Haute and Freddy, the otherworldly musical duo comprising Michelle Buzz and Lance Shipp, are ready to release their debut album in all its no-holds-barred, maximalist pop glory.
On March 13, their first full-length record, Big Disgrace, arrives and the duo are unveiling the track list exclusively with Rolling Stone. The album invites their Royal Court, a nickname they’ve bestowed onto their fans, to feast upon 13 tracks brimming with soaring Eighties synths and sentiments of freedom. It’s the kind of offering that celebrates the madness and the beauty we hold close, the parts of ourselves that rarely see the sun. “Our work now is so carefree and so joyous,” Shipp tells Rolling Stone via Zoom. “Our souls are in this. It really feels like we get to be who we are making this music. And I’m just so happy that this album is coming out.”
The record also arrives after both Shipp and Buzz spent years penning and producing songs for other artists. Shipp has co-written and produced music for Rauw Alejandro, Britney Spears, and Calvin Harris, among others; Buzz has written hits including Katy Perry’s single “Never Really Over,” Kylie Minogue’s title track “Magic,” and songs for Bebe Rexha and Lady A. It was a part of the industry, which is notorious for burn out, which eventually took a toll on the artists. “I don’t think I was prepared for how it would feel to try to chase what other people wanted my career to look like, to chase money and music,” says Buzz. “It really broke my spirit, and I didn’t feel like I was living my dream in the end.”
Buzz shares that she went through a period of depression for two years during this time. “It was really hard and dark and scary. That was right before we started writing this album. That was like, ‘I’m gonna quit music. I’m gonna do something else.’” She says that after being a songwriter for eight years for other people, it “doesn’t always look like you’re working with actual artists. Sometimes you’re just working towards this very obscure hope that someone will hear it.”
When asked how she eventually emerged from that dark place, Shipp says that it was through Haute and Freddy, but the duo hadn’t been created yet. “I watched her go to thrift stores, antique places, and pick up weird old items. They were all kind of in a theme, but there were no words to say what was going on,” he says. “Then I watched her make songs just for the joy of making songs. … I just saw light come back into her eyes and laugh and life.” That’s when they knew they had something precious, and started to create their own music. “It was just like the depression kind of just slowly faded away,” he says.
“Big Disgrace is absolutely this outburst from a lot of sadness,” adds Buzz, who describes coming out of her depression like “an escalator up” from a “long trench in that valley.” She adds, “It was just a mindset change from is there joy in my life anymore? I’m like breaking my own heart, not being able to feel my usual feelings.” It started with asking the simple questions of “what could allow us to have fun today?” without any expectations.
Buzz says that discovering “a new meaning of life” rooted in happiness became “play” and she became “less concerned with making something of myself, all those very ego thoughts.” As the pair focused on creating music and art that felt true to themselves, the message resonated with fans and their base quickly blossomed. Now, Haute and Freddy are set to launch an international tour in support of the album in May. The duo will perform across North America, the United Kingdom, and Europe, stopping in London, Paris, Toronto, Boston, New York, Atlanta, Nashville, Austin, Detrioit, and more.
“For all this to bring about what this year has been, where now we have fans and can tour… it’s so mind blowing,” Buzz says. “I had to want to quit music to keep doing music.”
Big Disgrace Track List
1. “Symphony for a Queen”
2. “Anti-Superstar”
3. “Sweet Surrender”
4. “Scantily Clad”
5. “Freaks”
6. “Shy Girl”
7. “Dance the Pain Away
8. “Femme Hysteria”
9. “Fashion Over Function”
10. “Sophie”
11. “Showgirl at Heart”
12. “Fields of Versailles”
13. “I Like My People Weird”
