Gil Mantera's Party Dream Has Flair, Fine Conversation Skills

I talked to a lot of bands at the 2008 Warped Tour. Most of the interviews were interesting, and a lot of them were newsworthy, but no conversation was more entertaining than the one I had with Gil Mantera's Party Dream. Gil Mantera, who does all of the songs' structure and programming, is vocally accompanied by a man who calls himself "Ultimate Donny." They claim to be brothers but I am, as you'll soon read, skeptical. The duo hails from Youngstown, Ohio (which is, oddly, the hometown of eponymous group Youngstown, a boy band best known for being on the soundtrack of the 1999 Matthew Broderick embarrassment "Inspector Gadget"). The catalogue of Gil Mantera's Party Dream is basically dance pop but way more gripping (it's accompanied by a striptease if you see it live).

So, without further ado, the best of Gil Mantera's Party Dream.

On appelation:

The Daily Californian: So what's your name?

Gil Mantera: Gil Mantera.

DC: And what's your name?

Ultimate Donny: Ultimate Donny.

DC: Really?

UD: Yes.

DC: What's your last name, Ultimate Donny?

UD: It's a mystery.

DC: So you're like Cher.

UD: Kind of, but a lot cooler.

On fraternity:

DC: So are you guys biologically brothers or is it just a spiritual thing?

UD: Do you think that's any of your fucking business? (Laughs)

DC. Wow. You know what? I interviewed like twelve punk bands today and none of them have said that to me.

UD: (Continues laughing)

DC: You guys must think you're really hardcore.

GM: We're from Youngstown, Ohio. We're not from Texas or California where people are friendly.

DC: Oh. People are friendly here?

On theatricality:

DC: Why do you guys have these costumes? Is that part of your vision for the band?

GM: Yeah.

UD: Yeah.

GM: I think it's much more entertaining to watch a show with a showman, you know, like in the tradition of any band that dressed up-Brian Eno or David Bowie. But then you can also see Brian Eno just in a nice collared shirt talking in interviews, but when he's putting on a show, he puts on a show.

UD: Every time we play, we want to make sure we give a show-not just a couple of idiots tinkering around with electronics and singing and stuff.

GM: It wouldn't work for every band.

DC: Well, you guys definitely have the confidence to pull it off. I guess you aren't uncomfortable with stripping down?

GM: I love wearing that stuff.

UD: It's fun.

GM: It's fun to wear it.

DC: So is every show like that?

GM: We'll be wearing these outfits this whole tour, but we always change up the outfits.

UD: Every tour we have different outfits.

GM: Not every show was like that. I mean, there were enough people that were interested to watch us. Yesterday, it was like people walked by and we may as well have been selling snow cones.

UD: Yesterday sucked.

On success:

DC: So what's the endgame? When do you come to the point where you guys say, "We're done, we're happy, we made it"?

GM: Suicide.

UD: Yeah, I'd say mostly suicide.

DC: Oh good. An uplifting message.

GM: No, uh, we want, you know, the whole shebang. Like with all kinds of different people involved. Tigers. Magic. Illusions.

DC: Like Criss Angel?

GM: Kind of, but more like old stupid magic. Like really dumb magic.

UD: Dumb magic.

GM: Not like hip, cool magic. More like making a cane levitate.

UD: Our goal is to have enough of a following that we can afford really insanely shitty expensive props for the stage. That's not a lie.

GM: Like, just get a basketball hoop that we could dunk.

UD: Exactly.

GM: Maybe a German Shepherd that comes up and we can pet and play with and stuff.

UD: We want a living room scene on our stage.

GM: With a television.

DC: It sounds like you guys want a Broadway spectacular.

GM: We want it all.

On poverty:

DC: What's your target demographic?

UD: We've seen everybody. There is no target anymore.

GM: If you want to get paid, I think your target audience is teenager kids who have their parents' money to blow and who'll buy your shit.

UD: Yeah. If you want to make money on merchandise –

GM: But I never buy anything from bands when I go out and see a show.

UD: That's because we don't have any fucking money.

On forgetting the events of July 3, 1971

DC: How old were you when you started?

UD: Fuck.

GM: I was eighteen.

UD: Yeah.

GM: Yeah … I haven't had to like get drunk like I used to, but when we would play clubs, we'd have to like sneak me off to an area where I could get, you know, drunk so I'd feel comfortable doing it.

DC: Jim Morrison was like that.

GM: Really?

DC: He couldn't face the audience unless he was wasted. In the beginning, at least.

GM: Yeah?

DC: Yeah. And you guys both wear stretchy pants.

GM: Jim Morrison's a big inspiration. He's one of the sexiest men alive.

In conclusion:

DC: So do you guys have any final thoughts for the students of Berkeley?

UD: Berkeley? That's a tough group of kids. I don't think we have those kind of words.

Tags: VANS WARPED TOUR