Brash & Sassy have a comedic timing which belies the last four years they’ve spent embroiled in each other’s lives, their catty commentary akin to that of siblings. Or worse, parents.
Gennaia Febraio is unabashedly candid and plays it larger than life – just like her Dynasty inspired bouffant – while her partner in crime, Ava Loverock, is far more shrewd and calculating, making them the quintessential odd couple, a veritable disco yin and yang.
Of course, the slight edginess could involve the release of their EP, Now, which has been a long time recording… four years to be exact.
‘Now is all about freshness, being in the moment, being current,’ explained Loverock. ‘It only took four years to make and we think we pass that immediate energy across into the music. Hence the name.’
Oh, the irony.
Febraio and Loverock began Brash & Sassy in 2006, catching hold of the last whiff of Girl Power as it faded from the charts, channelling it into big hair and bigger dance beats.
Their anthem No Milk For You saw them ride a wave of celebrity, headlining all the right parties and even gracing the stages of both Summadayze and One Movement’s Fringe Festival.
When it came time to record Now, the girls enlisted old friend and producer Matt Giovannagelo and coupled his expertise with the fresh ears of Jaymes Brown from the Voltaire Twins.
It was exactly what their little disco gems needed.
‘(Our songs) had become just mundane for us,’ Febraio explained. ‘Jaymes came along and gave them a makeover.’
‘And in some cases an extreme makeover,’ added Loverock.
‘Together, Jaymes and Matt basically replayed everything, which meant that all of the previous instruments that had been digital from our laptops, and had a really nasty prickly sound, were replaced with analogue synths which had more warmth to them.’
So what can fans expect from Now?
‘Expect to dance,’ Febraio purred. ‘When you hear it, whether you’re driving in your car or walking down the street listening to it on your iPod, just dance.’
‘Alternatively, you might not dance. You might sit still in the present moment,’ said Loverock.
‘But you can be in the present moment and dance at the same time?’
‘No. No you can’t. Dancing is all about the future. You’re in the future when you’re dancing.’
‘I suppose you could be thinking about the benefits of dancing on your body, and consciously project that image into the future.’
‘See…!’
But the EP isn’t the only bundle of joy to be had: Febraio, at the time of the interview, is 12 weeks pregnant and has that soft maternal glow creeping into her cheeks.
‘I think I’ll have to take a sabbatical with the baby and take a few months off,’ she confided.
‘But when we come back, it’ll be full steam ahead. It’s a job that has become so much a part of my life it’s engrained in who I am. I need it. ‘
‘We don’t know what the future will hold!’ Loverock interrupted. ‘When you produce a spawn from your loins, it modifies the chemistry of your body.’
‘What? Do you think I’m going to change altogether?’
‘Yes, you’re going to become like a lizard woman. Your face will become pointier and you’ll develop a heavy scale. Green. Over the entire length of your body.’
‘That could be good for the show,’ Febraio laughed.
‘Oh yeah… a singing lizard. We’ll call you Lizzy.’
It’s easy to see how much of their life is dedicated to performing, the personas never switching off, their live shows a tight treat made all the more spectacular by three male band members: keyboardist Guy Kristos, guitarist Hønk Milmoe and drummer John Grant.
And yes, they are all as primped as the disco queens they accompany.
So why so many men, especially considering Brash & Sassy were famed for being Perth’s only all-girl group back in the day?
‘We weren’t initially looking for solely female musicians,’ Febraio said of their move to encompass more facial hair.
‘No,’ Loverock jumped in. ‘It’s not a gimmick. We’re not a gimmick. We don’t have a gimmick.’
‘We’re not a theme band.’
‘Just sometimes,’ Loverock concluded, ‘when you really embrace the strength of your womanhood, you can let man into your circle.’
Now is being sold exclusively at Brash & Sassy live shows, with the next dates being September 30 at Llama Bar and October 2 at DeVille’s Pad. www.myspace.com/brashsassy
Scott-Patrick Mitchell
