In a scene where trends shift constantly, Party Favor has stood the test of time. With nearly a decade in the industry he’s seen and done more than most can dream of. From blowing up with 100 bpm twerk bangers that embodied his name, to his debut EP, showcasing his Layers on his debut album, and his Isolation beats series, he’s chartered a lot of territory. With over 100+ million streams, worldwide tours, Las Vegas residencies, and iconic sync deals that range from Super Bowl ads to your favorite Blue-chip companies, it has been quite the journey for the Los Angeles native. With all the success comes a lot of pressure and that can alter your creative process and outlook. It should come as no surprise that after nearly a decade, Party Favor was in need of a RESET.
The reset began with his Isolation Beats series. With the pandemic shuttering live events and shows it gave Party Favor a chance to reflect and create without any expectations or outside concerns. The approach rekindled his love for creating and helped to set the tone for his latest album, the newly released RESET. The 14-track effort sees Party Favor exploring a myriad of sounds and genres, fusing styles, working with vocalists, and writing ballads and bangers alike. The project exhibits the breadth of his sound while staying true to who he is as an artist.
In order to get a deeper look into Party Favor’s latest release and the man behind the album, we connected with him for an exclusive interview. Our conversation dives deeper into his personal reset, his love for Los Angeles, how his father ended up doing the artwork for the project, the impact of success on his creative process, and even the potential return of 100 bpm twerk bangers. Read the full interview below.
How’s the year been treating you so far?
So far so good. Got married last summer. And dropped an album a couple weeks ago. It feels crazy to have this album out finally. Really was over a year in the making. Shows are finally starting to come back and I feel busier than ever.
Your projects tend to find a nice balance between mainstream and underground directions. Is this balance important to you? Is it something you actively aim for?
Thank you! I don’t think I specifically strive for it but it’s just how I create. I am influenced by so many genres and styles that I try and express myself in as many ways as possible. The only downside of that is that it is harder to create a core fanbase that only wants to hear one thing in one way over and over again.
For many years I felt like I had to make a certain song or have a certain success and chased that and I lost my love of just making music.
Your latest album is entitled RESET. Can you speak to the significance of the title and how it serves as a RESET to you?
It was a Reset for me in the way I go about creating. I felt free for the first time in many years to just create. I didn’t have a specific genre, sound, or anything at first other than I was just going to create with no expectations. For many years I felt like I had to make a certain song or have a certain success and chased that and I lost my love of just making music. It’s also a maturation of me and my sound (or so I hope haha) now that I’m getting older and deeper into my career.
RESET is labeled as being produced, recorded, mixed and conceptualized in Los Angeles. Why was it crucial for you to highlight the place of origin of its creation?
I live in LA and made my career here so that was really the main significance. The city itself has so much history and personality to it. I was also inspired by old CD’s and the booklet that would be in the cover sleeve. They would highlight where the album was recorded. Sometimes it was in different locations but this song was all made here in LA.
It’s a wonderful city, it’s a tough city, it’s an insane city but it has always been home to me and I always feel inspired here to rise above the chaos.
What makes Los Angeles special to you?
As I said above, it’s where my career started and where I feel like I grew up musically. It’s a wonderful city, it’s a tough city, it’s an insane city but it has always been home to me and I always feel inspired here to rise above the chaos. Everyone here is hustling and I like the challenge that I have to stay one step ahead and it keeps me motivated. I also love warm weather, the beach, and burritos so that helps too haha.
It’s pretty incredible that your dad did the artwork for RESET. How did that come to fruition?
Yes, it’s so insanely cool. My dad is an incredible artist, so is my mom, so I grew up around Art. He does fine art, sculpture, public art, and mixed media so he was always a huge inspiration to me growing up. We had always talked about how cool it would be to have him be a part of a project of mine and this one just felt right. It was also my most personal project so having a parent being directly involved with it is amazing.
Your Isolation Beats series in 2020 felt like a bit of a return to your roots, filled with heaters for SoundCloud. Was your writing approach for that series different than your other albums? Did you learn anything new with that series of releases?
Thank you for bringing up Isolation beats. That was where the roots of RESET started I think. I felt hopeless like the majority of people when the pandemic started and I just started making beats every couple days to keep my mind occupied. They were different than the “normal” PF sound overall, and I think I just wanted to make some stuff that maybe a label wouldn’t be interested in. I didn’t rely on vocals or sessions or any external sources and just made stuff from any genre or hybrid of genres I could think of.
I’ve gone back to making music that I want to hear first.
You’ve achieved a lot in your career from iconic sync deals with movies and commercials, to over 100+ million streams, worldwide tours, and more. What new heights are looking towards in the near future?
When you read it out like that it sounds pretty cool haha. So incredibly grateful. I wish I could go back to myself when I was 19 trying to start making music and playing shows and let that Dylan know what he had to look forward to. I am incredibly hard on myself so anytime I reach a milestone or goal that I had set for myself I always instantly set up the next one. It keeps me hungry but I think I forget to stop and appreciate everything that has happened. I hope to win a grammy one day, score a film, and help produce a full album for another artist (hip hop/pop) in the future.
Do you think your success has changed the way you make music?
It started after my first album Layers, but I think now I’ve gone back to making music that I want to hear first. So not so much now. That is how I approached it when I first started out and I think I was able to have a lot of success after that.
RESET was a reset for me, and now I feel refreshed and recharged. I wanted to paint a picture/tell a story through a full album and I achieved that.
In your recent reddit AMA you said, ”Music is different now because its all created for a short term listen.” Do you create with this approach in mind or are you actively trying to push back against it?
I want to push back against it but it is how it is now. I am guilty of it as well, but that’s ok. I don’t think I’ll be making a full album again, at least not for a while. Will be singles now. RESET was a reset for me, and now I feel refreshed and recharged. I wanted to paint a picture/tell a story through a full album and I achieved that.
You tweeted “one of my favorite things about playing in Vegas is that it’s always a different crowd. What worked last time might not work this time. Finding what makes everyone tick is the challenge. Could be playing to college kids and a bunch of people from a cardboard convention lol.” What’s the hardest crowd you’ve ever played for? How did you win them over?
I can’t say one specific crowd that was the hardest, but it was definitely some of my very first shows ever long before I made anything even remotely mediocre and I was playing around Southern California anywhere that would take me haha. Some of those crowds were not down with me and let me know it.
Funny enough though I do think booty-shaking stuff is definitely creeping back up and although it might not make its return to full glory It will have Its day again.
I first became a fan way back when you were making 100 bpm twerk bangers. Do you think the genre will ever make a return to its previous glory?
Thank you! I get that a lot from people. For me, I almost burnt out on the genre and making that. I hated being known for only that when I had much more to say and produce. It got stale. Funny enough though I do think booty-shaking stuff is definitely creeping back up and although it might not make its return to full glory It will have Its day again. I think it will be a hybrid of what came before and something new. I’m definitely down to revisit that sound in a new way.
What are you most excited about right now outside of music?
I am excited about getting to enjoy life again and travel the world. See friends I haven’t seen. I was locked in the studio for the last year or touring so much that I was kinda checked out of the world but now I am back and ready for action.
Thanks for having me!!!
