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Entertainment / by Vanessa Butler
Photographer / Hannah Palmer

Electric Punanny

Don't just go big, go home!

You won’t read about these happenings in Spin, or see your favorite star being snapped by the paparazzi at these shows, but the hottest underground parties are happening around the world and are about to break into the mainstream. Call them a throwback to house parties, or an alternative to the corporate entities big name festivals have ultimately become. Call them whatever you want, underground parties are back in a big way. We sat down with New York’s hottest underground party hosts/DJ’s Electric Punanny to talk shop and give us a glimpse inside the ever-changing party atmosphere.

I’m sitting on the roof of a bar in downtown Montreal. It’s a place that I don’t really want to be after drinking at one quite similar the night before. But the sun is shining, the Eska is flowing like the bottles in the club were just hours ago and I’m sitting cross legged in front of one of the coolest entities from NYC: Electric Punanny. Producer, EMCEE and all-around musical maverick, MeLo-X is currently snapping a photograph of a girl’s tattoo of a panther on her upper thigh. “I didn’t shave my legs today though”, the girl hesitantly says. “Our whole thing is all about panthers.” Jasmine Solano chimes in calming the girl: “Your piece is so sick.” The two, who describe themselves as the “wildest entity” of New York joined forces in 2008 at club 205 wanting to breathe life back into the world of underground parties with their unique sound. MeLo-X and DJ Jasmine Solano ultimately began throwing their own monthly bash under the name Electric Punanny which quickly became one of the hottest parties in the city. “Our ideal night is when people are hanging upside down from the booth, banging on the walls and us having two sets of turntables so we can go back and forth. We always like to switch back and forth from the turntables to the mic; it’s a blast.”

electric-punanny-july-cover-photo-by-hannah-palmer

You don’t need to spend a thousand dollars to travel to a different country or city to participate in another festival if it gets too overwhelming for you.

-Jasmine Solano

The two can mix a crowd into a real frenzy too. Since the rise of their wild parties and mixtapes, they have hosted all over, most recently wrapping up a four-day Canadian tour ending in Montreal’s Tokyo Bar. “Big clubs are cool but the vibe that we’re used to, the vibe that we like the most is the intimate basement vibe,” explained MeLo-X. “It has like a moshpit feel. They remind me of growing up and going to hood parties in Brooklyn where people just clear out their basement and at the end of the night there’s like jean marks on the wall from everybody grinding. So we like those intimate vibes. But at the same time, our parties bring out a lot of people so we like bigger clubs so that all of our people can get in and have a good time.”

“It’s cool because we kind of decide [what we’re going to play] when we get to the party and see what kind of place it is. Melo is also a really sick producer, he’s known worldwide for his production remixes, he can really kill it with the abstract hip-hop electro stuff. Then I’ll kinda go in with the dancehall and soca, we’ll switch and go into some 90’s… We’re able to go across the board so we just feel it out when we hit the party.”

The resurgence of underground parties like the ones Electric Punanny are accustomed to is something that’s being brought up more recently. It’s not as if they ever really disappeared; there was never a collective agreement that no parties would ever to be put on without a sponsor again, it’s just that many people are forgoing their upwards of 800 dollar festival tickets for an alternative, something that brings the music back into the forefront rather than the false experience of consumerism many face at festivals. “A great example is SXSW, a festival that Melo and I have been attending now for about five years. You just watch the festival go from small indie bands to Kanye, Eminem and Dr. Dre performing. I think that if anything the festival culture has developed into a really big money maker for the cities, for brands, for hotels, hospitality… People are capitalizing on the fact that people love to wild out.”

“Everything changes.” MeLo-X chimes in, “It’s time for the next cool underground-come-up-festival to host that kind of vibe.”

And that exactly is what’s being seen at Electric Punanny parties. People are there to feel the music, to experience their surroundings and enjoy the moment unfolding rather than having the urge to prove they were there via Instagram or Tweet. “Recently I’ve noticed less cameras which is nice. I see more people just dancing and sweating.There was a time where it was like that, then party photography got really big so there were always mad cameras at the bar trying to get photos for their own sites. But now I feel like it’s going a little bit back like the way it was when people were vibing out.”

electric-punanny-interview-photos-by-hannah-palmer-01

Keep it local, support your local DJ and artists.

