We were lucky to catch up with Partywatcher recently and have shared our conversation below.

Partywatcher, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

Since I was around 11 or 12, my parents had identified that I had a great voice. My dad had me learn a bunch of old 70s Latine crooner songs from the likes of Danny Daniel & Nino Bravo to perform in front of family and friends. I could tell by that point it was something I enjoyed doing, to bring joy by performing for others.

Fast forward to age 15, I got hit up by some friends to play in a band, and at first, I looked at it as another opportunity to use my talent and perform in front of people who weren’t close to me. But it was still a good hang, a good time in my view.

It wasn’t until a year later, we played our first gig as part of an amazing bill in the Dominican Republic. To see people connect with the music we were making at the time in real-time was a feeling that I would never forget—the energy, the messaging behind everything, all around vibes. That’s when I knew this would be something I would be doing for the rest of my life;

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I like to describe partywatcher as Latin/Pop. To me, it’s a celebration of all my musical influences throughout my life. Those mainly come from my parents.

Growing up in the Dominican Republic, we were a very eclectic household sonically speaking. My mother would play me American music (Phil Collins, Journey, Janet Jackson) while my father would always be blasting traditional Dominican sounds (Merengue, bachata, salsa). Add into that during my teen years listening to a lot of punk, metal, hip hop, and reggaeton you get tu partywatcher hahaha.

I started my journey in the DR, I became part of the island’s alternative scene out there. In 2009 I came back to the States for college where I began performing solo at open mikes, which gave me the inkling that I could pursue music as a solo artist. I didn’t want to stay in Texas when I finished school, I wanted to move to a big city. My friends in La Armada (Dominican hardcore/punk band) encouraged me to move to Chicago, and I ended up moving in with one of them.

When I started doing partywatcher in 2016, it was a lot of starts and stops, I wasn’t fully there mentally with all of it. I love to say that it all started to come together around 2018 when I met a lot of the members of my live band. It all clicked and we were off to the races as they say.

The biggest sense of pride for partywatcher is from where I was 6/7 years ago to where I am today. I longed for opportunities and chances to express myself and today we have those avenues but still with the same hunger of wanting more and expanding our message. Of bringing Dominican/Latine rhythms to places that won’t necessarily listen to them with ease.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to unlearn to focus on 10 things to do at a time.

An example of this was while I was working on my first batch of songs. While in the booth I was already thinking about 10 things that had nothing to do with where the focus should have been at the moment, which was the creative process.

It was the biggest reason why partywatcher had so many starts and stops.

Once I unlearned that, everything flowed and was way more fun for me. Taking things one day at a time.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

The best way to do this is investing in a creative’s art and that doesn’t necessarily mean financially.

It goes such a long way when people share your new songs/content/art, add you on a social platform, tell their friends and family about you, and invite them to your shows.

That is what builds a following and a community.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/partywatcher
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/partywatcher/
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/partywatcher
• Twitter: https://x.com/partywatcher809
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXFMia49p17qlGfRzaoe89A
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/partywatcher809
• Other: https://partywatcher809.bandcamp.com/

  https://www.tiktok.com/@partywatcher

Image Credits

All photos are credited to Herberto Gallegos.

MORENO artwork credited to Eddaviel.