Contributing Writer
TikTok power duo PARTY SHIRT have unveiled a new alias, X & Ivy, alongside their new track ‘Luca Dea’ which is out now on their PARTY SHIRT imprint. We sat down with the pair to discuss music, Luca Dea and Hot Cheeto Waffles.
Hello X & Ivy and welcome to Music Is 4 Lovers. How is 2023 treating both of you so far?
2023 has been good to us! After being indoors for the better part of the last three years, we finally made a trip across the pond and spent the first three months of the year working on our upcoming EP in London, Berlin, and Italy!
Most people know of you two as Party Shirt, however you’ve released your new record ‘Luca Dea’ as X & Ivy. What was behind this decision?
We’ve been producing music as PARTY SHIRT since 2016, but the majority of our followers don’t know us for music – so we took the risk of starting from zero as X & Ivy, so our music can speak for itself.
Can you explain who Luca Dea is and what relation he has to the record?
Luca Dea is a rave documentarian who has been integral in the rise of the documentation of the house and techno scene. He’s the camera behind the world’s largest DJs since 2008, and has grown a cult following for his raw footage approach to filming DJ sets. When we tried to find out more about him, we couldn’t. So we decided to reach out ourselves and share his story – which included us travelling to Italy to meet him.
Do you have more plans for the X & Ivy alias? If so, what can we expect?
Absolutely! It’s our main focus – the plan is a lot more single releases, sets, and figuring out what we can add to the scene that currently isn’t there. We don’t want to iterate on what’s currently going on, we want to create something entirely new.
‘The Party Shirt Cookbook’ is coming out late September. Can you give us an exclusive sneak preview of one of the recipes?
Of course! One of our favorites is the Hot Cheeto Waffle, a smash hit.
You create lots of different types of content around music, food or your ‘fact or cap’ series. Do you just go with what you feel like doing at the time or is there method to the madness?
Music always comes first to us, and the content around that. We love our ‘fact or cap’ series, and that’s what keeps the lights on and allows us to invest into our music and touring. Like everyone we have bursts of inspirations and burn-outs and we try out best to manage that so everything is consistent. Easier said than done.
What do you think it is about your content that has made you so popular on TikTok?
It’s hard to say. We’d like to think that there’s nothing special about us, that’s what makes us special. It’s as if the audience is watching themselves. There’s also an enormous amount of luck in gaining an audience in any field, regardless of how good the product is.
What else would you like to try your hands at, that you haven’t done yet?
We have a laundry list of big dreams. Score a film, produce our own TV show, play a set at Coachella. Don’t think we’ll ever run out of things we want to try that we haven’t done.
And lastly, what should we expect from X & Ivy / Party Shirt for the rest of this year and beyond?
Lots of experimentation. From music to food to content. We don’t like anything getting stale.
Follow X & Ivy: Instagram – Soundcloud
‘Luca Dea’ by X & Ivy is out now on PARTY SHIRT, buy here: https://bit.ly/3rVyTwB
