Hey everyone,

We just posted Season 2 in our online webstore, and with it we also updated our website a bit—including integrating the blog to its own section on the website!

All future posts will be housed there! Check it out!
http://www.dancepartymassacre.com/blog

Thanks!
Alex

Hey everyone,

A week from today (Sunday) we'll be selling product at the upcoming Baked Fresh in Boston. A special event for the weekly Sowa Open Market, the outdoor venue brings along 120 local artists, crafters, and entrepreneurs all for your perusal!

Keeping you entertained throughout the day there will be live musical performances by Emily Elbert, Tripl3 Crown, Adam Payne, and The Sterns. The event will also be hosted by DJ Red Foxx (Hearthrob)!



Our new shirts will be printed up and prepared to be sold come this week, and you can see them for the FIRST time at Baked Fresh! Come get your first chance to buy the new product, and we'll have some old stuff at SLASHED-n-GASHED prices!

We really want you to come and see our product in-person—online isn't always the best. So to help convince you to come we're having a ONE DAY ONLY $10 off coupon to be used at Baked Fresh which we posted below! Hopefully this will help you new customers in getting something and also thank the Scream Team for being so supportive! (If you have a DPM shirt, wear it! We'll be taking photos throughout the day.)

The event is next Sunday, October 5th from 10AM-5PM!

See you there,
Alex

PS-We're still planning a Halloween party to celebrate the new line. Just stayed tuned!


PRINT THIS AND PRESENT IT

Coupon valid once per customer.

Subscribe in a Reader

Oh man, my head hurts. Got a headache like no other that better not turn into a migraine!

Work will be the death of me. I need someone to organize my life. Will you do it for me?

Anyway, I'm writing to tell you we recently sent out an order to complete the newest season of Dance Party Massacre! They'll be one special limited edition shirt to celebrate our 2nd season, plus new designs (with some help from the awesome Matthew Skiff) and some of our classic shirts still in the mix.

I was completing the line a night or two ago when it came to be 12:30 AM and I was ready to crash. I flip the channel on the TV and Scream was playing so it must have been a sign! I finished that crap that night!


SNEAK PEEK RIGHT HERE!

Oooohh! Aaah! What does it all mean??!


We'll be putting the new shirts on the website come mid-October (So you can grab them up for Halloween if you want!) and we plan to celebrate with another Halloween release party which is still in the works. But you can get your FIRST LOOK and FIRST CHANCE to buy the new stuff (and probably old stuff on sale) at Baked Fresh in Boston on Sunday, October 5th.

I'll keep you updated with more info on all this stuff later. Just keep checking back!

I have to go rest my brain now.

-Alex

PS-Had a good time at the Silent Rave last Friday. The rain didn't stop us from having a good time! My personal photos are below.

 Subscribe in a Reader

Hey everyone,

While I don't consider Dance Party Massacre a horror brand (take a look at Fright Rags or Rotten Cotton if you want horror gear), it's obviously influenced greatly by it. I like to think our imagery comes from horror and our attitude from a more fun, partying atmosphere. After watching so many horror movies you really start to notice what makes them stand together (or separate), and what's really the inspiration behind them.

Horror movies are not all the same and subgenres run amock including zombie movies, ghost films, creature features, exploitation, and gorefests. A string of films which eventually got dubbed "slashers" (and were the main focus of inspiration for season 1 of DPM) began with the likes of Halloween in 1978 and became cemented when A Nightmare on Elm Street in 1984 was a success.


"Let's kiiiillll people!!"


You know those 3 big-bads Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, and Freddy Krueger? Ya, well they didn't became pop icons for nothing. The films they were a part of became a relevant, popular, and new film subgenre of its own. One that focuses on a masked serial killer stalking teenagers who are usually drinking a lot or having sex. The youth get picked off one by one while the killer is seemingly unstoppable ...That is until he comes face-to-face with the Final Girl—the good girl of the bunch who ultimately defeats the big, bad guy at the end of the film (at least until the sequel). It's really a classic battle of evil vs. good.


These girls just wanna have fun!


I already realize going through all of that makes me sound like a HUGE NERD, but I don't care! What I find so compelling about these Final Girls is not just what they stand for, but how they seemingly developed out of nowhere (it's really still a theory). But when a film becomes successful copycats are made (and made and made and made) and as each tries to add in their own originality there are a few basic themes that have to stay true in order for the audience to be familiar with the story. Thus the creation of The Boogeyman vs The Final Girl.


Doesn't anyone see the black guy getting attacked by Freddy?!


There are certainly variations on this theme, (not just a lone girl, more mystery or sc-fi themes than horror, etc.) but either way these Final Girls, and ultimately Final Boys, are who I see when I think of the people who wear Dance Party Massacre. Survivors that have made it through the night; who when push comes to kill you better step out of the way because nothing will stop us from having a good time!

Watch your backs!
Alex


PS-There is a really great blog that relates to this subject run by a woman who talks about obscure horror films, favors nostalgic film art, and writes about her love of the genre. Of course, she's dubbed herself the Final Girl.

