Golden Mixtape

When something like Hi Fashion comes across your screen, you do a double take. A girl used to listening and listening to dudes singing about girls and not fitting in, it was interesting to step outside my “norm” and into the Hi Fashion world. This…unique…pop/techno/dance duo is something else. I can only compare their EP Sprechen Sie Hi Fashion? to a night in a New York nightclub in the 80’s with the sass of a Gaga fan. Men and women who like their music flooded with diva-tude have a new anthem with “Amazing.” And I couldn’t help but fall for “I’m Not Madonna.” I could only wonder if it was about Ms. Gaga…

So if you’re a club kid of the 80’s at heart living in the here and now please do yourself a favor and check out Hi Fashion’s Sprechen Sie Hi Fashion? because the clubs are going to be spinning it anyways, so why not familiarize yourself with it to get a step ahead of the crowd. And until you can make it out to the clubs to dance the night away with Hi Fashion, dance in your seat while you read what the pair had to say about stalking, Gay rights, and of course…fashion.

Kendra: Rick, what was going to be the pick up line when you went to hit on Jen when you thought she was some hot guy at the club that night?

Rick: “Since there are no more seats left, just wanted to let you know there’s room on my face.”

Kendra: And Jen, why were you so fast to decline working with Rick in the musical sense?

Jen: Well I thought I was gonna be in a punk band with someone I had a crush on, but that lasted pretty much one night. The crush, I mean.

Kendra: So did Rick have to convert to stalker mode to get you onboard?

Rick: I’m a Scorpio. If I did, and I’m not saying I did, she had no idea.

Jen: Full stalker mode, but it made me like him more.

Kendra: So you two finally came together because of a trio of songs that Rick had recorded and sent over. Was the unique pop sound you have today, the sound that you guys always had in mind from the start?

Hi Fashion: It kind of was. It started out a bit crazier and we certainly have cray-town songs, but we were always going for a dance-y, electro-y, house-y, art punk-y kind of sound.

Kendra: Can you tell me a little more about how you two came to choose “Amazing” as your first single off of Sprechen Sie Hi Fashion? And give us some hints on what may be the next single?

Hi Fashion: “Amazing” has always received an instant reaction from people.  And the idea that we weren’t taking ourselves too seriously right off the bat seems to win trust in people and give us license to do more insane things. Then there was this incredible phenomenon that people experienced it as a testimony to unflinching self-esteem. We created it as a kind of joke about a wildly confident person, and now it’s becoming an anthem about loving yourself as you are, and that’s amazing. “I’m Not Madonna” is the next single. We already have some people remixing it and we want to see what else happens with it.

Kendra: That also makes my mind wonder about the live show as well. Creating a moving art show onstage, was that also something decided upon early on?

Hi Fashion: We are both theatre people and we always knew we wanted a crazy live show to be part of the experience. More people! More mayhem! More everything! If we could get everyone onstage in a costume, that would be ideal.

Kendra: My eyes and ears instantly went to “I’m Not Madonna,” which is great because it’s the next single. Can this be seen as a Lady Gaga anthem? I mean the woman gets called a “Madonna wannabe” every other time she moves.

Hi Fashion: Actually we both love Lady Gaga but it is really a Madonna anthem. The whole idea about it was trying to imagine what it must be like to be the arguably most prolific, talented, and famous pop star in our time. And then imagining her wanting to get away from everything she created; a kind of punk trashing of her empire in a way. Anyway, I think Lady Gaga is more the new Cher than anything else.

Kendra: One thing Madonna, Gaga and yourselves have in common is playing a huge part in the LGBT community. Being from New York, can you explain how it felt when your state legalized gay marriage?

Rick: I was devastated and so proud and moved. My friends went to the Stonewall that night and they were texting me. I felt like part of me was transported there in the present, reaping the benefits of all these years of hard work from Harvey Milk to Marcia, and the other part was transported to 1969 and I was throwing beer bottles at bad cops. It was gorgeous and full.

Jen: I think it’s great that people can have the option now that is a major victory. This is about equality and choice.

Kendra: Not only involved in that, but Jen you do work with the Downtown Women’s Center which caught my eye. So I wanted to know your thoughts on women in the music industry. Do you think they’re finally being represented as equal talents, or are women still eye candy in pop?

Hi Fashion: Well, what male musician compares to Lady Gaga and Madonna and Beyonce today? I think great talent is great talent, but women are definitely in the forefront of the industry right now.

Kendra: You two are also big into fashion (obviously). Can you indulge me with some things we can expect to see from your upcoming line? Will it be affordable, chic, funky, all of the above?

Hi Fashion: It will be totally affordable, pantsexual, and flexual (flexible AND sexual).  We are both inspired by the abstract genius of Japanese design. It will be rather conceptual in that way, but we are really interested in it being comfortable and workable for all body types and genders.  The line is called HF999 and our first piece, the BISHIRT, will be available on the website really soon! It is essentially a t-shirt with 4 sleeves that can be worn a variety of ways. Want one?

Kendra: Why yes I would, they sound awesome! And you also have the Love tags you have on your site that help benefit the God’s Love We Deliver organization. How’d you two become involved with that? Are the tags available at your shows as well as online.

Rick: YES!!!!! Love tags are available online and at our shows. We were really excited about the idea of being able to give 100% of the profits.  We are both so lucky to have lives where we get to make our art and have people experience it and we always want to find a way to help people too. This project combines both of those desires.  God’s Love We Deliver gives food every day to people in need and that IMMEDIACY of helping is what we love about it.

Jen: Yes we love them, and in the Gay 90’s I volunteered in their kitchen, and I met so many beautiful people with huge hearts.

Kendra: With a new album and clothing line…what else can we expect from Hi Fashion for the rest of 2011?

Hi Fashion: We are looking to collaborate with more people in the areas of fashion and music, so more of that for sure.  And then we are going to buy an island in the south pacific and turn it into a giant danceclub/playground/shopping mall where everything is free.

Kendra: Lastly, being Golden Mixtape, it’s time for you to make me a mixtape, and being the fashionistas you are, could you please make me a mixtape of the top songs to strut down the runway to?

Hi Fashion:
1. Kat Krazy Remix of Rye Rye and Robyn “Never Will Be Mine”
2. Jessica 6 “White Horse”
3. The Jungle Brothers “I’ll House You”
4. Tune-Yards “Bizness”
5. Bjork “Crystalline”
6. Hi Fashion “Amazing”

Originally published on July 25, 2011