FEATURE: Spotlight: Haute & Freddy — Music Musings & Such

FEATURE:

Spotlight

Haute & Freddy

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THIS is a duo that…

I am new to. I was reading some recent interviews with Haute & Freddy, and it piqued my interest. They released their debut album, Big Disgrace, in March. I will end with a review of that album. Prior to getting there, I wanted to bring together some interviews from this year. At the moment, Haute & Freddy are on tour. They head to the U.K. in November. Four interviews to get to. I am starting out with Cosmopolitan and their chat from August. They spoke with Haute & Freddy following their amazing Lollapalooza set:

“Michelle Buzz and Lance Shipp are not your typical pop stars. After cranking out hits and landing songwriting credits for artists like Britney Spears, Katy Perry, and Kylie Minogue, the pressure forced the duo and creative partners to nearly give up on their dreams of releasing their own music. That is, until they found a release from writing songs for the sake of playful creation. They found insatiable joy in their new songs; thus, their onstage Renaissance-era circus-runaway personas, Haute & Freddy, were born.

In an industry plagued by up-and-comers who feel they must evoke a certain gravitas to move up in the machine, it’s incredibly refreshing to see two artistes, at their core, bring a necessary whimsy back to the pop landscape. After years of melancholy piano ballads—which will always have a place in this writer’s heart—Haute & Freddy’s sonic universe isn’t afraid to be too loud or take up space.

Your Lollapalooza set was so electric, and I was incredibly impressed by you coming up with songs on the fly. How does it feel to bring Big Disgrace to bigger stages?

Haute: It feels right, because it’s a big disgrace, baby! But it’s intimidating because we have to fill the emptiness on these big stages, space-wise. I really love having the painted cart facade because we want to take attention away from LED screens and bring that old theater vibe back. But I’m running around, and I can’t stop it. I always tell Lance (Freddy) I’m going to move less or I’m going to pass out. On those bigger stages, it’s constant because I want it to feel like a small theater so bad.

Freddy: We have a lot more space to run around. There’s a song after “Symphony for a Queen” where we do this theatrical heavy breathing, and that’s campy, but it’s also needed in the moment.

Haute: My body’s like, “Oh, you’re finally breathing right. Thanks!”

I’m curious, because your personas are circus runaways who escaped to do things on their terms, and that seems like a beautiful allegory for how you both found this version of yourselves as artists. As Haute & Freddy evolves, how do you make sure you’re still giving yourselves the freedom to surprise yourselves?

Haute: I know myself better at this stage in life, and I know what keeps me playful or when things are getting too busy. I’ll take a day off, drive two hours to a smaller town, and look around an antique shop or go to the art supply store and buy brushes, even if I don’t know what I’m going to paint. I need those kinds of things that don’t have a mission for my creativity to stay happy and healthy or else it will feel like I have to instantly please people.

Freddy: Listening to each other and continuing to be open. I find the most surprises in trying things we don’t know will work, but we do it anyway. There’s a lot of beauty behind the “I don’t know”.

I want to head back to April and an interview from DORK. There is a lot of love for this Los Angeles duo in the U.K. They have this growing fanbase. It will be exciting when they come over here and play some dates soon. An act that definitely needs to be on your radar. Big Disgrace is definitely among the best debut albums of 2026:

“While a lot of Haute & Freddy is about embracing ridiculousness and over-the-top exuberance, it's also about something fundamentally important: community and connection. An implacable bond between the artist and the fans. "I think it's what we were craving," says Buzz. "I was craving community. The music heals me, too, and reminds me of my happy places."

The community bond is most clearly visible in the way that the Royal Court play along and match the band with their own creativity. They come to shows with their own distinct looks and styles. "Oh, man, I think we were in Chicago, and this person came in with an all-tuxedo where they affixed flowers to their shoulders, it was almost like two hoops that went all the way up to their ears, and it was just this arch of pink flowers," gushes Lance as he recalls one of the most memorable fan looks. "Our fans now come up to us, and they're like, please let us know what the dress code is. We need some lead time because it takes us a while to make these outfits," laughs Buzz.