Subscribe in a Reader

Hey there you rabble-rousers,

While we don't actually have any part in making this happen, I thought I'd let you know about something we fully support! Two weeks from today Boston will have its own silent rave!

Sound weird? Haven't heard of one. Well don't think too much about it. Just bring your MP3 player, show up, and when the time strikes start having some fun! Everyone taking their shopping trips to Newbury or heading to the bars on Boylston won't know WTF is happening.

They've held these in London and NYC. Is Boston cooool enough to participate? I dunno, but it's something different to do. WAKE UP BOSTON! Maybe it'll be reaallly awkward. Maybe it'll be really fun. But I'll be doing it and then keeping my iPod on and heading to the bars. Or maybe dancing down the street like it's an iPod commercial.

The "organizers" (it's really about the people who come) of the event seem to be high school students and therefor a lot of high school kids have been invited. Don't let that stray you away. We're hear to tell you at least one 24 year-old will be there and I don't want to get accused of anything illegal so come hang out with me.

More info on the event is below.
We also whipped up our own flyer, because we just really wanted to cuss in it.

Wear your DPM gear and come have fun!
Alex





Facebook Event
Going Boston Event
Yelp Event
Myspace Page


Some info from Silent Rave New York

- NO THE MUSIC WILL NOT BE SYNCED FOR EVERYONE. The main point of Silent Raves is that people have freedom to listen to whatever they want, plus this way we get people from all backgrounds, and don't lose people who wouldn't like the music we'd play.

- HOWEVER, you are very welcome to coordinate something with your mates/make playlists/set up FM transmitters, but that'll all be via your own efforts. The official Silent Rave stance is people listen to anything they like.

- Please respect the other people dancing around you, and also the park! No-one wants a load of litter and bollocks to clean up afterwards, so just use common sense and don't be a muppet.

- Dress up in whatever you want to, your fellow ravers won't judge you!

- Show people they should be dancing in the streets, not in their rooms!

- Silent Raves are supposed to be entirely non-destructive activities. All in all we want everyone to RAVE and DISCO till your legs fall off or your mp3 battery runs out! and just have a bloody good time because things like this don't come around too often.

Subscribe in a Reader

Hey everyone,

Last week I got in contact with Josh Abe from Hipster Collective about DPM. He digged the line and decided to ask me a few questions about it.

Check it out!

-Alex




HC: so what's the deal with the name? what does it mean, and what's the story behind it?
AD: Dance Party Massacre floated around in my head for so long that I needed for it to come out or else it would have wracked my brain
forever! It's derived from cheesy slasher films like Slumber Party Massacre and Sorority House Massacre. The name and the brand are both meant to represent a fun, almost ironic, take on horror imagery and themes. The real heart of DPM is about killing those demons we all have and just having some fun with your life.

HC: what made you get into the tshirt business and how did you start your company? you know… american dream stuff?
AD: I've always felt the need to create things and eventually went to art school where I continued to grow my skills and sell my stuff. T-shirts
always interested me because they are a blank canvas and whatever you put on it changes who it's for. When my shirt designs started getting more attention than my schoolwork, I felt the next step was just to ride that wave and open up a line with a strong idea and cohesive designs.

HC: where do your designs come from? what's your inspiration?
AD: I've been a huge fan of horror films since I was young and there came a point where fighting for your life and just trying to live really connected with me in my own life. I would be hanging out with friends, having fun, being stupid, making them watch horror movies, running around the city, staying up into the night, and it all just became this thing to me. It came after a long while of what felt like constantly being dissatisfied with how my life was going, and constantly struggling with trying to live how I wanted, that it felt like such a release.

HC: what's your favorite ensemble to wear with a tshirt?
AD: You can't go wrong with slim jeans falling into some good high-top sneakers.

HC: if you could fight one historical or fictional character, who would it be?
AD: I sometimes have nightmares of killers coming after me (probably from watching horror movies before going to bed) and just the other night I imagined Freddy, Jason, and Michael standing in my doorway before my eyes shut. If I had to fight someone it would surely be one of them, but probably Michael because he's my main man.

HC: heard any good music lately?
AD: I'm really bad with keeping up with music. Film, I'm pretty in-the-know. With music, I hear random songs and musicians from all eras and styles from all different places and some things stick with me, some don't. I love Weezer's "Pork and Beans" because the chorus is so driving and I would sing that out loud any day. I really like The Flobots "Handlebars", but if you search for their old video on Youtube it's better than their new cartoon one.

HC: what's on the horizon for DPM?
AD: Season 2 will come out in October and we'll be having an awesome Halloween party (of course, our favorite holiday) as well as selling and promoting at a few events around Boston. I'd also really like to start throwing our own parties and events and seeing Dance Party Massacre in more outlets. I really want this to be more than clothing. It's a brand, a design project, a party, a state of mind. Right now I just need to find people who connect with it.

