Party Favor reveals future collaborations, his craziest tour stories and more [Interview]Party Favor 1

Party Favor reveals future collaborations, his craziest tour stories and more [Interview]

Dylan Ragland, known by most as Party Favor, has cultivated an edgy, exhilarating and thrilling style that has helped pioneer the festival trap genre. With anthems such as “Bap U,” “Booty Loose,” and his latest release, “Caskets,” the young artist has garnered support for his signature trap style that infuses different musical elements in each release, creating a diverse lineup of tracks in his arsenal of original music. The Mad Decent regular delivers an energetic, innately danceable sound, and his high-energy live performances, are exhilarating and unforgettable.

This Sunday, July 23, Party Favor will deliver a headlining set at Hakkasan Nightclub in Las Vegas where he is rumored to drop several IDs that have been in the works. The Los Angeles producer has numerous upcoming shows planned, including appearances at HARD Summer Music Festival and Electric Zoo. Party Favor will undoubtably bring passion into his set, moving the crowd with his eclectic song selection and seamless transitions. In an exclusive interview, Party Favor sheds light onto some of the projects he is currently working on, and mentions who should be on our radar in 2017.

Read our interview below and get tickets here.

Party Favor reveals future collaborations, his craziest tour stories and more [Interview]Party Favor JoeJanet Hakkasan 6.11.17 HighRes 60

Photo by Joe Janet, courtesy of Hakkasan.

Your new song “Caskets” has that radio crossover appeal. You deviate from your traditional sound but keep your signature elements in the track. What was your inspiration for the piece?

For me I’ve always been trying to evolve my sound and everything that I’m doing in terms of music, and what’s fun for me is that I’m able to make a song like WAWA a couple months ago which is kind of a crazy big festival trap banger and then I can make something like this which is really fun for me, and is more of like a song, and I’m trying to build my songwriting abilities and different production for other people and other producers and pop stars and it was really fun for me to make a summer song, it was a challenge for me to make a fun summer vibe song that made me feel good, and hopefully people can still hear me in the song, I don’t think I sold out at all.

FKI first, who you collaborated with on “Caskets” is a producer from Atlanta known for his trap infused melodic instrumentation. What was your experience like working with him?

It was great, he and I have been working on a lot of stuff, so it was really cool to work and get with someone who sits more on the other side of things of the isle on the hip hop world. I actually mainly worked with him and he originally recorded the vocal for it, so I took the acapella and made the song my own, and then I kind of brought him in last minute and he added a couple of things and that’s what became the track, for me I wanted everyone who had a hand in the song to get credit for it.

You starred in the HARD Summer Music Festival trailer which was the center of some controversy. It is true, that 97% of producers in DJ Mag’s top 100 are men. How do you think we can achieve equal representation of men and women at big festivals?

I think creating a place where women feel more comfortable, where women can get out there and make their voices heard in terms of what their making music wise. There’s a lot of talented female producers out there, but a lot of times they aren’t heard or get chosen over by a man. A lot of times women get discouraged because if you look out it’s kind of man’s game, in a lot of music genres as well, its not just a problem in Electronic music, I think creating a dialogue and creating more opportunities for women to be able to showcase their skill, because obviously they have just as much talent as men do, I think the trailer is what they were trying to push, and it pushed some buttons but that’s what the directed (who was a female)’s goal was to get the conversation started. And Its never going to be an easy cakewalk.

How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you before?

Hectic, in a good way. I like to say that just because I love stuff that has a lot of energy, I love dance music because it makes me feel a certain way and it makes me feel happy and energized, you don’t even need coffee or a Redbull when you have those heavy beats. I think for me I like when people can come and they can get a little bit of twerk, get some trap vibes, some house, some poppier throwback elements all in one, and for me I try to mash everything up together.

After you graduated college, you worked at NBC and you originally aspired to be an actor. What changed that led you in the direction of making music?

I kind of stop going after the actor thing when I was a freshman in college because I was like there is no way I’m going to make it because its really hard to make it in that industry, so I gave up on the actor thing.  I had always loved making my own films and went to film school and graduated and worked in the film industry and i still love it, I’d love to go back and work there again, but I’ve always wanted to do music as well and I hadn’t found the outlet that was right for me. It turns out I really fell in love with dance music in the end of high school and through college and started kind of dabbling and making my own, and after a long time of making bad music, here I am now.

What’s your favorite thing about the Mad Decent label?

Diversity in the music and how they are always pushing forward sounds and vibes and styles. You look at all the guys and girls on the label and they are always on the forefront of whats next. For me, its an honor to be a part of a group of people that are always pushing me to be better.

What is the craziest thing a fan has done at your show?

There have been people that have climbed on the rafters and jumped off into the crowd. Two girls took off their underwear mid-set and threw them onstage, and one actually hit me in the face. I saw a girl who was sitting on top of a subwoofer at this ratchet warehouse party in New York and just orgasming. Things have definitely calmed down once I began to play more legitimate events. One time a couple was having sex in the crowd during one of my sets, if they had a kid I hope they name it after me.

You’ve worked with a number of artists in the past including Dillon Francis, Sean Kingston, Gucci Mane, and Rich the Kid to name a few… Any future collaborations you may be doing?

I’m doing some stuff in the hip hop world making some hip hop beats with some really big names such as 2 Chainz and Lil Jon among others, so it’s really exciting for me to not just put my name on it but being the producer and trying to branch out and do a lot of different stuff. I have a lot of bigger collabs coming out later this year but I’m keeping tight lipped for now. Kendrick if you’re reading this, shoutout, I’d love to collab with you

Who are you currently listening to, and who, in your opinion should be on our radar?

I was actually listening to Tom Petty on the plane ride over here… but someone on the radar who I’m listening to is Awoltalk who is based out of San Diego and is making some crazy stuff. He’s an awesome dude who’s done a remix of “Caskets” for me which is going to be really cool. There is a lot of talent out there, I make the mistake of not paying attention to up-comers because I’m so focused on my own stuff. But I love hearing new songs from people because it makes me work even harder.

Read More:

Party Favor & NJOMZA – Caskets ft FKi 1st

HARD Summer DJs get in touch with their feminine sides for new trailer [Video]

Party Favor – Wawa (Original Mix)

 

Tags: , , , , ,

Categories: ,