You know what I love? Music. Ain’t it something? The magic of music is the fact that it crosses nearly every cultural boundary and unites people through shared experiences. But what I love even more is music’s ability to challenge listeners and push the boundaries of what they’re comfortable with.
Housewife, the abrasive indie pop outfit created by lead singer Brighid Fry, is a band that pushes these boundaries for me in all the right ways. Their fuzzed-out and synth-heavy guitar rock with a pop edge is all about power play with binaries – the act of desiring vs. being desired, the comfort of staying stuck in the muck vs. the initial discomfort and eventual relief of trudging your way out of it.
Fry is genderqueer, and their songs do a masterful job at deconstructing traditional gender roles and the power dynamics therein with sardonic humor, sticky sweet hooks, and fuzzed-out guitars. One of these songs, “King of Wands,” is all about the Sisyphean role of attempting to be the perfect woman – never satisfying enough when you attempt to conform to all the traditional expectations of you, only to run into another dead end once you stop caring and throw it all out the window, because you’re no longer perceived as a “good woman” – it’s a lose/lose situation (“I wish I was the king of wands / But really I’m Cassandra / The girl they all ignore / When she’s got all the answers”).
This year, Housewife released two new singles “I Lied,” and “Wasn’t You.” The former is a driving melodic ditty about the very queer and dangerous thrill of engaging in secret romantic dalliances with a friend. The latter is about the frustration of being attracted to somebody with a personality that you detest (“A face that makes me just forget /
How much I wish it wasn’t you”).
A Grrrl’s Two Sound Cents caught up with Housewife at The New Colossus Festival to discuss “I Lied,” Brighid’s involvement with the climate advocacy group Music Declares Emergency, and who would win in a drinking game between Patrick Bateman and Apollo.
Hey, Housewife! Welcome to A Grrrl’s Two Sound Cents.
Thank you! This is a first, getting interviewed in the middle of the street. I love it. It feels very ’90s.
I’m obsessed with “I Lied.” Dropping it on Valentine’s Day was a genius move. How is that song significant to your personal life?
Thank you! I wish I had thought of the Valentine’s Day drop myself, but that was my manager (shoutout to Jaclyn). I just thought I’d write about the universal queer experience of having the hots for one of your friends, having a will-they-won’t-they thing going on, and how that can be super confusing and messy because you don’t want to mess up the friendship. It’s both super fun and a disaster waiting to happen.
And has said disaster happened?
Oh yes. Yes it has [laughs].
You were in your late teens when you released your first EP. How did you manage to adapt to being thrust into adulthood and working full time so fast?
I’ve been performing since I was 11 or 12 years old. I played solo projects, I played backup in various bands, and then I had this project. So even before releasing Better Daughter through a label and everything, I was already doing the gigging scene. It felt very natural, and I was luckily in an arts high school, so they were very understanding. It was definitely a little weird for my social life, but I was really lucky to have supportive parents. It’s been very weird, but overall mostly positive. It was wild signing a record deal in high school, but I’m independent now, so I’ve been down many roads I otherwise wouldn’t at my age if I wasn’t a musician. It’s certainly taught me a lot, that’s for sure.
You’ve also cultivated an instantly recognizable aesthetic with vintage fashion and a very pastel color palette. How does fashion factor into your self-expression?
I think of it as low-key drag. With a name like Housewife, it’s a very easy brand to build. I chose that name based on the kind of music I was making, which had a lot to do with deconstructing gender roles. After I realized I was genderqueer, I’ve been able to embrace the hyper-feminine image that I was never comfortable embracing as a kid. After coming out it got really fun to explore the weird gender-fuckery that’s present in most of my songs.
I understand that a long-time dream of yours is to write a soundtrack for a film. What kind of vibe would you aim for?
I recently watched Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette film, and there’s a scene where “Hong Kong Garden” by Siouxsie and the Banshees plays and they’re just dancing around. So I would love to curate a soundtrack like that, but I also grew up playing classical violin, so I’m really interested in exploring composition and something more ambient. I don’t know when or if it will ever happen, but I would love to explore that side of music one day.
Which character from your songs would survive longer in a drinking game: Patrick Bateman or Apollo?
I mean, I gotta go with Apollo cause he’s a god. Patrick Bateman’s got no body fat, he’s just bones. That man is getting drunk so fast!
I also see that you’re a part of the non-profit, Music Declares Emergency. How did you get involved with the organization and why is it important to you?
I’ve been involved with climate work since I was a kid. My mom worked in the field and I’ve been going to climate rallies ever since. I’m not an expert, but I got asked to play the big climate strike a few years ago, and I connected with a lot of musicians who care about sustainability. We came together and got in touch with Music Declares Emergency, and that’s how it all got it started.
Where do you find the confidence to persist in an industry where you’re rarely ever given a road map to success?
I honestly sometimes don’t have the confidence to persist. But what’s really kept me going is all the people who have supported me and invested in my work, and I don’t want their effort in supporting me to go to waste. So I just forge ahead and continue to do what I do because there’s other people who believe in me and want to see me succeed. That usually always gets me through the slump.
What does the rest of the year have in store for Housewife?
Well, my new song “Wasn’t You” will be out at the end of March. I’m releasing a couple more and working towards an album, and I’m also playing a few festivals, so lots of fun stuff. Thanks for having me!
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