent label is important to them in order to continue doing what they are doing and he told me that, “I have no fears of a major label and want very much to experience being on one.  The thing is we’re assholes, but not dumb assholes.  There are ways to make it work great and then you hear horror stories, but fuck it.  U2 is on a major, you know what I mean?  I want to take this band to the top, and in my eyes, a major label is one of the ingredients.”

Please check out Gil Mantera’s Party Dream at www.partydream.com