:Partyshank are a London-based musical duo consisting of Howard P. Sausage (Party Sausage) & Christian Shank (I Will Shank You For A Penny) In little over a year since their inception the duo have been described as ‘act to watch out for in 2008’ by BIGSTEREO, Indie Magazine and Dazed & Confused, as well as being recently voted number one in the ‘top ten chart of new bands to look out for in 2008’ by NME & Myspace.
At this point, almost a year after writing their first track together, they have created straight-forward electro, Baltimore club, dubstep, grime, breakcore, noise pop, bassline, garage as well as having created more traditionally recognised electro-rock or vocal electro. They have remixed artists such as Foals, Simian Mobile Disco, Late Of The Pier, Glamour For Better and worked on a series of projects with Frankmusik and Lies In Disguise (the Moving Units’ Blake Miller-fronted electro act).
Their electro work has won them the favour of many household name DJ's including the world renowned Justice who opened their sets with Partyshank's 'Penis Vs. Vagina' during 2007 and 2008 and more recently Annie Mac of BBC Radio 1, who has taken a shine to their remix of Glamour For Better's 'Architechs of Discotech'.
They have also appeared live and in interviews on several prominent radio stations including Swedish National Radio and BBC Radio 6's Queens of Noize show.
They have played over 120 gigs in under one year supporting artists such as Foals, Chromeo, Crystal Castles and provided the main support for Hadouken at the Oxford Carling Academy. They have been on several UK tours and several international tours; Poland, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Hungary, Turkey, Italy and are set to tour in the US, Canada and Mexico during April and May of this year.
Partyshank are known for their eccentric and energetic live performances, including hotdog costumes and stage diving. But they are best known for having ‘created and championed their own unique sound’, a combination of ‘circuit-bent toys, 8-bit samples and high-speed dance, which they have satirically called Toystep.
History
:Christian Shank and Howard Sausage met at school ‘through a mutual love of Jungle’. The pair dj’d together and attented raves and Drum & Bass events into their adulthood whilst maintaining their own separate musical projects. Partyshank formed at the start of 2007 with the creation of their first track ‘Burp, No I Don’t Think So Cunt Duck’. The duo originally went under their extended solo titles as Party Sausage & I Will Shank You For A Penny but shortened this to Partyshank after numerous mistakes by promoters prompted a less awkward and more understandable name.
Christian’s background is rooted in the subgenre of Drumfunk; a complex exploration and celebration of famous and rare jazz, soul and funk breakbeats through processing and digital rearrangement. Howard’s background is in an equally obscure environment; circuit bending and Breakcore. Circuit bending is the creative short-circuiting of low voltage, battery-powered electronic devices such as guitar effects, children's toys and small synthesizers to create new musical instruments and sound generators. The pair have accredited their sound to a combination of their obscure backgrounds but have always proclaimed that they wanted this project to embody fun rather than pretention. Christian’s background in drumfunk ‘lent itself to a standard of mixdown and engineering otherwise rare in other absurdist composers and electro acts who exist solely on Myspace’. And Howard’s background in circuit-bending meant they could ‘experiment with new and interesting instruments with ease and without cost, and could add an interesting live element to their music’.
Musical Style
:Partyshank are a musical project whose music could more often than not be described as falling under the umbrella of ‘dance’. Their music has been described as ‘blurring the lines between cacophony and party snacks’ and the pair pride themselves on the creative use and combination of instruments which you would not normally expect to hear together. For example; the use of 70s funk effect ‘Talkbox’ and Yamaha DX100 keyboard with circuit-bent instruments and punk/hardcore-style vocals. Their early Toystep work in particular is characterised by ultra-fast, hard-dance combined with unexpected, humorously-timed samples and circuit bent children’s toys. There is a common misconception, however, that Partyshank have only recently begun creating more traditionally recognisable vocal tracks and electro-rock. Anyone who has seen them play, even during their first few gigs, will know that the pair have been recording and playing live vocal tracks such as Super Happy Family Fun Wish-Time, Packer; Super-nonce and Untiltied since their inception.
Discography
Releases
EPs *Gary EP (So Sweet Records, July 2007) * Lies In Disguise Split EP (So Sweet Records, July, 2008)
Singles *Penis Vs. Vagina (So Sweet Records, June 2007)