One Howl of a Time

The members of Party Wolf have had their share of letdowns, but they continue on

Story by Amanda Marie Smith
Photos courtesy of Party Wolf

After countless setbacks, it is only natural to become worn down and tired of the fight. Failure can break anyone, but this band’s five members have such close calls with fame that they continue to “keep on keepin’ on.” Ashley Kollar, Dan Bushey, Ryan Hayden, Jamie Durivage and Mikey Lemieux of Plattsburgh’s local “super group,” Party Wolf, know more than just their way around a stage or an instrument; they are Plattsburgh’s locally legendary elite when it comes to the local music scene. Though they are a new band, only in the stages of practicing, the members of Party Wolf continue to perfect their own brand of success after years in the game.

“The whole band is a product for happiness,” Bushey, the band’s guitarist, says.

Through frustration and heartache, each member has his or her own story about finding true happiness, even though the end result didn’t land them a record contract.
Kollar, Party Wolf’s lead vocalist and keyboardist, has been playing music with her father, Hal Mero of Mero Factor, since age two. She had her first big gig at Pond Fest when she was thirteen and was offered a record deal by her senior year of high school. She now has a hectic schedule trying to balance karaoke and solo shows in Plattsburgh’s bar scene while practicing for Party Wolf and completing graduate school.

She dreamed of being signed to a major label one day. Then, a few years ago, one day came sooner than she thought. Jive Records gave her a call and told her they were considering her.

"The whole band is a product for happiness."

“Her first thought was she was going to be the next Christina Aguilera,” says Mero.

Kollar claims she didn’t send anything to Jive and that she never got a call back from them, either. After moving to New York to pursue being in an all-girl group, she found she wasn’t as interested in the idea as she was before. She realized it is hard work, her father says.

Now Kollar splits her time between being a grad student, teaching at a preschool, holding karaoke or solo nights at local bars and singing with Mero Factor and practicing for Party Wolf. “Every time I turn around, she’s created a new band,” says Hal.

Her mother, Linda, explains her daughter’s love affair with music came from music being “pumped into her” at a young age. She remembers when Ashley was nervous about getting on stage, but thinks her daughter’s confidence has grown with time and experience.

“If she was to try and get signed now, I don’t think she would have a problem,” Linda says. “I see a new light in her eyes when she talks about Party Wolf.”

Hayden and Lemieux also had their brush with fame with their band, Hello Control. The band was one of the area’s most notable acts and their most prominent band to date. The band played with the likes of All Time Low and Mayday Parade, had sponsorships with popular stores such as Hot Topic, was featured on Drive-Thru Records’ favorite songs compilation album which included Fall Out Boy, and sold 15,000 copies of their debut album.

But being in Hello Control made them see they were putting in so much effort and not getting enough in return. They felt as if they didn’t have anything to show for it so they decided to move in another direction with Secret Secret Dino Club. “Secret Secret Dino Club had real things going on,” Hayden said.

Party Wolf’s guitarist and vocalist, Hayden, has been in bands playing since he was sixteen. Hello Control was the brain child of Hayden and Lemieux and one of Plattsburgh’s most notable bands. This band reached rock star status when they were put on the bill for the ’09 Vans Warped Tour after their unrelenting tour. After Hello Control disbanded, they both joined Secret Secret Dino Club, but quickly left after they found it wasn’t the direction they wanted to go in.

Once Hayden and Lemieux started touring with Secret Secret Dino Club, different kinds of dilemmas began to arise. Both of them realized the touring life just wasn’t for them.

"Some people can just play for fun, but not him. He’s a perfectionist."

Following his epiphany to leave his latest band, Hayden had a hard time letting go of his dream of playing music as his main occupation, but resolved the problem by looking at life in a different light.
Hayden can now spend more time with his family and girlfriend instead of touring and promoting himself.

“I’m not trying to live off music anymore,” he says. “I’ve accepted I need to go to school.” This is something his mother is happy to hear, as long as her son is content with himself.

