Formed in a North Carolina dormitory in 2012, the Nude Party celebrates the clanging frat rock of the ’60s as well as the Velvet Underground. Working with early mentor and producer Oakley Munson of Black Lips, they debuted with the Hot Tub EP in 2016. The band’s eponymous full-length debut arrived on New West Records in 2018.
Originating as an extended group of childhood friends and step-siblings who decided to start a band and then began learning to play instruments, the Nude Party took root at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. Freshman lead vocalist and guitarist Patton Magee eventually gathered lead guitarist Shaun Couture, organist/pianist Don Merrill, bass player Alec Castillo, percussionist Austin Brose, and drummer Connor Mikita. Most members also sing backup. The sextet soon moved into a lake house and started a nightly ritual of jamming in the basement. It was at a regular gig as the house band at a certain Boone party locale that the group’s practice of performing in the buff earned them a local reputation as “the naked party band.” They adopted the moniker the Nude Party just in time to move onto bookings at local clubs and bars, where they had to performed clothed.
In 2014, the band met Black Lips’ drummer Oakley Munson at a show in Charlotte. He took an interest in the group and recorded their first collection, Hot Tub EP, which they released in early 2016. As word of the EP’s rawness and good-times spirit spread, the band relocated to Munson’s base in the New York Catskills and began to perform regularly in Brooklyn and the surrounding region. New West signed the group for their Munson-produced full-length debut. Featuring the original six-piece lineup, The Nude Party saw release in July of 2018. Working again in the Catskills with Munson, this time with two years of touring under their belt, they followed it with Midnight Manor in October 2020.
The upcoming album Rides On out March 10th (@NewWestRecords):
REF: All Music
Sacramento’s K-ZAP 93.3 FM plays The Nude Party . All part of 50 years of Rock, Blues and More, 24-7 on our station’s stream at K-ZAP.ORG/LISTEN/
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