Gil Mantera's Party Dream is an electronic synth-pop party band hailing originally from Youngstown, Ohio. Consisting of brothers Gil Mantera and Ultimate Donny, the Party Dream is known for their over-the-top live shows and updated channeling of 1980s synth-pop à la Tears for Fears. Their music blends synth-heavy electronic dance music with heavy basslines, distorted guitar, and even a few progressive rock influences. They have toured several times with successful artists as varied as Grand Buffet, An Albatross, GWAR, and Art Brut, and most notably were invited several times to play New York City with The Rapture. In 2008 they toured across the country with the Van's Warped Tour. Originally a regional phenomenon, the Party Dream signed to Fat Possum Records, a primarily blues label that is also the home of The Black Keys and The Fiery Furnaces, and have begun extensive national touring. In mid-2006, they were invited to play the SXSW concert series in Austin, Texas, garnering enough attention at their three garish live shows to warrant a "Best Show [SXSW]" award from the Village Voice. They were also featured by Spin magazine as a Spin.com band of the day and warranted a recommendation on Timothy McSweeney's publishing house website. The Party Dream is well-known among their fans for their pseudo-performance art approach to playing live, with sets that include not only musical performance, but also improvised stage patter, dance, and at times even elements of striptease. Driven by Gil's synthesizer arrangements and Donny's wildly over-emotive vocal stylings, the Party Dream produces danceable, electronic music with recognizable hooks that are often performed by Gil, who sings exclusively through a vocoder. After originally focusing on improvised performance, the Party Dream has now matured into a dance band with recorded musical offerings that while not directly comparable with their frenetic live shows, has placed them in a position to expand on their regional success and join the indie/post-punk revival from a decidedly different angle than their peers.

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Biography

Gil Mantera's Party Dream spawned from a three man act called "Party Talk" that played a one night show in August 1998 in Youngstown, Ohio at Cedars Lounge. The act consisted of Richard Elmsworth (Ultimate Donny), Glen Whiteweather (Gil Mantera), and Brian Gage (Tartron). Ultimate Donny described the band as, "A joke band called Party Talk, playing retro '80s-style dance music and pretty much making jackasses of ourselves."

The group disbanded after Brian moved to California. With Gil and Donny, Party Talk regrouped a few months later to play a CD release show at the club, despite the fact they had no CD in the works. With the departure of their third member, Party Talk evolved into Gil Mantera's Party Dream, and the duo gained a powerful reputation for their anything-goes live shows.

"Gil Mantera’s Party Dream set about expanding their reach. With every show, they embraced the real possibilities of ridicule, disgust, and serious injury so that, when all the angles added up, they could reap the glories of true rock triumph. It seemed they’d stumbled on a recipe for bona fide entertainment, and audiences across the country responded in turn. By 2006, GMPD was selling out shows in NYC, LA and Chicago (you can find two of these Chicago shows documented on a live DVD released in 2008), ruling SXSW and garnering praise from tastemakers who had finally caught the scent of actual fun on the boys’ heels. In 2006, GMPD released its first official full length Bloodsongs on Audio Eagle Records. Hitting hard and missing hard, they toured coast-to-coast, often headlining as well as supporting bands like Art Brut and The Rapture in 2006 and (briefly and disastrously) GWAR in 2008.

Last year, with the money they’d earned designing Internet porn sites, GMPD replaced their Honda Civic with a Ford Windstar Minivan. And good thing too, because the extra room would come in handy now that they’d tricked drum-magician A.E. Paterra (of Zombi fame) into joining the band. With all the correct pieces in place, the trio decided to do things the new old-fashioned way, taking full control of the production and marketing of their music. Rather than pad iTunes, they started their own song download site for the release of their new single. And in most recent news, GMPD recorded and produced their new album Dreamscape themselves, releasing it on their own new label, Psychic Dog Records. Early this year, they took over all promotion for their upcoming nationwide tour. The dudes' pockets may be shallow, but their faith is as deep as their will is strong. GMPD will continue to push the rock and roll surface far enough that it folds back into something real... and that's something people will find they can really sink their teeth into for awhile."

Discography

• Best Friends - 2000, self-released EP, out of print
• Once Triangular - 2004, self-released LP, out of print
• Bloodsongs - 2005, Audio Eagle LP
• Ballerina EP - 2008, digital self-release
• Dreamscape - 2009, digital self-release; Psychic Dog Records

References