Cover photo by Blaise Productions
Coming together from their independent projects, twin brothers Jon (Who Cares) and Bryan (Hi Five) formed Birthdayy Partyy in January 2018 to produce “partyy music for partyy people who like to partyy.” Since its inception last year, Jon and Bryan have produced original music at an alarming rate, gaining recognition from major players within the industry. Their rapid growth has earned them performances at numerous shows and music festivals, which include Spring Awakening and Radiance NYE.
This year, the brothers are preparing for their upcoming second performance at EDC Las Vegas, return to Spring Awakening, and debut at North Coast Music Festival. Before they embarked on their summer festivities, we had the chance to chat with them about how Birthdayy Partyy came to be, what their favorite thing to do while performing is, and pizza preferences!
Festival Squad: I know you came together from your own independent projects, Who Cares and Hi Five. How did you end up coming together to form Birthdayy Partyy?
Birthdayy Partyy: We realized that we were heading in the same direction and took a lot of B2Bs anyway, since our music was so similar in style. We were working on more and more tracks together, so we figured two people pushing one project would be able to do more than two people pushing two projects! Also, our branding for our solo projects was AWFUL, and we were both ready to escape that.
FS: Did you always know you wanted to pursue a career within music?
Birthdayy Partyy: We always wanted to, but for so long it seemed out of reach of “normal people.” Then, Jon started interning for Autograf, and we got to see inside this industry and see that it was almost all “normal people” that just worked really hard. We still have day jobs, but it’s really great for us to see that there is a possibility of eventually being able to support ourselves with music.
FS: What is the creative process when producing music together?
Birthdayy Partyy: We rarely ever work on stuff “together” in the same room. It’s generally passing project files back and forth. It usually ends up being one person finishing about half the track, then finally showing the other one and passing the project off, and then the other person kind of finishes up the arrangement and composition part. Bryan is the (slightly) better engineer, so he does all our mixing and mastering. Jon is better at coming up with a little more unorthodox ideas during the writing process.
FS: What is your biggest challenge and inspiration when producing?
Birthdayy Partyy: Honestly, our biggest challenge IS inspiration. It’s so hard to stay motivated sometimes with full time jobs that have us constantly traveling, friends and family, and other hobbies. But we always make time for music, as it’s the thing that brings us the most joy. I’ve never been happier than when I’m really in the groove making a song and ideas are flowing. I think JAUZ said it best when he said, “Work so hard that your friends think you’re crazy.”
FS: What festivals are on your wishlist to perform at?
Birthdayy Partyy: We love attending festivals (almost) as much as we love playing them. We go to Spring Awakening and Electric Forest every year, and Jon goes on Friendship, as well. We’re always excited to bring our sound to somewhere new, but some of our “bucket list” places to play are places we are already going as fans, since we have so many positive memories there and hope to help others make the same kinds of memories. But some of them are places we haven’t been yet, but look like a lot of fun. The first that comes to mind for me is Shambhala. The lineup is always nutty, and the stage designs look so immersive, yet intimate. We’ve always thought that it was a really cool vibe. We’re also excited to bring our sound back to EDC Las Vegas this month! It was such an honor to debut the project live at one of the top festivals in the world, and we can’t wait to be back! We really gotta give the Corona Electric Beach team a huge shoutout for having us on last year. We couldn’t have asked for a better way to start the project.
FS: What is your favorite thing to do while performing?
Birthdayy Partyy: We like to play a game of “how many of our own tracks can we can string together in a row.” I think our record is something, like, 12. We’re probably gonna beat that this year though, since we have SO much new music that we can’t wait to share. We could probably play a whole set of only our music, but all our friends keep making such incredible tracks that we can’t help but play them out.
FS: Do you have plans to do more shows this summer?
Birthdayy Partyy: We obviously have EDC coming up here in a few days, which we’re extremely excited for. Then, we also have Spring Awakening in Chicago. Later in the summer, we have North Coast Music Festival, where we’ll be joining the Bite This Takeover stage. This is extra cool for us because JAUZ is such a huge inspiration to us. We also have a yacht party in Chicago with Habstrakt that we’re super excited for on the Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend!
FS: If you could go anywhere in the world, and money is not an issue, where would you go and why?
Birthdayy Partyy: Back to the studio. We just wanna make more music. Also France. There’s a ton of incredible bass house producers out there. Gotta be something in the water. PSA: Stay Hydrated.
FS: Deep dish or thin crust pizza?
Birthdayy Partyy: There are occasions for both. Thin crust is for sharing with friends at a partyy, deep dish is for special occasions with smaller groups. People have this idea that Chicago only ever eats deep dish pizza and it’s just not true.
FS: What is the biggest piece advice you would give to an artist starting out in the industry?
Birthdayy Partyy: Be genuine. I don’t know what else to say that would be as helpful as that.
FS: What can we expect from you two soon?
Birthdayy Partyy: We have a really big collaboration dropping soon (still not 100% on the release date right this second) that has been in the works since January. We also have a ton of unreleased music we’re just sitting on (plus all the tracks we’re still working on, which last I counted was 32 in process or finished but unreleased tracks), so you can expect to hear some of that if you catch us live!
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