Freedom Fry

Freedom Fry
Marie Seyrat and Bruce Driscoll
Background information
Origin	Los Angeles, Paris
Genres	Pop, alternative rock, French pop
Years active	2011–present
Labels	Polydor Records Europe, Caveman Arts Society ROW[1]

Freedom Fry is an American indie pop band from Los Angeles, California, United States, composed of Parisian-born Marie Seyrat and American Bruce Driscoll.^[2]

Let The Games Begin EP

Freedom Fry in October, 2015

The duo first met in April 2011 when Seyrat was the stylist on a video for Driscoll's other band Blondfire. Impressed by Seyrat's whispery voice, Driscoll asked her if she would be interested in writing some songs together.^[3] In August they recorded and released the Let The Games Begin EP.^[4][5]

The video for the first single, Tallest Dreams, starred Gia Mantegna, daughter of actor Joe Mantegna.^[6]

The last song on the EP, Rolling Down, was featured on the season 7 premiere of Bones, during the birth of the main character's baby, Christine.^[7][8]

"Earthquake"

Their follow up single and video, "Earthquake", was released on Valentine's Day 2012. It was named single-of-the-week by French music magazine Les Inrockuptibles.^{[9][10][11][12]}

Glamour Magazine included Earthquake in their 100th issue anniversary playlist.^[13] French underwear brand "Princesse Tam.Tam" also used the song in their making of video for Winter 2012.^[14][15]

Outlaws EP

Following a visit to the grave of Billy the Kid in Fort Sumner, NM, the duo began to conceptualize a wild west themed EP.^[16] In April 2012, they released the Outlaws EP, featuring two original songs and a cover of Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot's Bonnie and Clyde.^[17][18]

"Summer in the City"

The song and video for "Summer in the City", was released in July 2012.^{[19][20][21][22]}

A remix of Summer in the City by Starcadian was featured in the viral Youtube video, How The Sun Sees You, in August 2014. Using unique UV lenses to show sun damage to skin and the benefits of sunscreen, the video amassed over 13,000,000 views.^[23][24][25]

The Wilder Mile

The Wilder Mile EP and video were released on 4 August 2014.^[26][27][28]

"Shaky Ground (Hey Na Na Na)"

Bruce Driscoll and Marie Seyrat perform as Freedom Fry in Oakland, CA.

At the end of 2014 the band began working with The Agency Group for European booking^[29] and manager Jeff Klein of A-Side Worldwide.^[30] Their first musical offering of 2015 was the single, "Shaky Ground (Hey Na Na Na)".^[31] The song reached number one on Hype Machine.^[32]

In 2016 the band signed with Polydor Records for Europe and official released "Shaky Ground" with an accompanying two-part music video featuring both the English version and a new French version of the song.^[33]

"Yeah You"

In March 2015 they released the single, "Yeah You" via SoundCloud, before heading to perform at South by Southwest.^[34] The song reached number three on Hype Machine.

The following April they embarked on their first tour as direct support for Belgian megastar Stromae.^[35] They followed it up by doing a Monday night residency in May at The Echo (Venue) which included special guest appearances from James Iha and Mayer Hawthorne.^[36]

"21"

In May, 2015, Freedom Fry released the single, "21". The handclaps, group vocals, and scream featured in the song were performed by the audiences at their Echo residency as part of a crowd recording experiment.^[37] The song reached number one on Hype Machine.^[38]

Covers

Freedom Fry's cover of Britney Spears' "Oops!... I Did It Again" was debuted on November 5, 2015, in the ABC television series, Grey's Anatomy, during Season 12 (episode 6).^[39]

In 2015 Freedom Fry released an acoustic cover of "1979" by The Smashing Pumpkins with an accompanying video. It has since reached over three million plays on Spotify.^[40]

A half-French language cover of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana was released in early 2016.^[41]

Discography

EPs

• Let The Games Begin (2011, Caveman Arts Society)
• Outlaws (2012, Caveman Arts Society)
• Friends and Enemies (2013, Caveman Arts Society)^[42]
• '"The Wilder Mile (2014, Caveman Arts Society)

Singles

• "Earthquake" (2012, Caveman Arts Society)
• "Summer in the City" (2012, Caveman Arts Society)
• "Dark Christmas" (2012, Caveman Arts Society)^[43]
• "Home" (2014, Caveman Arts Society)^[44]
• "Scarborough Fair" (2014, Caveman Arts Society)^[45]
• "Blackmailed" (2014, Caveman Arts Society)^[46]
• "Shaky Ground (Hey Na Na Na)" (2015, via Soundcloud)^[47]
• "Yeah You" (2015, via Soundcloud)^[48]
• "Break Into A Musical" (2015, via Soundcloud)^[49]
• "21" (2015, via Soundcloud)^[50]
• "Tropicana" (2015, Caveman Arts Society)^[51]
• "Oops!... I Did It Again" (2015, via ABC Grey's Anatomy Episode 251)^[39]
• "1979" (2015, Caveman Arts Society)^[52]
• "The Words" (2016, via Soundcloud)^[53]
• "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (2016, via Caveman Arts Society) ^[54]
• "Shaky Ground" (2016, Polydor Records Europe, Caveman Arts Society ROW) ^[55]

Vinyl

• "Fan Club: The Singles (2011 - 2014)" (2014, Caveman Arts Society)^[56]

Collaborations

• "Skyscraper Souls" - Chordashian feat. Freedom Fry (2013, Self Released)^[57]
• "Racers" - A.W.O.L. feat. Freedom Fry (2015, No Brainer Records)^[58]

Compilation appearances

• Perez Hilton's Pop Up! #6 (song: "The Wilder Mile")^[59]
• Poule d'Or Compilation #9 (song: "Tallest Dreams")^[60]

References

External links

• Official website
• Live show and interview from KXSC Radio