The circus theme does actually take on a wider, deeper resonance for the duo. "Circus came from this emotional place of me truly climbing out of a long depression," reflects Buzz. "Literally just me and the universe, vibing on this fantasy of life as this circus, and the fairy tale that is Haute & Freddy. It just gave me this playground out of depression, and it still makes me feel like things make sense. It wasn't that long ago that Lance was like, yeah, I think the circus was a literal metaphor for our careers. I never put that together, but it does feel like you want to be an artist amongst these artists, but your skill set isn't the tightrope, and it's not juggling. These things that other people are really good at, I didn't feel like I was good at. The circus story is from a true emotional journey."

The album 'Big Disgrace' is the endpoint of that journey, but it's also just the beginning of a world that Haute & Freddy are building for themselves and for their community. The album's opening track, 'Symphony For A Queen', encapsulates that. "It's the show tune of the album," says Buzz proudly. "It's very much about getting the look you want and embodying if no one understands me or if society is pushing against what makes me true and beautiful, then I'm going to do that for myself. That stage is metaphorical, but it's an emotional, imaginary place of going and feeling like you're cheering yourself on. I'm beautiful and perfect here." In pop music in 2026, there are few things more beautiful and perfect than Haute & Freddy. Lose yourselves in the madness”.

It is interested how a lot of former songwriters who were frustrated at not getting credit or being in the shadows are not up front and have their own careers. It takes me to NME and their July interview. One of my favourite sections of the interview is this: “My whole life feels like ’80s Kate Bush,” Buzz says. “There’s no Haute without Kate”. If you have not heard Haute & Freddy, then do make sure that you check out their music:

“Haute & Freddy have come to realise they share a lot of common ground – so much, in fact, that Buzz says they felt “friend embarrassment” for failing to exchange demos sooner. Both grew up making music in church, which provided a solid grounding in live performance, and both loved choral music and Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals. (“I am still absolutely spellbound by the synth sounds in his Cats score,” Buzz says today.) The duo’s musical theatre side emerges on ‘Symphony For A Queen’, the baroque opening song from ‘Big Disgrace’. It begins with Buzz singing a crystalline melody over pizzicato strings before the entire song morphs from Broadway ballad into a spangly toe-tapper. Lord Lloyd-Webber would surely approve.

Finding a like-minded partner-in-crime proved invigorating for the duo. “We were just so tired of having to be in a box when we were writing songs,” Shipp says. “So we basically said: ‘Let’s make music without really having a goal. Let’s just play.’ And that gave us the freedom to make whatever we wanted.” As they let their musical imaginations run wild, they also invented the characters of Haute & Freddy and concocted an outlandish backstory. The seed was an old-timey font they were drawn to – “it was very circus flier,” Buzz says – but the idea grew roots when they dropped their debut single, ‘Scantily Clad’, at the end of 2024.

Songs like ‘Dance The Pain Away’ and ‘Shy Girl’ hit so hard because they pulse with palpable emotion. “I have struggled with self-hate for the majority of my life. So many times, I’ve thought it was finally over and then it’ll smack me again: this little tug of depression,” Buzz says. She and Shipp wrote ‘Shy Girl’ as a way of excavating her pain after ‘Scantily Clad’ began to gain traction and Buzz wondered whether being an artist could actually become a viable career. “That song is such a lantern,” she adds. “It’s me saying: ‘Go out there and have fun. Don’t steal your own joy.’”

Perhaps because they combine high-camp visuals with high-impact hooks, Haute & Freddy have already built a fervent queer fanbase. ”With me being queer, I’m not surprised, but I just didn’t know whether that would happen,” Buzz says. “To be honest, I felt like in my [songwriting] career, a lot of my music didn’t resonate with anybody.”

For this reason, their main goal is to keep serving the Royal Court. “It’s crazy having people tell us ‘this song is changing lives’ or ‘the world needs you right now,’” Shipp says, which prompts an “oh my gosh, yes!” from Buzz. ”It still doesn’t feel real that we’re writing songs that people connect to,” she adds. “This whole project has been a huge gift to my life”.

