Official Hot Mess -- About to Pop

By Ashley Iasimone Posted Jul 26th 2010 05:40PM

Who: Official Hot Mess
Video: 'Welcome 2 L.A.'
Hails From: Florida
For Fans Of: Ke$ha, the Veronicas

Why They're About to Pop: Sisters Kristy and Lindsey, the frontwomen of pop rockers Official Hot Mess, learned piano by ear at age four, wrote their first original tune at 13 and landed their first record deal before graduating high school. Since then, they've sold tons of records in Asia, Australia and parts of Europe and played shows with the likes of the Bangles, We the Kings and Mitchel Musso. Now, they've released a spunky new single, 'Welcome 2 L.A.,' with a video featuring Adrianne Curry and Flavor Flav.

"The major inspiration for 'Welcome 2 L.A.' derives from the fact that we come from a small beach town in Florida," Kristy tells PopEater. "It's a culture shock coming to L.A. and seeing all of the crazy things that are happening." But that doesn't mean that the girls haven't pursued a bit of mischief, as well.

"We've definitely gotten into our fair share of trouble, from accidentally starting a bus brawl to narrowly avoiding arrest for skinny dipping in a pool after hours," Lindsey admits. Kristy adds, "We got chased by a wizard on Hollywood Blvd., and we accidentally sat in Bill Murray's seats at his own movie premiere."

Watch the 'Welcome 2 L.A.' video below, and read our exclusive interview with the duo to find out how they got started in music, what it's like to perform at the Playboy mansion and what they'd say to the high school classmates who once taunted them.

Watch the 'Welcome 2 L.A.' Video

Seven Questions With Official Hot Mess:

What inspired the two of you to start playing music and who are your influences?

Kristy: Although we were born in Los Angeles, when we were little kids, our parents moved us as far away from Hollywood as we could get, and sent us to a school for the "academically gifted" to keep us away from the entertainment industry. That worked well ... not!

Lindsey: We began creating music for enjoyment and wrote our first song when we were really little kids and haven't stopped writing and creating music since. During high school, we put our music on the Internet and got offered a deal with a record label in Asia. That album became really successful and we even got to tour Asia!

Kristy: Most of our songs are pop with an underlying rock feel, which comes from being influenced by artists like Blondie, Heart, Cyndi Lauper, the Bangles, Pat Benatar and the Go-Go's. However, instead of specifically emulating any other artist, our goal is to create our own path for other artists in years to come to follow.

Lindsey: We're influenced by rock, alternative, hip-hop, etc., and bring aspects of each genre into our personal style.

How did you come up the the name Official Hot Mess?

Kristy: We call ourselves Official Hot Mess because it seems as though mischief and trouble always have a way of finding us!

Lindsey: Like the time we thought we were on a flight to L.A. and ended up in Puerto Rico.

Kristy: Or the time my spike heel got caught on Lindsey's pants and I accidentally pantsed her onstage!

Lindsey: Official Hot Mess is a spot-on description of the chaos and craziness that ensues when us and the four wild and crazy guys in our band hit the road.

How would you describe your sound and style?

Kristy: I think a lot of people are surprised by the fact that we're more than just typical blonde bimbos. We actually have a sense of musical ability and we incorporate our personalities and sarcastic sense of humor into that.

Lindsey: A definite element of our music is a poppy, fun feel that's very relatable. A lot of our songs are party songs that are great to let loose to. It's fun.

Kristy: Some of our songs reveal our take on the industry. Everybody's so serious and cynical right now. They're constantly trying to bring you down. If you want to make it, you might as well go out there and be yourself because there's no point in trying to be someone you're not.

Working so closely together, is there ever any sibling rivalry?

Kristy: There really isn't rivalry between us because we consider ourselves a team.

Lindsey: Being in a band together has brought us closer, but also gives us more topics that are open for debate, which potentially leads to conflict over minute artistic differences.

Kristy: We always resolve our differences and come to a mutual consensus together as a team.

What's the story behind the 'Welcome 2 L.A.' video, and how did the guest appearances (Flavor Flav, Adrianne Curry) come about?

Kristy: We met Adrianne Curry and Flavor Flav at charity events. We played Adrianne the song and she was really into it. She loved the sarcastic flavor to it. And we loved her idea for her to be smoking weed and playing 'Guitar Hero' in our video! She's such a fun person.

Lindsey: When we talked to Flav about the video and played him the song, he loved the idea of 'Welcome 2 L.A.' being set at Flavor Flav's house party!

What was the craziest moment you had while playing shows at the Playboy mansion?

Kristy: It's really funny because everybody always says if you're nervous during a show to picture the audience naked. Well, you can't really do that there because most everyone actually is naked. What, are you supposed to picture them with their clothes on?

Lindsey: One of the funniest things that happened at the mansion was on Halloween, when we had the guys in our band dress up as Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake's 'SNL' skit, 'D--- in a Box.' One of them accidentally bumped Hugh Hefner's butt with his box!

Kristy: Also, when Ron Jeremy continuously came into our dressing room asking us if he could "rent this space for his kissing room."

What would you say now to the classmates who taunted you back in high school when you were developing your career?

Lindsey: High school was a difficult time for us, especially because the school we went to was a public school for "academically gifted students" and we were thought of as rebels and outcasts for pursuing music.

Kristy: While all the other kids were focusing on SAT scores and Ivy League schools, we were touring in Japan and barely keeping our grades up.

Lindsey: Even now, high school's not far behind us, but bygones are bygones and we've learned a lot and grown from those experiences, bad and good.

Kristy: However, we'd like to dedicate track eight from Lily Allen's 'It's Not Me It's You' album to them.

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