Interview: Pity Party’s Sarah Levy Uses Art as Personal and Community Therapy

Jul 19, 2019 Posted by Shannon Miller In Interviews Tagged Pity Party Comments 1

Ahead of the band’s July 22 show, the lead singer talks record release, mental health and giving back

Pity Party is an emo pop-punk band from Oakland and its lead singer and front person is Sarah Levy. I know that because, on a whim, I went to a show they played at Cornish Pasty last year. And I remembered it because, aside from it being a rowdy, grab-you-by-the-face kind of performance, in the middle of the show, Levy grounded the 18-and-over crowd when she held up and distributed a zine she had made about how to safely help victims of intimate partner and sexual violence—not dwelling on the issue, but making space in public for a topic that our society too-often sweeps under the rug.

photo by Nick Riggs, Champion Heart Media

If I hadn’t seen that show, I might still not know who Pity Party is. Being “fiercely committed to DIY,” Pity Party’s three existing records have stayed out of the mainstream. But like a tree that falls in a forest, the band still makes a sound despite not being widely broadcast over the airwaves. Just last week they returned from touring the East Coast, Europe and Canada supporting California bands Bad Cop / Bad Cop and Dog Party.

“I think we’ve had 153 shows since October,” Levy told me over the phone ahead of Pity Party’s July 22 show at Starboard Tack, “I am so excited to come back to Vegas and meet everyone on the lineup!” Jack Evan Johnson and locals Tony Taylor and the Nova Babies and live show novice Tin Cup will share the stage. I caught up with Levy about the band’s forthcoming record, self-care on tour, and the new ways Pity Party is reaching out to their fans and the community.

What has Pity Party been up to lately?

We are in the final stages of mixing our next record [which] is sonically different [from what we have made before]. I kind of locked myself in a room for four hours a day for a month and wrote the record as a means of therapy for myself. It’s called Concrete and it’s a record that is really centered around the feelings experienced when going through emotional and sexual abuse. [It hopefully] will help other people feel less alone through that.

photo by Aretesophist Photography, aretesophist.com

Pity Party advocates for mental health and self-care practices. How do you maintain that while on tour?

The most helpful thing for me is practicing a routine and.. I have a little emergency fanny pack with me all the time. I have flash cards with grounding kits—things like safety statements, different physical and mental things I can do to center myself if I’m feeling emotionally volatile.

Sarah Levy’s self-care kit—tea, lavendar oils, grounding flash cards, photos of friends and family and an affirming message from one of her students

How do you collaborate with and give back to the community?

I think for this next record we’re going to collaborate with the Kintsugi Project here in the Bay Area that provides art therapy [and empowerment] for victims of sexual abuse. And we’ve been working with another organization called Survivor Alliance, which is a scholarship fund for survivors of sexual assault, to help them reclaim their lives and get out of dangerous situations. Last year we threw an event where we were able to donate about $1,200 to them and to the local LGBTQ center. So we’re thinking the album release party for Concrete will benefit [Kintsugi and Survivor Alliance]. And we’re hoping to do a photo series with Kintsugi, to be the insert for Concrete.

The release date for Pity Party’s forthcoming Concrete is to be determined. Their US tour with Bad Cop / Bad Cop and Dog Party will continue through August 2019. The band is on the lineup for 20th Street Block Party taking place in San Francisco this fall.