The Pity Party

The Pity Party is a two-piece band from Los Angeles composed of Julie Edwards, aka Heisenflei (simultaneous drums, keyboards, and vocals) and Marc Smollin (guitar, vocals). They are the first band without representation to score a full-page feature in NME.[1] The Pity Party's artwork is created exclusively by Ronald Dzerigian.

This article is about the band. For other uses, see Pity Party.
The Pity Party
The Pity Party at Tiny Vaudeville. Photo: Scott Schultz
The Pity Party at Tiny Vaudeville. Photo: Scott Schultz
Background information
OriginLos Angeles, USA
Genresrock
Years active2005 in music-present
MembersHeisenflei (Julie Edwards) & M
WebsiteThe Pity Party Facebook Page

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) 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 at 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.[2]

In July 2007, Los Angeles' Indie 103.1FM KDLD featured The Pity Party live in its "Also I Like to Rock" series at The Hammer Museum.[3] They have received attention from members of the band Ozomatli who played "The War Between 8 & 4" on their show Ozolocal on LA's Star 98.7FM KYSR.[4] "Guru of the soon-to-be-great," John Kennedy,[5] has included "H.O.T.S." on his playlist for his highly popular show X-Posure on XFM London.[6] Additionally, The Pity Party presented RUBBISH, a celebration of trash, at Echo Curio Art Gallery in Echo Park. For the event, The Pity Party produced 100 limited edition EPs with recycled billboard vinyl sleeves. While the band performed, artist Ronald Dzerigian drew a unique image on the sleeve of each distributed CD.[7]

Tours

2007 w/ The Raveonettes[8]
2009 Tour of Tears with The Happy Hollows and Rumspringa (band)[9]

Critical acclaim

Voted No. 1 MySpace Band (2008) by Supersweet[10]
Voted Best Band in LA (2007) by LA Weekly[11]
Flyer of the Week (July 3, 2008) by LA Weekly's Mark Mauer.[12]
Kat Corbett spins "Love Lies" on Los Angeles' KROQ-FM 106.7 Locals Only (November 9, 2008)[13]
"Yours, That Works" named in Best 10 Tracks of 2008 by Time Out London[14]
Winner of 826LA's Battle of the Bands (2009)[9]

Discography

The EP (2006)
Orgy Porgy (2008)
Rubbish (2008) [Limited Edition]
Hotwork EP (2009)
Chickens In Love Compilation (Origami Vinyl, 2010)

Trivia

Heisenflei plays drums in two-piece Deap Vally. Heisenflei's brother is guitarist Greg Edwards from Autolux.
Heisenflei founded a knitting shop in Los Angeles called The Little Knittery.
Heisenflei played drums for The Raveonettes in February 2009.
Heisenflei sings on Nolens Volens, the second album of The Deadly Syndrome.

References
  1. "NME Radar: The Pity Party". NME. Retrieved 2012-06-17.
  2. "Rummage". KCET. Retrieved 2008-07-07.
  3. "Also I Like to Rock". UCLA: The Hammer Museum. Archived from the original on 2008-06-18. Retrieved 2008-07-07.
  4. "Pity Party on Star 98.7FM". KYSR. Retrieved 2008-07-07.
  5. "XFM DJ John Kennedy". XFM London. Retrieved 2008-07-07.
  6. "Pity Party on London's Xfm". XFM London. Retrieved 2008-07-07.
  7. "Rubbish: The Pity Party @ Echo Curio". LA Weekly. Retrieved 2008-07-07.
  8. "Buzzbands: Pity Party". LA Times. Retrieved 2008-07-07.
  9. "The Pity Party Wins 826LA's Battle of the Bands". Filter. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  10. "Supersweet's No. 1 MySpace Band". Supersweet. Retrieved 2008-07-07.
  11. "LA Weekly: Best LA Band". LA Weekly. Archived from the original on July 28, 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-07.
  12. "Flyer of the week: The Pity Party and Jacques Renault". LA Weekly. Retrieved 2008-07-07.
  13. "KROQ Locals Only Playlist". [KROQ-FM]. Retrieved 2009-04-05.
  14. "Time Out London's Best Tracks of 2008". Time Out. Retrieved 2009-02-04.
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