The Pity Party is a two-piece band from Los Angeles composed of Julie Edwards, aka Heisenflei (simultaneous
drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...
,
keyboards, and
vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
) and Marc Smollin (
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...
,
vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
). They are the first band without representation to score a full-page feature in
NME.
[NME RADAR: The Pity Party">] The Pity Party's artwork is created exclusively by
Ronald Dzerigian.
Biography
Heisenflei and Smollin met in high school, where they sang in choir together. In 2004 they recorded their first music on a digital 8-track recorder in Heisenflei's studio apartment in
Silverlake, California. Their first self-release was The EP (produced by
Noah Shain
Noah Shain is an American record producer and musician. Shain was dubbed "one of the most prominent young producers in the United States” by Mute. He notably produced early work by Grammy Award winning Skrillex "Sonny Moore," as well as albu ...
) in 2006; champions of the environment, Heisenflei and Smollin folded and glued 750 CD sleeves made out of recycled cereal boxes. Their second self-released EP
Orgy Porgy(produced by Stevehimself) was recorded a
Moonshine Studios The group used recycled billboard vinyl to create 1,000 CD jackets which were hand sewn and screen printed with six unique images by artist
Ronald Dzerigian.
[KCET
KCET (channel 28) is a secondary PBS member television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by the Public Media Group of Southern California alongside the market's primary PBS member, Huntington Beach–licensed KOCE ...]
featured The Pity Party live in its "Also I Like to Rock" series at The Hammer Museum.
.
.
Additionally, The Pity Party presented RUBBISH, a celebration of trash, at Echo Curio Art Gallery in
. For the event, The Pity Party produced 100 limited edition EPs with recycled billboard vinyl sleeves. While the band performed, artist
drew a unique image on the sleeve of each distributed CD.