We had the good fortune of connecting with Payton Fortner and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Payton, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
While some of us were raised in other towns such as Lufkin or Euless, our band wholeheartedly represents Midlothian, Texas, which is a small town just south of Dallas. While small towns usually have the disadvantages of lack of resource and support, we at Party on Mars are entirely grateful to Midlothian’s many creative local businesses and its loving community. Local businesses such as, Stage Volume Entertainment, a music school where we all met, and Lighthouse Coffee, a music venue that gives us platform to the community, were essential to positively impacting our lives forever. We all believe that local businesses are the soul that inspires upcoming artists and creatives to pursue their passion no matter how ambitious it may be.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
We at Party on Mars have always strived to set ourselves from other bands of the local scene by creating unique new sounds that always makes the audience think, “Wait, that came from just THREE people?”. We achieve this by blending together the different genres we all listen to which always provides a high energy atmosphere that comes from our thunderous drums, powerful vocals, and hammering basslines. At our current state, we are most excited for an upcoming gig in Duncanville which will put us center stage in a downtown music & arts festival on October 1st! This will be one of the first times we will get to display our craft to an entirely new scene and we hope to make a lasting impact!

As mentioned before, we are only in this position right now due to the loving support of our community. They made countless sleepless nights recording our two EPs worth it every time a crowd roared up the stage, or we receiving shout outs by local directors. In addition, we also overcame musical slumps by pushing each other to one up ourselves every time we touched our instruments. If we played the best show of our lives, we make the next one even better. If one recorded take was good, we do one more just in case. It was this one-up mentality that always helped us overcome any challenge we faced.

We’ve always take lessons in how to give back to the community that raised us in any way we can. Its not uncommon for bands to sometimes harass new and upcoming bands by stealing their crowd and/ or presence. We’ve been in this situation once ourselves, actually, by not being welcomed to the scene initially. So to give back, there is another local band rising in the Midlothian scene, so instead we decided to invite them to play at one of our events to help expose them to a new crowd. In doing so it created a new more welcoming atmosphere to the community and it taught us especially that, if you take good care of your community, they will always do the same!

Thank you everybody for hearing parts of our story! We hope to have you all stick around as we strive to share and improve our craft. For anyone out there who have doubts or reluctance to starting their dream passion projects, just know that anything is possible at a party on mars!

We have been P.O.M, the brightest stars you’ve never seen!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
For anybody looking to try new foods or have a breath of fresh air, Klyde Warren Park in Dallas is the place to be!

Looking for a quiet getaway from the bustling city? We can always endorse our friends at Lighthouse Coffee here in Midlothian, and if you are lucky you may hear musicians sharing their talents!

Adversely, if you’re looking for an exciting change of pace, just a walk through Deep Ellum is the place to be to catch the hottest new bands, art and craft drinks! Be sure to always tip your favourite street performers too 🙂

For anyone who craves a more cultural view, the Modern art museum in Fort Worth is a MUST to visit. Additionally, the Japanese botanical garden provides another quiet getaway for anyone looking to explore new horizons right in their backyard.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Special shoutout to Stage Volume Entertainment who helped us hone our talents and teaching us what commitments it meant to be in a band together. Without them, it would have been a miracle for us three to have even met!

Many thanks to the loving people of Lighthouse Coffee for the venue they provide for the many bands of Midlothian, Texas! Without them, finding gigs would have been much harder to find.

Lastly, shout out to the Midlothian High School Choir & Band program directors for always supporting us in however ways they can whether it be borrowing equipment or finding connections to spread our passion for music!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/partyonmarsmusic/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PartyonMarsOff/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnaHtmwCK__WnlWrsXTZc4w

Other: Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@partyonmarsmusic?lang=en

Image Credits
Sydney Farr Branden Sayarath

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