SIDEPIECE, Party Favor and Nitti Gritti‘s aptly-named house side project, burst onto the scene in 2019. Their first track under the new alias, “Wanna See You,” turned heads, but their second track, “On My Mind,” produced alongside Diplo, turned into a worldwide hit. Now, on just their third single together, SIDEPIECE are already nearing the title of “household name.”

Following up a hit as big as “On My Mind” can be tricky, but Party Favor and Nitti Gritti stick the landing. “Fallin For You” is a tech house powerhouse that sounds equally ready for intimate clubs and main stages everywhere. It follows in a similar vein as “Wanna See You,” where a short sample catches the ear, but a series of progressively wild drops over a sturdy bass line does the heavy lifting. In other words, “Fallin For You” sounds like it’s destined to be another hit.

Dancing Astronaut caught up with SIDEPIECE to chat about their latest track, their relationship, and what’s in store for their side project.

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“Fallin For You” comes on the heels of “On My Mind,” your massively successful track with Diplo. Do you feel added pressure following up such a hit?

Party Favor: “In a way, I think there is always pressure because we want to always outdo the last record we put out. Coronavirus put such a halt on everything. We had about six songs that would have been out by now, unfortunately, so the time feels right to start getting these records out!”

Nitti Gritti: “Yeah, there is always pressure, but it’s honestly very exciting to be able to get the pressure since the record did so well. It’s a good sign. Kind of like getting nervous before a big show. I think this record is a perfect follow up though.”

Were you surprised to see how positively “On My Mind” was received considering how new your project was to the scene?

Party Favor: “When Ricky first showed me the early draft of that song, I immediately knew it was going to be something special. The vocal alone stands out as such a simple but effective groove. Diplo was also teasing it for almost a year and people didn’t even know we were on the record, haha. You obviously never know what will hit, but I personally had an inkling it was going to crush.”

Nitti Gritti: “I’m glad that one came out. To be honest, it was actually an old sample, so to get the vocals and sample it was a huge win for us all. It’s amazing to see millions of people dancing and vibing to that record.”

“Fallin For You” is only your third SIDEPIECE track, but it already sounds like it has potential to be another hit. What have you learned from working with each other so far?

Party Favor: “When I first reached out about forming SIDEPIECE with Ricky (Nitti Gritti), it was really just to test the waters of his interest, and when we started playing demos back and forth, it became clear that we were on the same page. Each time we link up, we crank out a few songs. It feels so natural and our skills complement each other. We have such a love for house music but wanted to come in and disrupt the scene a bit; bring our spin to this world.”

Nitti Gritti: “I’m just constantly learning from Dylan (Party Favor) and I think almost every time we get in the studio together, we come out with something we love. It was great to do most of this song in person as well. I remember us working on it before one of our first live sets.”

You’ve each individually released huge bodies of work this year, how do you balance your solo career aspirations and your goals with SIDEPIECE? Will SIDEPIECE ever become your main piece?

Party Favor: “For us, this started as just a fun project to release creatively, and over time, it’s kind of taken on a life of its own. There’s no pressure to conform to what both Party Favor and Nitti Gritti are in our main projects. It’s a love of making music. I hope the sky’s the limit for SIDEPIECE and [that it] can be that main piece. Time will tell!”

Nitti Gritti: “I always love making a million different kinds of music anyway, so it’s fueling me to continue to do so, especially since the SIDEPIECE project has done well. It will always be hard to balance all the music [that we as] producers make, but it’s an honor to be a part of something so fun and carefree. We literally just make songs we love and release them. It’s kind of refreshing to just home in on one sound aside from my other project!”

Featured image: Electric Daisy Carnival

Tags: Fallin For You, Nitti Gritti, Party Favor, SIDEPIECE, Solotoko

Categories: Features