Housewife: Progressive Indie Feminism

Written by Abby Power

November 30th, 2022

In a series of events, Moscow Apartment, soon to become Housewife, gained momentum after going above and beyond milestones that any aspiring musician would kill for. Formerly known as Moscow Apartment, Housewife emerged from Toronto’s music scene in 2017. Co-founders Brighid Fry and Pascale Padilla were 13 and 14, and had a strong passion for music. Upon the release of their first single Annie, and first EP Moscow Apartment in 2017, Housewife had been listed on the bill of various events within Canada, and had won awards from national competitions within the band’s home country. Later, in 2018, they supported the Good Lovelies’ band within Canada, and released two singles, Be You and Orange. Following their already successful year in 2018, they won the Canadian Songwriting Competition in the Under 18 category, and won the national It’s Your Shot contest by Slaight Music. Needless to say, it was clear that Housewife were on the road to success...

In more recent years, Housewife have had the experiences to write and record in New York City, Nashville, and Los Angeles, travel and perform across Canada, and support bands on tours within Canada and the United States. In January 2020, Housewife released their 2020 EP, Better Daughter, their song ‘New Girl’ was featured in the Spotify ‘Fresh Finds: Indie’ playlist, which later landed them on the playlist cover within a matter of weeks. This gained the Toronto-based band mass success, as they were continuously featured on Spotify’s indie playlists. Towards the end of 2020, their music was used in the film Brave Little Army, and they officially reached 1 million streams on Spotify.

Housewife are queer and allies of the LGBTQ+ community. Notably, they have been featured on the bill for Toronto Pride in more recent years, and have played a residency at the Cameron House on Queen Street West. They are progressive environmentalists and strongly work with the Music Declares Emergency group. Housewife have successfully used their musical platform to advocate for social justice, and progressively lead future generations in a better direction.

Currently, in 2022, Housewife have continued to write and record in New York, Nashville, and Los Angeles. On April 26th, they announced that they would be retiring from the name Moscow Apartment and be performing as Housewife. They released their debut single, ‘Patrick Bateman’, under the name Housewife on May 20th, this would be their first music release in 2 years. Later in 2022, they released two EPs, both of which were released nearly a month apart: You’re Not The Worst and You’ll Be Forgiven.

Brighid Fry, currently 19 years old, spoke with Flashback on November 28th, giving insight to Housewife and where the road will take them from here. “We’re super excited to play in Oshawa, we’ve never played there before.” Brighid touched upon Housewife’s upcoming tour with Born Without Bones and Heart To Gold, “it’ll be a little east coast tour, it’s gonna be fun!”

Throughout the interview, Brighid explained what inspired her to pick up the guitar, begin her songwriting journey, and how she and Pascale formed Housewife. “I started playing classical violin at the age of 4, then guitar around the age of 7. I was really inspired by Canadian artists, Broken Social Scene and Metric.” It was tough for Brighid to only pick one of her biggest influences, as she had been surrounded by the music of many inspiring musicians. “Joni Mitchell really stands out to me,” she spoke, “her songwriting and activism is something that I am heavily inspired by. I will also say that her open tunings are influential to me.”

The emergence of Housewife was more than gradual. Within the same year of the release of their first single, Housewife were winning awards for their music. Brighid and Pascale played at folk festivals, youth showcases, open-mic events, and even attended a girls rock camp. Housewife still regularly play at folk festivals, due to their airy and flowy indie sound, but have taken the extra step to play venues such as the Horseshoe Tavern, and an even bigger step to play venues such as The Opera House.

The indie-feminist band released their latest EP under their new label, Hazel Street Records, and have continuously formed their team through mutual friends and people involved with their record label. “We take everything that comes our way and make use of every opportunity we get.” Brighid reflected upon Housewife’s adventure throughout the United States as You’re Not The Worst and You’ll Be Forgiven were being written and recorded. “Politics are involved within a lot of it,” she said. When asked about the EP’s first single, ‘Patrick Bateman’, she said, “it describes how much he sucks. It’s funny how men idolize such a character, and his character is written by woman. I don’t understand why men idolize him so much, he sucks!” Much of the content on You’ll Be Forgiven revolves around misogyny and sexism, much of which is similar to the character of Patrick Bateman. Brighid stated that being a female artist within the music industry is very frustrating and that those emotions were poured out within the content of the EP. “Some of the content talks about being a double standard, which most of us can agree with.”

Brighid was sure to discuss how Housewife uses their platform to advocate for social justice. As stated, Housewife are queer and allies to the LGBTQ+ community. They are environmentalists, stand for anti-racism and anti-sexism, and are progressive feminists. “We are proud to work with the Music Declares Emergency group,” she stated. “We try to make the music industry a sustainable industry. We help artists feel comfortable to talk about the climate emergency on their platforms and advocate for sustainability. Ultimately, we would like to make sustainable touring a thing within the music industry, and we continue to advocate for it through our platforms like Instagram.”

Housewife will embark on their east coast tour, supporting Born Without Bones and Heart To Gold, on December 8th in New Jersey. Their music can be found on all music platforms. Housewife continues to emerge within the Canadian music industry and the music industry as a whole, reaching milestones, and continuously gaining success as a progressive, indie-feminist band.