So brand new album, new live drummer, creepy new publicity shot—how has the transition been?

Gil Mantera: It’s been fun. I feel like I’m apart of a real tight-knit unit now that Tony is involved. In the past, we’ve been a bit sloppy from time to time, with performing and handling the business end of things, so it’s nice to have such a no-nonsense, greedy prick in the band to keep us in line. We’re becoming more and more organized across the board.

Is your heart still in Youngstown or are you adapting to Pittsburgh? Are you a Pittsburgh band now?

GM: The older I get, the less prideful I become. I still regard Youngstown as a very cool and unique place to hail from, but it obviously isn’t cool enough for me to be living there. I hate when people move out to L.A. or Brooklyn or wherever and want to talk about how amazing being from Youngstown is. If it’s so fucking great, move back! Pittsburgh is where I call home now. My brother, on the other hand, will never leave Youngstown. He loves it.  I love the ‘burgh. The cool thing is, I’m only an hour and half drive away. It doesn’t really matter to me where people consider our band to be from.

For Dreamscape, even though it has the touchstone sound of GMPD, it feels like you wiped the slate clean for this one. How did you approach the new record when you began?

GM: Over the past few years, I became immersed in Italo Disco from the early- to mid-80s. It’s not only some of the greatest dance music ever made, it also shares a similar bizarre kind of aesthetic with my band that is often neglected in the revival scenes. In my possibly subconscious or conscious attempt to disassociate with electroclash as it came and went, I strayed from disco beats. I missed out on a lot of good music from the past and present by being too stubborn. So, this record embraces the mid-tempo disco beat to the fullest.   

It appears that Donny has toned it down a bit and it works well. Is this him embracing his sensitive side or simply trying to channel his inner Pet Shop Boy?

GM: It’s funny how well he can directly ape the Pet Shop Boy’s vocal style. You don’t really hear it on the record, but one of the grouped vocal tracks on the chorus for the song “Dreamscape” is sung just that way. Donny has a tendency to want to belt it out like the macho man he is, and he does that very well, but we’re becoming more and more aware of what works best for the song.

More than anything you’ve done before this is much brighter, epic, and best of all, full of pop. I know this is a balance you’ve always strived for. What have you been listening to that influenced this?

GM: Besides the Italo stuff, which has a suprising amount in common with my favorite band New Order, I’ve been really into OMD, Sparks, Alexander Robotnik, Telex, Tangerine Dream, Ashra, Giorgio Moroder, Gino Soccio, Jean Michel-Jarre, Patrick Cowley, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Ultravox, Simple Minds, Tears for Fears, etc….  I can hear all of that stuff in the new record.

How many times will this be at SXSW?

GM: This will be the third time.

What can we expect with the live show?

GM: I don’t know exactly. We just finished a long tour, which I’ve done jack shit since it ended about week ago. I ran into Tony at the bar a couple of times and saw that shitty Chun-Li movie. There’s no way to predict what kind of headspace the band will be in, but hopefully it’s a fresh and positive one.  We’re ditching our Spiderman tights we rocked the entire tour for something more sophisticated and tough, but maybe not. I gotta figure that out very soon. 

Is there anyone playing you’re excited about seeing?

GM: I’ve never been good about running around to see bands, referring to schedules, and waiting in lines. I can’t enjoy myself until my work is done anyway. The only day I’ll be able to check out bands will be Saturday. There’s that cool French chick Yelle that’s playing the same show as us at Emo’s, which works out conveniently for me. I’m actually really psyched to check her out. Devo and Echo and the Bunnymen would be a real treat, but I don’t think it’s gonna work out for me.

Any advice or life lessons you’d like to pass on to first timers?

GM: Mainly, it’s not gonna be like a “real” show. I don’t feel like our band, or most any other band, can really get down properly in the festival context, which ultimately demands for an over-enthusiastic crowd to compensate for the less than 100% quality performance. Now, when that audience is seeming way too mild, that’s normal. There’s more studying than rocking going on at this thing, but that’s mainly because it’s not entirely your crowd. That’s my experience as a guy in a band who’s still got a ways to go before shit gets cushy. Roll with the punches, take care of business, enjoy the weather, eat BBQ, and get drunk! 

Gil Mantera’s Party Dream play Friday night/Saturday morning at 1:00 a.m. at the Parish Downstairs and Saturday at 8:00 p.m. at Emo’s Main Room.