Based on a True Story

Photographs and Interview By Michelle LoBianco

Pagona Kytzidis, lead singer and founder of the New York City band partygirl, opens up about processing grief, favorite New York venue, and the Greek practice of “parrhesia”.

New York City, USA

How did partygirl form? How did the members come together?

I (Pagona Kytzidis) started partygirl in the summer of 2021, after graduating from Barnard College. I conceived of partygirl (the concept) while having my first ‘I-turned-in-my-thesis’ celebratory smoke on the roof of my uptown apartment. The past year had been one of crisis for me (as it had been for many) and I was reckoning with the question, how does one become, be seen as, and be fulfilled as a full, true person? Particularly, I was struggling with Survivorship and gender (see partygirl statement), and the contradictions inherent in it. I had tried many ways to process this grief and trauma and find healing and Selfhood and liberation from within it, and was failing. I had always been a songwriter (wrote my first silly tune at age 8) and had always been in bands (led my first band at age 10) and always processed my emotions and reality through music. By this point (age 22),particularly due to the challenges of that year, I had accumulated over 30 songs or concepts I wanted to explore in a big, maximalist, meaningful, and intentional way. So I chose to turn to music as a means to Actualize and to Heal, and so partygirl was born. The band has now made 16 of those songs real and magnificent.

What began as a three-piece band made up of college friends, changed form and members a few times over the first year and a half, as rock bands often do. Our incredible present lineup was finalized only six months ago, in May 2023. The band is now me (Kytzidis, founder) as the bandleader, songwriter, vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and keyboardist, Francesca Pastore (joined December 2021) as the producer and lead guitar player, Jonathan Ashley (joined April 2022) as the drummer, Claire Lin Jenkins (joined November 2022) as the violinist and arranger & composer of all-things-strings-and-woodwinds, David Mirarchi (joined January 2023) as the multi-instrumentalist: alto saxophone, flute, bass clarinet, and keyboards, and Andrew Jordan (joined May 2023) as the bassist.

What is the meaning behind the band name?

Because the origins of the band is rooted in this feminist politic, I knew I wanted a band name that played into the intersection of gender and chaos in general and also because that’s ‘where I was living’ so-to-speak at the time. I was 22, the world ‘had opened up’ post-COVID-vaccine, and I had just graduated from college. Prior to this point, I had not been a ‘partier’ - I was obsessed with my academics in school and went out only when I did not have work, which was few and far between, but after being shut-in emotionally and literally for the past year or so, the world, and New York City, was huge and wonderful and exciting. I was, in short, partying every single day. It was a deeply chaotic but also incredible time. So one day, I call my mom and we’re talking about what I’ve been up to, and she begins humorously editorializing my life as she always does by singing Party Girl by U2. And I was like: Yes absolutely, that’s the name for the band.

Besides reflecting my reality in the present moment, the name partygirl does exactly what it’s supposed to. It conjures up a specific image of ‘woman’ and the oscillation between too-much-emotion and no-emotion that I often feel. By claiming this status totally, I felt I could find freedom and power in its reclamation as an intense woman on my own terms and in performing with this name of stage, give the position authority. While doing all of this, I think it’s cool that partygirl is also playful and fun and not too serious. It’s really a great name, so shout out to my mother.

Which song is one of your favorites to perform and why?

“Birdspotting”, our closing song from both the album (expected Spring 2024!) and our live sets is my favorite song to perform. Written over the course of 2021, it captures how I had become Conscious of reality and my place in it, and tells this story through narrative vignettes that happened that year. For the first half of the song, the music is tight and the lyrics are darkly comedic. But you can feel the tension brimming under the surface.

At the end, the song explodes into chaos and rage, which reflects my actual state of emotions and grief related to how I processed and politicized my Survivorship for the first time that year and how I’ve wanted to indict those who harm and who strip others of their Selfhood for their own disgusting fulfillment. This is why over all the chaos and noise, I scream:

Are you a voyeur or are you in love?

Are you selfish or are you dumb?

Am I a dream or a commodity?

Am I a genius or a motherfucking absurdity?

What’s the shelf life of a pretty little thing?

What’s the fuck life of a pretty little thing?

What’s the shelf life of a pretty little thing?

