Originally written as a country song, Party Nails’ newest single “First Responder” is the artist at her collaborative best. At a creative impasse, Elana Carroll (aka Party Nails) showed the guitar-vocal demo to co-producer Ben Greenspan (Party Nails’ second album You Don’t Have To Go Home But You Can’t Stay Here features Greenspan’s co-production prominently). “Ben heard this Princey, Linn drum thing immediately, and it blew my mind!” says Party Nails. And though her bass playing is all over her music, the bass line in “First Responder” wasn’t her idea, either. Ben showed her a take from one of his collaborators, Jordan Brooks, and she was hooked. The key pieces in place, Carroll built more vocal harmonies, synth parts and a guitar solo (performed along with a harmony line by Vixen) before mixing the record as well. “I could hear in my head how I wanted it to sound, so I went ahead and did that.” But enough tech stuff—what is “First Responder” about? “Without naming names, I was so tired of dropping everything to soothe someone who seemed to always have an emergency. I felt like my loyalty was being taken advantage of. I felt like I needed to take a stand for my own peace. And I wanted there to be a bit of humor in the songwriting as well.”
Southern California fans can hear “First Responder” and her recent single “Same Old Song” at upcoming shows with Letters to Cleo: November 15 at Ventura Music Hall and November 16 at The Venice West. More show dates will be announced soon.
Before she was Party Nails, Elana Carroll was a guitar-toting tween, playing any open mic near her hometown of Chatham, New York. At home she recorded herself with Garageband, instigating a love of music technology which continues to this day. Party Nails debuted in 2015 on Neon Gold’s famed blog with Break. Her first tour in 2017 (with PVRIS and Lights) ushered in a devoted fanbase, and her live performances continue to be a core facet of her artistry, being equal parts Madonna, Hayley Williams, and Sheryl Crow. In 2020 she wrote Rockin’ on the Rag, a song about period pride, for Loren Bouchard’s Apple animated series Central Park, wrote and produced the Le Tigre-infused Supernatural for feminist rock duo Deap Vally, and continued to lend her vocals to other musicians (LŪN, Urban Heat, Battle Tapes, MitiS, Getter, and others have featured her vocals on their releases). Her music has been in movies and television (Glass, Girls, The L Word: Generation Q, Nancy Drew, Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin) featured in various media outlets (Billboard, PAPER, Noisey, Earmilk, Paste and more) and included on Spotify Editorial playlists such as Fresh Finds, Fresh Finds Indie, and Undercurrents. She operates a recording studio, Top Coat, in Los Angeles, where she records, produces and mixes for other artists as well as her own projects.
Pillow Talk, Party Nails long-awaited third album, Carroll has partnered with Eye Knee Records (founded by musicians Holly Miranda & Amb. Parsley, with the sharp mind and steady hand of boss lady, Elissa Young). Pillow Talk is due for release in January 2025.
You can connect with Party Nails on Instagram @partypartynails, X @partypartynails and TikTok