Subscribe in a Reader

We met The Blue Pages over at Compound in July. They were performing and we also had to share a space to sell things—which we HATED (not really)! They actually left their stuff at the table while they were out gallavanting and performing and people kept handing me money asking to buy their CD.

I shoulda took that money and handed them a t-shirt...

Anyway, they turned out to be really nice, fun guys and if you've been catching them live or around town chances are you've seen them in DPM. For their latest shoot Zac wore our Purple Blood Bandanna and Dave wore our Electric Blue Blood on the Dancefloor shirt in the latest Twolip Magazine.



James and Zac out and about.


Friday, September 12th they open for Parker House and Theory at The Paradise amongst others dates booked in the future. Go see them and tell them Alex sent you!

-Alex

PS-I attached their myspace music player below. We recommend "Speed of Light"!

Subscribe in a Reader

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to give you guys an update up on our little social experiment we call What are U afraid of?




• Launching quietly at the end of April, after 6 weeks we had about 50 posts to the website.
• After officially announcing the venture on Friday the 13th in June, we received over 450 posts within just the next week! (Thanks to posts by Hide Your Arms, T-Critic, and StumbleUpon)
• Since then we have now come to a total of 640 responses. (More if you count all the nonsense, spam, and downright blatantly offensive responses we decided to dismiss.)

We also handed out packets of stickers to those who asked (Scream Team anyone?) as well as handing out stickers at events and tossing in some paperwork to their packages to those who bought from us on our website. This allowed WAUAO? to get off the internet and into the real world.





While we can't tally how people are truly interpreting the project, or if those little stickers are having any effect on passer-byers, we can read what is being written at http://www.whatareufraidof.com. They range from funny and obvious, to personal and just plain dumb. We knew why we posed the question, bit in the end the point was just to see what people would write.


A BRIEF SUMMARY SO FAR
We found that many people hate spiders.
Almost as many were confused as to the point of the website.
More people than I want to count up are afraid of never fulfilling their dreams.
I found out about a reason to fear 12/21/12.
The world alone is used 38 times.
The word death 30.
Penis—7 times.
That same number of people said they feared nothing.


One post said they feared 666 responses. That's just 26 to go. What will it be?!

-Alex


SPREAD IT AROUND YOUR CITY
Contact the Scream Team!

SPREAD IT AROUND THE NET

GET CODE

Hey everyone,

If you think starting up an apparel line with blood and knives on it takes off like Hannah Montana's latest CD ...well then you live in our world. But no, that's not the real world. I still got another job to take care of (albeit a good one at Converse), but being the mastermind behind DPM things run a bit slow when I have to leave the US for China.

That's where I've been, and I'm back with some GREAT UPDATES!


DANCE PARTY MASSACRE @ TECHNICAL
Our shirts are now being carried by Technical on Newbury Street in Boston! It's a great store backed by Joey Kramer of Aerosmith with Newbury Street exposure, but an underground facade. 2nd store in the Bean to carry DPM and we're so very glad.

So when you're done buying some cupcakes from Johnny head on over to Technical and tell them how much you LOVE us!

Read an article about founder John Nicols in The Boston Globe.
Check out pics of the place courtesy of Freshness.


Technical Shop located at 230 Newbury Street


DANCE PARTY MASSACRE IN THE LATEST TWOLIP MAGAZINE
The second issue of online zine/magazine Twolip Magazine (based right outta Boston) launched last week and DPM is featured in it! A spread starring local band The Blue Pages shows off our shirts, and DJ Melee is featured with a photograph of him spinning in our stuff.




CHECK OUT HELLEUAXX WEDNESDAY
Last, but definitely not least, Dance Party Massacre will be doing giveaways at Hellauxx in Cambridge (@ the Enormous Room) this coming Wednesday the 13th. We got promo packs and FREE shirts to give out so if you're looking for your next party shirt stop on by!

Our pals DJ Nato and Justincredible will be spinning, with hosts Lucky Lux and Texas Mike and visuals by Walters Gropin The US. I'm not gonna pretend I know who all those people are (or if that last name even makes sense), but you bet they sound like a good time.



That's it, I'm off on a vacation!

Go break a sweat,
Alex

PS-It's 08/08/08! Not as good as the day it turned 06/06/06, but we'll take it.

When we came across them, we knew the band Enjoy The Zoo and Dance Party Massacre would go together like blood and knives. With songs like "Teenage Girl Killer" and "Planet Zombie" how could you go wrong?

Well actually, you could, but they don't! With a great melding of electronic, rock, and hip-hop influences their songs are also catchy. Their bright image and fun stage presence wins over fans as well. (Just check them out on urSESSION!)



They recently played with Boys Like Girls and Metro Station, which is no easy feat for an unsigned band. To me they also remind me of Cobra Starship, another band in full, unashamed immersion of the dance-pop-rock genre. Somebody sign these guys ASAP!

Listen to what is probably my favorite song of theirs below. They recently took down most of their songs from their myspace playlist (no idea why), but you can also listen to "Teenage Girl Killer" at this website.




PEACE OUT!
Alex