I swear, I swear, I swear, I’ll do fucking anything

Even though I wrote the song years ago, this moment in the set is always freeing for us onstage and for those in the audience (who often mosh at this point). Achieving that sense of authentic anger and actualization and honesty has been what I’ve always wanted from this band, and being able to do it onstage with my bandmates and with the audience creates a really special feeling of solidarity and truth.

Can you recall a favorite show you’ve played? What’s one of your favorite venues?

This is a great question and it is really hard to pick just one. I’m biased but my favorite show we’ve played this year was when we played, and actually sold out, Ortlieb’s in Philadelphia: I’m from Philly and the show was a homecoming. It was filled with my entire extended very-Greek, very-fun family, and many dear childhood friends. It’s always special to play shows in Philadelphia because it’s my hometown and because we don’t get to play it regularly. The performances are always intentional and just super fun because of this.

My favorite venue that we’ve played in New York City has to be Union Pool. We’re a tough band to organize and mix live-sound for and we have never had such clear and powerful live sound than at Union Pool. It was so fun to be able to play a show and actually hear everything going on - it makes the performance more authentic because we can really interact with each other and feel confident on stage, which is important because our music has so many moving parts, literally. The amazing sound and tech guys even made live videos and live mixes for us after the set as a complete surprise!! Plus, the venue is gorgeous and we got drink AND food tickets.

Tell us a little about your latest adventures in the recording studio.

Yes!!! From October 6 to October 15, we recorded our debut album, I’m so charming I forgot who I was, at Studio G in Brooklyn with engineer Jeff Berner. It was absolutely incredible. We’d been preparing this album for months, both by writing the material, and under the great direction of producer Fran, making thorough charts, scores, arrangements, and demos. We recorded all twelve songs in these ten days. I love the studio because:

It’s the place where for the first time you get to hear the song as it exists in my head, all the multitude of parts actually coming together where before they were merely concepts. As a maximalist band, producing a song on stage, with 6 people, 12 hands and 2 voices, is one thing - and still pretty big and fulfilling. But in the studio, the possibilities are limitless! For example: 1 violin becomes 5, 1 voice becomes 6, 2 guitars become 4, 1 saxophone becomes a whole woodwinds section. We used a Hammond organ, twelve string guitars, got to dub flute, had our friends come in and sing multi-part harmonies, to name a few additional adventures. I can’t wait to start mixing this music, master it, and share it with the world. It’s really very special.

And 2. Fran and I get to spend the whole day for days making music together, experimenting, and just having fun. The super special musical connection Fran and I have was forged in the studio during the EP and it remains the place where our relationship thrives: she as the Producer and I as the Artist. Our communication is so tapped in that we sometimes sing the same new musical idea at the same time, or I’ll describe a tone using sound, or color, or texture and she’ll make it happen. Fran hears me describe the heart of a song and what I would like and she ~produces it into a reality. You know, if I am the mother, she is the midwife, the album is the baby. It really is very cool and very special.

What are a few sources of inspiration when you write?

I write songs from a place of vulnerability and authenticity and seek to tell stories that both describe the reality of our world (to bear witness) and seek to change it (to take action). I am a deep believer and practitioner of the Greek practice of “parrhesia,” which means literally “to speak everything” or rather, “to speak freely” “to speak boldly” for the common good, even at personal risk. When writing music, I practice parrhesia and it has been a real sense of healing, processing, and actualization for me.

In a more direct sense, often, I am pushed by wave of deep and intense and sometimes frightening emotions to write music, to turn the feeling into something articulate and beautiful and real. All of partygirl’s songs, every word, every stanza, every note, is based on a true story from my life. Everything is intentional and is seeking “to speak everything.” I am as moved by horror as I am by beauty, by sharp heartbreak as I am by enduring and deep friendships, by feeling hellish and confused as I am by feeling clear, and full, and articulate. I am by training a historian and the music is my archive of the world. It’s my way of telling these stories and using them to build a world that’s better.

What is next for partygirl?

In short: the album. In long, we want to continue to grow, to perform, to tour, to plaster this music everywhere. In an immediate sense, we’re playing our last NYC show for a while this Tuesday, October 31 at Mercury Lounge with Pop Music Fever Dram, Starcleaner Reunion, and BESTGIRL!! This show will absolutely rock and I’m so excited to hit that stage. Then, we hit the Runaway in Washington D.C. (our first show there!) on Saturday, November 11. Then, it’s album, album, album: mix, master, distribute, play, play, play. Things are just heating up and I really cannot wait to share it with everyone.