Party Pupils Celebrate Release Of Debut 'Neon From Now On' EP [INTERVIEW]

What started as a different creative outlet to the MAX project has grown a life of its own. If you looked up the Party Pupils project even a year and a half ago it would look more like a creative outlet than a headlining act. In the context of the project, it wouldn’t even be a wild statement. Sure their Future Funk mixtapes might be one of THE best mixes to turn on at the pregame, but is that enough for a project to live on its own?

Party Pupils is the collaborative project built from pop star MAX (Max Schneider) and producer Suave Yung Blanc (Ryan Siegel). After three years their impressive catalog originals speak loud enough of their own and they have proven time after time that they are more than just the playful pregame music. Their Neon From Now On EP is comprised of eight tracks, some you’ve heard, and some you haven’t. In chatting with them they were careful to point out that this is only their first true attempt at a full body of work and the next one will be made with even more direction

And it wouldn’t be a Party Pupils release without a less than traditional release party, right? Starting at 7 PM EST you can tune in on YouTube to watch the first-ever Roast Of Party Pupils, which will feature confirmed guests such as Jeremy Piven, Tony Hawk, Pete Wentz, and many more.

We had the chance to share some words with Party Pupils about the roast, their new EP, and releasing music during a pandemic. Read our full interview and stream Neon From Now On below.

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With Party Pupils starting as a side project / creative outlet from the MAX project was releasing a full-length project important as a full-on ‘Coming Out’ party for this project?

Definitely a part of it. There are a couple of different reasons why it was time for us to put out a body of work. With our style of music and the way we put out music, it’s very conducive for us to just put out singles but we’re album people. Our favorite bodies of work are albums by our favorite artists. At this point, we listened to everything we’ve done in the last two years and said, “This does really make a good EP. It really represents us.” To someone who is just discovering us now, they might be like, “Oh let me check out their debut album or EP.” From start to finish it really sums up the last 2 and a half years of this project. We felt like it was time.

Does it feel like a stepping stone for Party Pupils 2.0?

Yeah, we felt like it was time to end the chapter on our first body of work. By no means ending anything else. It was definitely not the intention to do it all long but its more important that we say, “Ok time to lock this one up.” We’re going to treat our next body of work as more of one whole album. It’s going to be the next chapter of Party Pupils.

Does it feel differently releasing music during this time of lockdown?

The only difference is that we love to test our music outlive. In one way it’s tougher because the best way to know is to get in front of people and play the music but at the same time, we’ve been really fortunate enough to be able to do online festivals. We’ve actually been able to see a very direct response to certain music or songs. That is actually more helpful to gauge what people are reacting to rather than saying, “Well in Chicago they fucked with this song but in L.A. not so much.” You get a bigger scoop of our audience’s taste or what everyone is into.

There’s nothing that can replace a live show. We are both very missing that big time since it is such a big part of who we are and what we love to do but all things considered could be a lot worse. We are feeling really creative, really positive, and excited for the future.

Is playing these live streams cathartic or helpful to you?

I talk about both projects because one hand washes the other and we feed off each other in that respect. No matter what our mentality when we play live whether there are 5 or 5,000 people we give a show no matter what. We feel it because we love what we do.

Obviously having the energy of people in front of you is irreplaceable. But one thing that I want any other artist that is doing this is to start treating your live streaming as kind of a rehearsed mentality for maybe not a lot of people being there. Almost like train yourself to deal with that because it’s a very real thing – especially as a newer artist or a breaking artist. Not every show is going to be a sold-out show or a festival. I think for the ones that have been fortunate enough to start their careers in front of a lot of people this time is going to be a very revealing thing – who’s going to give the most, with the least? I think that will separate the good from the great.

Any fun virtual release parties planned for the album?

On Friday, May 15th, we are doing ‘The Roast of Party Pupils.” It’s a celebration of our EP release and it’s for a great cause. We’re raising money for Montefiori Foundation for frontline responders. It’s essentially a roast with up to 20 celebrities, musicians, and friends. We told them, “Listen just take a big fat dump on us. Be yourself and basically shit on us.” We love comedy and we love it when people know they can take the piss out of themselves. We’ve got some awesome guests like Steve Aoki, Jeremy Piven, Gilbert Gottfried. We thought it would just be a really fun way to release the EP.

Any favorite songs off the new EP?

“Love Me For The Weekend” holds a special place in our hearts. It’s an older one. “Lonelier” is super special. Our boy Cody is ripping sax on it, Alna is singing, I’m singing. It has a unique life of Pupils. Special energy. But some of the one-liners that Max has on “The Plug” are incredible. And it might be our sneaky favorite.