The final interview is from Metal Magazine. Even if I am a new convert to the wonderful world of Haute & Freddy, I can tell that they are going to be making music for so long to come. Big Disgrace got such positive reception. You know there is appetite for more music from them. I will try and see if I can catch them when they play London in November. I really love what they are putting out into the world. Such a compelling and interesting duo:

“Every publication has tagged them as one of the best newcomers and emerging talents of the year, but Michelle Buzz and Lance Shipp have been creating music for a long time now (they have written and co-produced music for the likes of Katy Perry, Kylie Minogue, Britney Spears and Calvin Harris). Both had established careers as songwriters before meeting in Los Angeles, and began writing together simply for fun, without expectations or rules. They soon created the characters of Haute and Freddy, using them as vessels for real-life emotions and a more uninhibited approach to creativity. Their debut single, Scantily Clad, became a viral success on TikTok, followed by tracks including Anti-Superstar, Dance the Pain Away and Shy Girl, which attracted millions of streams and attention from outlets including Rolling Stone, People and SPIN, among others.

Their music combines infectious melodies, bold vocals, ’80s-inspired synths and playful irreverence, something they make sure to translate into their live shows. From the dream of becoming a Showgirl at Heart to the defiant declaration of I Like My People Weird, Haute & Freddy encourage listeners to resist the pressure to fit in and make space for their most authentic selves. At its core, the project is an invitation to embrace difference, have fun and let the inner freak take centre stage. “I don’t know if it’s more about the empowerment of intimacy or the simplicity of letting community soothe the insanity of life right now, but regardless, it’s shamelessly dramatic”, they say of Touch Touch. It comes with a new video directed by Amalia Irons, enriching their already fabulous visual world that feels like life in another time; another possibility.

We spoke to the band a few days before they kicked off the next leg of their sold-out Big Disgrace World Tour, and discussed the freedom they discovered in making Big Disgrace, the ’80s pop and art that shaped their sound, their influences, and the importance of creating spaces where weirdness, self-expression and difference can be celebrated.

Big Disgrace isn’t just an album title: it’s almost a manifesto about embracing what makes you different. Throughout the record you balance escapism with real emotional struggles, and we can identify moments reflecting depression, burnout, longing, identity. You mentioned that you started creating music as Haute & Freddy for fun, but the outcome is impressive beyond the music itself: there’s so much love in it. Did creating the whole record teach you something important about yourselves that you didn’t know before?

Michelle: Creating Big Disgrace definitely taught me to follow the fun and trust myself. I had dealt with the fallout of my previous artist project completely flopping, a songwriting career with ageing credits that weren’t keeping me afloat financially, trying to stay in LA surrounded by colleagues who had hit their stride — I was truly under the impression that a successful career in music was not coming for me. Getting to that point where I made peace with not ‘making it’ in music, I was able to start valuing my own happiness. Haute & Freddy was my version of a giant miniature Lego city in a basement; this hobby fantasy world I couldn’t stop building while I got ready to have a job outside of music. Big Disgrace taught me that magical things happen when you express yourself without thinking about the next step.
Lance: Making Big Disgrace was my confirmation that the universe will reward you for being yourself at all times.

Freaks encapsulates something really interesting: traditionally, marginalised people have reclaimed some of the insults they have historically received and turned them into statements of pride. This song owns the word, and it’s brilliantly brought to life visually in its music video. You worked with Amalia Irons on it (and others), and it reminds me of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. How did the song and the video come about?

Michelle: I love that it’s also a circus term that can now be rebranded instead of being used as an insult. We love taking that kind of terminology – same with “oh, what a big disgrace” – and making it something proud and unashamed. We wrote it in Topanga with Askjell (same collaborator as Sophie, Fields of Versailles, Sweet Surrender) and it was an explosive day. I feel like us and The Rocky Horror Picture Show share a similar approach to poking at conservative hang-ups, so I wanted to honour that through the video as much as possible.

Your album is a balm for the queer community and anyone who feels like they don’t belong. Now that you’re travelling the world, how do you see things in terms of equality? There’s a scary feeling that we’re going backwards and that there is more and more racism and hate present in our daily lives.

