AILSA CHANG, HOST:
The band Haute & Freddy might be just as much about dressing up as it is about the music. This pop duo will slip into ruffled shirts, frilly collars, wigs, tricorne hats as if they just stepped off of some set for a period costume drama.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FASHION OVER FUNCTION")
HAUTE AND FREDDY: (Singing) Fashion over function. Fashion over function. Fashion over function. Fashion...
CHANG: The band's name is itself a nod to fashion. The Haute in Haute & Freddy is spelled H-A-U-T-E, as in haute couture, but they purposely mispronounce the French. Now they are out with their debut album called "Big Disgrace." And when I met up with the duo, of course it had to be at a costume shop in LA called Junk For Joy. Singer Michelle Buzz holds up a velvety purple shirt with these big, poofy white eyelet sleeves.
MICHELLE BUZZ: It reminds me of a doily. It reminds me of a humble napkin or a place setting. Oh, I just love it, and then you get it ruffling around the collar.
CHANG: Meanwhile, her bandmate Lance Shipp is trying on a pair of Ben Franklin glasses, though they're not at all his prescription.
LANCE SHIPP: They are not at all.
BUZZ: (Laughter).
CHANG: Is your...
SHIPP: I can't see anything at all. Nothing.
CHANG: Is your head hurting?
SHIPP: My head is hurting. But, like, I always want to, like - I want, like, a pair of glasses where I can, like, kind of snootily look down at something like that.
CHANG: Yes. That's right. You look so condescending right now.
SHIPP: It should be.
CHANG: I love it. I love it.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SYMPHONY FOR A QUEEN")
HAUTE AND FREDDY: (Singing) But when I walk my walk, when I put my makeup on...
CHANG: All this elaborate period dress fits right into the band's fictional backstory. You see, as Buzz tells it, the characters Haute and Freddy got their start centuries ago in the circus, and one day, they displeased the ringmaster and had to go on the run.
BUZZ: And to me, that influenced every fashion decision, the worn-down velvet on the costumes, fraying patches. Here they are in society, trying to make sense of it all and realizing, OK, only the extravagant weirdos are going to be our people.
SHIPP: Yeah.
BUZZ: The royal, posh folks don't get down with Haute & Freddy.
CHANG: What is it about extravagant weirdos that you feel you have a commonality with?
BUZZ: That's me. That's me as a kid. That's a phrase that I wouldn't have called myself while I was feeling like I didn't belong. I wouldn't have been looking at it positively, and now it's fully like, oh, that's absolutely positive.
CHANG: Now you own your extravagant weirdness.
BUZZ: A hundred percent.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SHY GIRL")
HAUTE AND FREDDY: (Singing) Shy, shy, shy, shy girl. When you going to run the whole wide world? I do recall there was madness in your eyes. Let it come out tonight.
CHANG: I want to go back to a time before - way before Haute & Freddy ever existed because at one point, the two of you - you were both writing songs for other people. And notable artists - right? - like Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Calvin Harris. And I want you to take me back to that time in your life. What was that experience like for both of you?
BUZZ: For me, it had some amazing highs but a lot of space in between those highs where I wasn't really able to be creative, and it wasn't working. It was like, wow, like, nothing is really feeling true to me that I'm creating.
SHIPP: It was soul sucking in a way because, like, I felt like I could offer more to these artists than they kind of wanted to take within their, you know, parameters. Like, OK, I need a ballad today. I just broke up with somebody. I need a song like this. You have to fit into their world. And sometimes that means, like, sacrificing a little bit of your creativity.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SHY GIRL")
HAUTE AND FREDDY: (Singing) Let it come out tonight. Yeah, yeah.
SHIPP: Haute & Freddy started kind of out of that, like, us both being like, we don't really want to do this anymore. We both still love music, but this isn't how we want to be making music. Like...
CHANG: Yeah. Though, Michelle, I heard that at one point, as you were feeling pretty desolate songwriting for other people, you were even considering giving up music entirely. Is that right?
BUZZ: Oh, yeah. (Laughter) Oh, yeah. Because it brought me out of depression, it made me prioritize my own happiness again. It allowed me to let go of needing to make it in music. And I think that's why Haute and Freddy was able to be what it is, because then all the things I was considering that I love creatively - you know, I just started doing that to heal. And then it was like, OK, well, now I'm falling in love with the 17th century fashion, and I'm creating this strange circus story in my head. And well, now I kind of want to put music to it (laughter).
CHANG: And weren't you antiquing at this point in your life, too, collecting strange and unusual objects?
SHIPP: She was doing basically anything and everything to, like, find something to be inspired again.
BUZZ: Yep. It's cool.
SHIPP: And antiquing was one of those things. Thrift shopping was one of those things. The clothes and the antiques kind of just started creating this world.
CHANG: And you guys were roommates at this point, right? So as Michelle was going out, assembling objects...
SHIPP: I was like, what's going on?
BUZZ: (Laughter).
SHIPP: I was like...
CHANG: What did your place look like?
SHIPP: It - OK, so...
(LAUGHTER)
SHIPP: ...She came back from Vegas with a unicycle.
CHANG: OK.
BUZZ: Right.
SHIPP: And I was like, OK, this is fine. She comes back with a - like, a marching person's flag twirling baton thing...
CHANG: (Laughter).
BUZZ: Right. Yeah. Drumline.
SHIPP: A canteen - like, an old, like, military canteen.
BUZZ: Yes, I...
SHIPP: An old camera. There's so many things. Like, porcelain clowns - like, so many things. And I was just like,
BUZZ: But I go through...
SHIPP: We're going to have to put it on a shelf somewhere. Let's put it here. Let's put it there. But you're really happy, so let's make room for these objects.
(LAUGHTER)
BUZZ: I remember the time I was like, I found pirate blouses, and, like, would you wear one? And we were...
SHIPP: And I was like, yeah. Like, of course I'd wear a pirate blouse.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DANCE THE PAIN AWAY")
HAUTE AND FREDDY: (Singing) What's in your heart? What's in your way? Why don't we dance the pain, dance the pain away?
CHANG: Well, you're releasing your debut album. What does it feel like to finally have this project that - you know, where you're not compromising or watering down your voice to fit somebody else's voice? This is as extravagantly weird as you want to be. How does that feel?
SHIPP: I mean, it's incredible just to put out music that, you know, we don't have to water down or edit in any way to please somebody other than ourselves. You know, it's just exactly what we want to put out, and it feels amazing.
BUZZ: It makes me feel like I - it's, like, kind of nerdy, but, like, like I overcame the sad. When I listen to the music, I'm like, oh, this makes me feel better. It's kind of like medicine.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DANCE THE PAIN AWAY")
HAUTE AND FREDDY: (Singing) What's in your heart? What's in your way?
CHANG: Well, Michelle Buzz and Lance Shipp are the band Haute & Freddy. Their new album is called "Big Disgrace." Thank you so much, you guys.
SHIPP: Thank you.
BUZZ: Thank you.
SHIPP: So fun.
CHANG: So fun to hang out with you.
SHIPP: Yeah, yeah.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DANCE THE PAIN AWAY")
HAUTE AND FREDDY: (Singing) Don't run away. Why don't we dance the pain, dance the pain away? Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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