Before she was Party Nails, Elana Carroll was a guitar-toting tween, playing any open mic near her hometown of Chatham, New York. She wailed about her family’s divorce, dreams of leaving her small town, and a then-undiagnosed anxiety disorder across bars and community centers, often moving patrons to tears. At home she recorded herself with Garageband, instigating a love of music technology which continues to this day. Party Nails debuted in 2015 on Neon Gold’s famed blog with Break. Her first tour in 2017 (with PVRIS and Lights) ushered in a devoted fanbase, and her live performances continue to be a core facet of her artistry, being equal parts Madonna, Hayley Williams, and Sheryl Crow. In 2020 she wrote Rockin' on the Rag, a song about period pride, for Loren Bouchard’s Apple animated series Central Park, wrote and produced the Le Tigre-infused Supernatural for feminist rock duo Deap Vally, and continued to lend her vocals to other musicians (LŪN, Urban Heat, Battle Tapes, MitiS, Getter, and others have featured her vocals on their releases). In 2023, PAPER called "Like U," "reminiscent of '90s and early-2000s rave music," Earmilk dubbed "Bull In A China Shop" "chaotically fun," and "Someway Somehow" was called “brash and rough and imploring, a love letter couched in punky instrumentals and intimate production" by Paste Magazine, and was on Spotify Editorial playlists Fresh Finds, Fresh Finds Indie, and Undercurrents.