SCAD Radio Content Director Ian sat down with Elana of the solo project Party Nails, an indie pop performer with a healthy dose of recent singles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ian- You consider yourself an indie pop artist. What do you think are the main qualities that differentiate indie pop from pop music?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Elana- There\u2019s two components to that. I think there\u2019s a genre sound and then a business side. In my case, I fit both roles. On the business side, you\u2019re considered an \u201cindependent\u201d artist. Like Chance the Rapper, independent even though his intellectual property isn\u2019t owned by anyone else. That\u2019s my threshold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your sophomore album is slated for release early next year. We always ask musicians with an upcoming album to describe it in just one sentence.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s called You Don\u2019t Have to Go Home, But You Can\u2019t Stay Here<\/em>, and I actually think that\u2019s the best sentence to describe it as.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019re big into Instagram, currently with over 6000 followers and counting. One of your followers is one of my favorite pop stars, Carly Rae Jepsen. Who are some of your favorite musicians that follow you on that platform?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A lot of my friends that I\u2019ve met in Los Angeles, Maiah Manser<\/a> is one of them, she\u2019s an incredible performer. I\u2019ve been lucky to get to know her\u2026 Oh, and Thrill You Kill You<\/a>! Love Thrill You Kill You.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is there one post on your Insta that stands out as your favorite?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I like when I\u2019m able to get personal. I don\u2019t really plan it out much. I try<\/em> to plan it out, and it just doesn\u2019t work, you know? I plan my tour announcements and stuff like that, but beyond that, I go on Instagram to get a sense of what\u2019s going on, or I think \u201cok, what are the ways I have or haven\u2019t engaged with my fan base. I just try to be engaged and be a good force in that environment\u2026 You can\u2019t have a party and be like \u201cMe, me, me!\u201d, you have to be willing to come up with something that everyone at the party is willing to partake in. [My Insta] looks very self-centered, it\u2019s very based on what I\u2019m doing, but what I\u2019m doing is always based on a story that\u2019s worth telling or a piece of me reinterpreting culture in a way that is valuable to other people\u2019s experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two singles you released this year, \u201cEmeralds (On the Razor\u2019s Edge)\u201d<\/a> and \u201cTake Me Somewhere\u201d<\/a>, have you on vocals backed by some brisk production. Are you heavily involved in the producing of tracks?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, I\u2019m a songwriter and a producer. Actually, \u201cTake Me Somewhere\u201d was a collaboration. Someone sent me music that I really liked and I wrote on top of that\u2026 Most of the other songs are a combination of either me working entirely alone or something being handed back and forth. \u201cEmeralds\u201d was a song that I started making the production for on a tour bus, and wrote the song once I got home, then took that<\/em> and finished the production with my friend. I have another single coming out in three weeks called \u201cCut to Bleed\u201d and that one\u2019s entirely my own production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How did you get the name Party Nails?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I saw some girls doing their nails when i was looking for a name. I was at a funny party, because it was a co-living space in New York City and everybody living in that space were people from Spanish-speaking places. I was collaborating with a friend of mine from Mexico City, so she and some of her roommates were doing their nails. I suffer from anxiety and wasn\u2019t medicated at the time. I remember being so hyper aware, feeling super awkward watching people interact. I was watching my friend and her friends having this wonderful connection. By doing that, it was a gesture for them to feel good about themselves. Something that people don\u2019t really<\/em> notice when you go out: sure, there are people who get excited about people\u2019s nails and stuff, but it\u2019s like wearing a new pair of underwear- to make you feel good. That\u2019s worth it to me. I liked that message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n