Froggy Interview: All About "Stupid Rich Boy" and Autonomy

Instagram: @Froggytheband

A punk band from the Philadelphia area

Tell me about your inspo for stupid rich boy (song/video).

Fiona: I think we were inspired by the town we live in/spend most of our time in haha. There’s a lot of rich, shitty boys around our little suburb that we’ve interacted with that are just super performative or straight up assholes. I guess it only made sense to make an angry little song about our experiences with them. The video was sillier, we got a bunch of our friends to dress up as different rich boys and there’s a little made-up storyline in there too just for funsies!

Morgan: I wrote the lyrics based off of my experiences. In high school I entered into a cliche friend group from an extra-curricular and had friendships & relationships with a lot of rich families. Growing up poor, the culture shock was unreal for me; while there were a lot of nice people, there were a lot of crazy, disgusting racist, sexist, transphobic rich people I knew--especially the guys. I wanted to picture frame the typical, nasty cis white guy for the world to hear. They’re always praised, it’s time to show what a lot of them are.

Tell me about your experiences in the music industry as women and non-binary individuals.

Morgan: Fortunately, we have the honor to have such an incredible and supportive fan base. Unfortunately, we also have a lot of creeps and assholes who follow us. A lot of old men with the worst comments and the worst obsessions. I know it’s everywhere, but it sucks being everywhere, and it’s far from ending. We also get a lot of pretentious assholes when we don’t give in to their demands of having them work for us, play their gigs, do a video for them, etc. Definitely some mindfuck within some people trying to help us, accusing us of not caring when we don’t agree with the actions that they take without telling us first. In addition, men thinking I am incapable of carrying and setting up my own amp. Yes, I need help sometimes carrying it, but don’t run up stage and think I don’t know how to plug in and turn on my amp, fucker. I’ve learned that there’s nothing wrong with being assertive to get respect for yourself.

Fiona: I don’t identify as a woman, but as a non-binary person. I’ve found it’s definitely harder to get recognition from music dudes, or sometimes it feels like people are giving us extra gold stars for being a little femme kid band…but not in the respectful way. I have really appreciated the queer and female music community, however, which have been so supportive, loving, and just awesome.

How do you feel about the state of the country? Abortion rights, anti-trans laws, etc.

Brooke: Personally, the state of the country has angered me. Every person has the right to a safe abortion without negative consequences, and every trans/lgbtqa+ person should be allowed to experience the freedom that the law “guarantees” without judgement. It is so disgraceful how some US people in power have been trying to take away basic health and safety rights that would affect people I love. I hope to be a part of he movement that stops these horrible anti-abortion laws and anti-trans bills from passing. I want to make things right.

Fiona: It definitely feels like we are going backwards sometimes! Many people have done a lot of work to progress the country, which I am so appreciative for, but I think everyone can agree there’s a long long way to go. Attacks on queer people and women recently have especially been horrific, but I have hope in the power of protest! I think we all want to do all we can to create a message of strength and take actions against homophobic, transphobic, misogynistic, racist laws.

What do you like or want to change about riot grrrl?

Morgan: There are oftentimes a lot of people who don’t deserve to consider themselves riot grrrls: terfs, racists, a lot of horrible people in general. I remember there was a claimed ‘riot grrrl’ band that supported trump, and that made all of us want to not consider ourselves riot grrrl anymore. Riot grrrl is not only advocating the rights of women, but for everyone who needs a voice. It isn’t a trend that holds exceptions for any racist, sexist, or transphobic people. Too many of those nasty people have crossed into our world, let’s clean them the fuck out.