MS MR’s Lizzy Plapinger On The Most Epic Party, Ever

Brit import Lizzy Plapinger squeezes a lot of living into a night out (we’ve drunk, danced, and sung along with enough times to know). The lead singer of MS MR and the co-founder of one of our favorite labels, Plapinger is right, smack dab in the middle of the local music scene and a familiar face to any educated late-night adventurer. We pulled her away from her multiple jobs just long enough to get the skinny on her nightlife history, her favorite tracks, and what exactly makes the NYC party scene so special.

“Growing up in London, I started going out at a pretty young age. By high school, I was going to parties and clubs on the regular but my favorite thing to do was and has always been to go to gigs. I would go out to shows at least twice a week and became obsessed with finding new acts and seeing them play as early as possible. There was also a club night called PUSH that showcased new indie rock/pop acts and the guys who ran Chess Club Records would DJ. They became really good friends and we pretty much appropriated their business model when starting Neon Gold Records.”

“Yeah, I run a punk night called FUZZ with my friends Emily Lichtenberg and Mikey Sherman at a tiny dive karaoke bar above a laundry shop in Chintatown the last Thursday of every month. It's a no-bullshit, plug-in, melt-faces, plug-out gig —genuine music for a genuine audience. I've always loved punk and rock n' roll, so and this has become my way to be a part of that scene — sort of my attempt at recreating a piece of ‘70s CBGB New York.”

“I've got two power mash ups that I always drop when I'm DJing — ‘Decepta-Freak-On’ (Le Tigre and Missy Elliot) and 'My Favorite Name' (Destiny’s Child and The Cardigans). Remix wise, the Captain Cuts remix of Grouplove's 'Colours' is unreal and, recently, I've been playing Baauer's remix of Brick + Mortar's 'Move to the Ocean'. For my own cheeky personal pleasure, I'll be sure to play 'Something Kinda Ooooh' by Girls Aloud and 'Tenderoni' by Kele Okereke.”

“Definitely, the first night I ever went to Rubulad. It was in a huge warehouse in Brooklyn with a million rooms, each one covered in collages, paintings, graffiti, papier-mâché, and lights, with millions of objects hanging off the ceiling. Different bands or a DJ play in every room, there's even a movie theater, a bar on each floor, and tons of other nooks and crannies all covered and filled with art installations (including a blanket igloo!) You can crawl between spaces or climb up and down flights through ladders. When I first moved to New York it was the sort of party I always dreamed might exist here. That first night I went was one of the most debaucherous of my life.”

“If you're young and in New York City everyone is just working as hard as possible to try and take their artistic vision to the next level so they can do it professionally. I feel like there's a real sense of camaraderie underneath all the competitiveness of NYC. Most of the people I've ended up working with — bands, photographers, artists, designers, etc. — I’ve met at a party or show. It all influences one another other — what you're listening to, where you are, how people look, who you see out. It's such a small world here.”