-MeLo-X

So what’s the thing we can learn from here. Do we go back to keeping events small?

“I think smaller or bigger, you’ll find that artists would rather have a smaller venue with 100% percent of their fans than a larger set up with 20% of their fans,” said Jasmine. “But, then again that’s how you gain new fans when you’re around people who don’t know who you are.”

“Sometimes it’s not the artists choice to perform for smaller venues, if you’re doing your thing more people know about you,” mused MeLo-X. “So if you want everybody to see your show, you gotta do bigger venues to get everybody in. Some artists can’t consistently play smaller venues and still have that core following that others get. The name gets big, more people come, it all depends.”

That fame is something that Electric Punanny is getting used to. They’re being brought out of the basements and local clubs playing bigger venues for their quickly growing fanbase. “I remember when I spun at the Brooklyn Museum for Target First Saturdays and it was around ten thousand people outside,” says Jasmine. “I played my little reggae set. And yeah, I mean it’s always trickier because unless you are a big name like Calvin Harris, Diplo or Steve Aoki, unless the fans are coming there knowing what to expect, you’re going to have some people that love it and some people that hate it. That’s just the name of the game.”

Until that next party, that next major happening emerges from the underground, we should keep in mind there are a lot of alternatives to big name festivals out there to check out. Jasmine suggests finding your local rave, or a “ local party that is poppin’ and support it.” Don’t be shy to grab up those flyers at a local record store and check out the parties that are around. “You don’t need to spend a thousand dollars to travel to a different country or city to participate in another festival if it gets too overwhelming for you. You can normally find some of the dopest DJ’s with parties right in your hometown or in the closest city to you.”

MeLo-X says, “Keep it local, support your local DJ and artists.”

While things will be heating up for the duo in the coming months, be sure to keep tabs on dates and new mixtapes on their site and keep track of the ongoings of the 24-hour party that is Electric Punanny on Twitter.

You won’t read about these happenings in Spin, or see your favorite star being snapped by the paparazzi at these shows, but the hottest underground parties are happening around the world and are about to break into the mainstream. Call them a throwback to house parties, or an alternative to the corporate entities big name festivals have ultimately become. Call them whatever you want, underground parties are back in a big way. We sat down with New York’s hottest underground party hosts/DJ’s Electric Punanny to talk shop and give us a glimpse inside the ever-changing party atmosphere.

I’m sitting on the roof of a bar in downtown Montreal. It’s a place that I don’t really want to be after drinking at one quite similar the night before. But the sun is shining, the Eska is flowing like the bottles in the club were just hours ago and I’m sitting cross legged in front of one of the coolest entities from NYC: Electric Punanny. Producer, EMCEE and all-around musical maverick, MeLo-X is currently snapping a photograph of a girl’s tattoo of a panther on her upper thigh. “I didn’t shave my legs today though”, the girl hesitantly says. “Our whole thing is all about panthers.” Jasmine Solano chimes in calming the girl: “Your piece is so sick.” The two, who describe themselves as the “wildest entity” of New York joined forces in 2008 at club 205 wanting to breathe life back into the world of underground parties with their unique sound. MeLo-X and DJ Jasmine Solano ultimately began throwing their own monthly bash under the name Electric Punanny which quickly became one of the hottest parties in the city. “Our ideal night is when people are hanging upside down from the booth, banging on the walls and us having two sets of turntables so we can go back and forth. We always like to switch back and forth from the turntables to the mic; it’s a blast.”

electric-punanny-july-cover-photo-by-hannah-palmer

You don’t need to spend a thousand dollars to travel to a different country or city to participate in another festival if it gets too overwhelming for you.