“It’s a shame he can’t be famous because he’s so talented,” says Hayden’s mother, Barbara Miele Hayden. “Some people can just play for fun, but not him. He’s a perfectionist.”

Hayden says it’s fair to say he gave up his dream of becoming famous, but he doesn’t regret it.

“Music is my passion and everyone should have that,” Hayden says. “Even if it’s not in the big time, it’s still something that makes me happy…Music [and performing] is what makes me, me…If my true calling is to play in bars, so be it.”

Lemieux also realized touring wasn’t as glamorous as it seemed when he began to miss his wife after playing only two shows with Secret Secret Dino Club.

Lemieux’s parents encouraged him to play because they were into music themselves. After becoming interested in the alternative/indie rock scene in high school, Lemieux learned how to play guitar, bass, and drums while working at Peacock Music. Quickly following, he was in a slew of “terrible bands” until the opportunity to be in an “artsy instrumental” band named Resonator came along. He then decided to leave Resonator behind to be in his and Hayden’s new band, Hello Control. Lemieux was recently asked to be the tour manager for up and coming band, Young and Divine, but now plays drums for Party Wolf.

“If I was 21 and single, it would have been great,” he said. “If Carly could come with me, it would be a different story.”

"You grow up and realize you can’t do this forever."

Being together for six years and married for three of them, it was hard for the couple to be apart during his tours with Hello Control and Secret Secret Dino Club.

“It’s not easy to support him,” Carly says. “He was gone all summer – even he was depressed being away.”

They talked any way they could – by phone, online or video chat. Now that her husband is home to stay, the couple has such an active social life and demanding work schedule that it isn’t uncommon to find they’re asleep at two in the afternoon.

“We live a weird life,” she says.

Finding the energy to live and breathe music can be exhausting, says Bushey. When he isn’t carrying out his band-related responsibilities, he works as an audio engineer.

Bushey, the guitarist for Party Wolf, was given a musical instrument from his parents every year since he was about three until he started his own band in 1990. He has been in locally successful heavy rock bands such as Hobnail, Perfect Salesmen, and nationally-known Vermont-based band, Drowningman. Today, he assists budding musicians at Bob’s Music, where he has worked for nearly fifteen years, and in his studio to help local bands get their feet off the ground.

“You grow up and realize you can’t do this forever,” he says. “Building a schedule around jam sessions doesn’t work your whole life.”

Bushey says he didn’t want to “play in kids’ basements anymore” so he joined in on Party Wolf for the fun of it. He says that he loves playing live shows because he gets paid to do something he loves while doing things he would normally do when he went out.

Despite Durivage’s occasionally disheartening past, he is presently happy being a part of Party Wolf.

He was in all of the aforementioned bands with Bushey. Their most successful endeavor was probably the already-established Drowningman, with whom they played with for a few months. Durivage now works as a tattoo artist at Body Art Tattoo and is the bassist of Party Wolf.

“I don’t look at anything as a disappointment,” he says.

While he feels there’s just something euphoric about playing a live show, he knows there’s more to life than being a rock star. Durivage was on tour while his son was about to be born when he realized this. “Being successful is overrated anyway,” he says.

Lemieux shares the same sentiments about being away from family as Durivage.

“I don’t look at it as glass half empty,” he says. “I did all the things I wanted to since I was young.”

Lemieux and Durivage agree that there are no disappointments, just realizations. He looks at Party Wolf as just another experience to learn from. “Our main goal is to make people dance and have fun,” Lemeiux says. “We play music, so why not do it right?”

Although frustration is not in short supply within the music industry, the members of Party Wolf have discovered if they keep their heads up – not too high, but just enough to keep their feet on the ground – they would become skilled professionals with time. Though the end result didn’t land them a record contract, their shortcomings have helped to determine what they really want out of life, while being away from home has made them realize what’s most important.

“Living in Plattsburgh may limit your opportunities,” Kollar says. “But I know this is where I’m supposed to be.”

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