Michelle: I feel this a lot; it’s impossible not to. But I will say, going on tour this year to so many different places we had never been before, seeing the big variety of ages in the Royal Court, feeling the kindness in that room, the respect people are having for each other, the joy and self-expression – I don’t know if it’s naive, but it makes me feel like maybe the majority of people in this country really do want things to evolve and make sense.
Lance: I see the world the same way as I always have. Every person is equal. To me, it’s so simple: we all deserve the same opportunity to live freely and not feel like our life is in danger because of the colour of our skin, who we love or how we want to express ourselves. At our shows, that’s the space we want to create, where everyone can feel loved for who they are.

You have written songs for major artists like Katy Perry, Britney Spears, and Kylie Minogue, among many others. And recently Lady Gaga shared your music on her social media. Are there any other artists you’d like to collaborate with?

Gaga would be at the top of our list, we’d love to make a big musical number with her. We’d also love to collaborate with The Last Dinner Party, maybe do a little verse or something”.

Ending with DORK and their five-star review of Big Disgrace. For anyone who has not listened to this album, I would urge you to hear it now. You can feel touches of Lady Gaga, Kate Bush, Tori Amos and others in their work. Though what we get from Haute & Freddy is distinctly theirs. They have this sound and chemistry that is so incredible to behold:

“There was a time when pop stars stalked the pages of the world's greatest music weekly with vamp, vogue and vigour. Haute & Freddy understand that era in their very bones, to the extent that it wouldn't take too much convincing to believe they'd been created by a third wish on an issue of 80s Smash Hits. On 'Big Disgrace' they drag that old glamour into present tense with songs so immediate they can trap the algorithm in amber.

This is theatrical pop with precision and purpose. Not simple dress-up or retro karaoke, and certainly not a stack of dog-eared references hoping to pass for a personality. Haute & Freddy know exactly why 80s pop still works when it works. It is not all shoulder pads and eyeliner, though both are more than fun enough to drag out of the closet. It's because the hooks are headlines and the attitude is doctrine. Style and substance as a manifesto for mischief.

The album moves with the confidence of artists who can frame the canvas as well as paint it. From the first run of songs, it's clear. 'Scantily Clad', 'Shy Girl', 'Anti-Superstar', 'Sophie' and 'Dance The Pain Away' all point to the same core instinct to make pop that performs at full speed without ever losing composure. Each track understands both entry and payoff. There is no meandering between ideas, no apologising for demanding to be massive.

What is striking is how cleanly they manage tone. Camp is all over this record, but handled with utter discipline. The jokes land because the writing is sharp. They flawlessly commit to character and emotion without any sense of irony. That is hard to do. Plenty of artists can be funny. Plenty can be sincere. Very few can be both, fewer still through the lens of massive, honking electropop.

The production is knowingly period-aware, but never a museum exhibit relic. While the lineage is obvious, 'Big Disgrace' isn't ever just played for pure nostalgia. It's a record that studies the greats, then rewrites the blueprints with signature flair. The result is fresh in the only way that matters.

There's a proper narrative arc here that gives the record weight beyond just surface thrill. There's bags of posture, yes, but also a method, too. The temptation with maximalist pop is to keep adding until Marie Kondo is called round to sort out the clutter; Haute & Freddy dodge that trap because they understand subtraction and division, too. They know when to let the drama flow or when a chorus is already doing enough; they know when to leave a song before familiarity turns to exhaustion. Every moment feels deliberate rather than under- or overcooked.

If there is a criticism to make, it is a flattering one. A couple of tracks are so strong that they have their own sense of repeat-play gravity, but that is hardly failure. Momentum stays high, and by the end, the album has the satisfying shape of a debut that already knows what it is.

'Big Disgrace' does not sound like promising first steps; it sounds like a final arrival announced on the ballroom floor. Haute & Freddy have made a record that understands pop as theatre and craft - it preens, struts, poses and leaves enough earworms behind to have Prince Charming stalking the neighbourhood for months. For a record so invested in pose and posture, the real triumph is the simplest trick of all. The songs are undeniable”.

I am going to finish off there. Big Disgrace is one of the albums of this year. From the phenomenal Haute & Freddy, you cannot afford to overlook this U.S. duo. Taking their wonderful music around the world right now, when touring is done, I guess they will be thinking of more new music. Whatever comes next, it is going to be sensational. Go and show your love for…