-Jasmine Solano

The two can mix a crowd into a real frenzy too. Since the rise of their wild parties and mixtapes, they have hosted all over, most recently wrapping up a four-day Canadian tour ending in Montreal’s Tokyo Bar. “Big clubs are cool but the vibe that we’re used to, the vibe that we like the most is the intimate basement vibe,” explained MeLo-X. “It has like a moshpit feel. They remind me of growing up and going to hood parties in Brooklyn where people just clear out their basement and at the end of the night there’s like jean marks on the wall from everybody grinding. So we like those intimate vibes. But at the same time, our parties bring out a lot of people so we like bigger clubs so that all of our people can get in and have a good time.”

“It’s cool because we kind of decide [what we’re going to play] when we get to the party and see what kind of place it is. Melo is also a really sick producer, he’s known worldwide for his production remixes, he can really kill it with the abstract hip-hop electro stuff. Then I’ll kinda go in with the dancehall and soca, we’ll switch and go into some 90’s... We’re able to go across the board so we just feel it out when we hit the party.”

The resurgence of underground parties like the ones Electric Punanny are accustomed to is something that’s being brought up more recently. It’s not as if they ever really disappeared; there was never a collective agreement that no parties would ever to be put on without a sponsor again, it’s just that many people are forgoing their upwards of 800 dollar festival tickets for an alternative, something that brings the music back into the forefront rather than the false experience of consumerism many face at festivals. “A great example is SXSW, a festival that Melo and I have been attending now for about five years. You just watch the festival go from small indie bands to Kanye, Eminem and Dr. Dre performing. I think that if anything the festival culture has developed into a really big money maker for the cities, for brands, for hotels, hospitality... People are capitalizing on the fact that people love to wild out.”

“Everything changes.” MeLo-X chimes in, “It’s time for the next cool underground-come-up-festival to host that kind of vibe.”

And that exactly is what’s being seen at Electric Punanny parties. People are there to feel the music, to experience their surroundings and enjoy the moment unfolding rather than having the urge to prove they were there via Instagram or Tweet. “Recently I’ve noticed less cameras which is nice. I see more people just dancing and sweating.There was a time where it was like that, then party photography got really big so there were always mad cameras at the bar trying to get photos for their own sites. But now I feel like it’s going a little bit back like the way it was when people were vibing out.”

electric-punanny-interview-photos-by-hannah-palmer-01

Keep it local, support your local DJ and artists.

-MeLo-X

So what’s the thing we can learn from here. Do we go back to keeping events small?

“I think smaller or bigger, you’ll find that artists would rather have a smaller venue with 100% percent of their fans than a larger set up with 20% of their fans,” said Jasmine. “But, then again that's how you gain new fans when you’re around people who don’t know who you are.”

“Sometimes it’s not the artists choice to perform for smaller venues, if you’re doing your thing more people know about you,” mused MeLo-X. “So if you want everybody to see your show, you gotta do bigger venues to get everybody in. Some artists can’t consistently play smaller venues and still have that core following that others get. The name gets big, more people come, it all depends.”

That fame is something that Electric Punanny is getting used to. They’re being brought out of the basements and local clubs playing bigger venues for their quickly growing fanbase. “I remember when I spun at the Brooklyn Museum for Target First Saturdays and it was around ten thousand people outside,” says Jasmine. “I played my little reggae set. And yeah, I mean it’s always trickier because unless you are a big name like Calvin Harris, Diplo or Steve Aoki, unless the fans are coming there knowing what to expect, you’re going to have some people that love it and some people that hate it. That’s just the name of the game.”

Until that next party, that next major happening emerges from the underground, we should keep in mind there are a lot of alternatives to big name festivals out there to check out. Jasmine suggests finding your local rave, or a “ local party that is poppin’ and support it.” Don’t be shy to grab up those flyers at a local record store and check out the parties that are around. “You don’t need to spend a thousand dollars to travel to a different country or city to participate in another festival if it gets too overwhelming for you. You can normally find some of the dopest DJ’s with parties right in your hometown or in the closest city to you.”

MeLo-X says, “Keep it local, support your local DJ and artists.”

While things will be heating up for the duo in the coming months, be sure to keep tabs on dates and new mixtapes on their site and keep track of the ongoings of the 24-hour party that is Electric Punanny on Twitter.

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