Article: Toro Magazine

It’s always a crapshoot when actors attempt to switch roles with musicians. David Hasselhoff, Eddie Murphy and William Shatner achieved, at best, catastrophic results. It’s a risky business either way; but the bar is decidedly lower the other way around after Britney’s Crossroads and Mariah’s Glitter. Then there are the rare cases that transcend mediocrity.

This may be because half of L.A.-based indie-electro-pop duo Uh Huh Her is actually musician-turned-actor-turned-musician.

“I don’t think I’m that fascinating,” Leisha Hailey says, with the mock humility of someone who knows they are fascinating. It’s almost 8 p.m. at The Mod Club on a Friday in late May. Hailey and Camila Grey sit demurely on a couch side by side in a cramped upstairs dressing room, looking up expectantly like just-admonished schoolgirls trying not to giggle. There’s a reason for their good cheer. Uh Huh Her, formed only in January 2007, wraps up a sold-out North American tour with this show before heading to Japan.

The audience of several hundred below would disagree with Hailey’s self-characterization. Better known as glib writer Alice Pieszecki on TV’s The L Word (a progressive if specious portrayal of affluent lesbians in Los Angeles), she is about to take the stage at a trendy indie-rock venue packed with expectant fans – mostly female. Before landing her defining role on the series now entering its sixth season, she played guitar and sang in ’90s cult band The Murmurs. Hailey, appearing more delicate and sounding younger, is not like her TV alter ego.

“Our bands were nothing alike. I think we just both wanted to start doing something really fresh and different,” Hailey offers suddenly, as if reading my mind. She cocks her head sideways at Grey. “I just really wanted to work with her.”

Grey, less recognizable than Hailey, joined her musical counterpart from Mellowdrone, an obscure California-based rock outfit. Visually divergent from the lightly tan, dirty blonde Hailey, her pallid skin and drastic black hair create a pleasing vampy, sexy contrast. I ask half-jokingly if Grey is fun to work with. Hailey leans forward on the couch and pretends to consider this. “She’s a-ight,” she says. We laugh. She quickly adds, “Cam’s amazing. One of the most talented rockers I know.”

Grey, a self-proclaimed “production geek,” registers this a few moments later and turns to Hailey in surprise. “Aw, thanks” she says.

It’s hard to disagree. The tracks off the upcoming LP “Common Reaction,” while fashionably emo-electro, aren’t derivative at all. In fact, they’re quite the opposite.

“Backstage we’ve been playing a lot of LCD Soundsystem and the MGMT record. Those are our pre-show records,” Hailey says, the more talkative of the two. She sits neatly in front of me, legs crossed and arms folded. When asked how she feels when she’s acting versus when she’s playing a show, she gives the it’s-so-different-I-can’t-compare response. I ask which one she’d pick under duress.

“But I don’t wanna choose!” she says disconsolately. “Why do I have choose? [Turns panicked to Grey] Do I have to choose?”

“You don’t have to choose,” Grey soothes. One gets the feeling she often takes on the role of placater. I raise my voice over the building noise of the crowd and the bass pulsing through the walls and ask them who they’d want to play them in a movie.

“Natalie Portman! No wait, Juliette Lewis,” Grey answers immediately. We look questioningly at Hailey. She says, “Who, me? Oh God. For real? No, like for real? Hmmm. Maybe Amy Poehler.” I look surprised and she laughs. “No, wait! You mean for real, like literally?” she says again. “[Turns to Grey] Oh my God, I totally thought Juliette Lewis for you.” Grey jumps back in with a revelatory, “Apparently I look like Ashlee Simpson. Maybe she could play me.”

The duo seem exquisitely calibrated for this kind of banter. It’s hard to reconcile the girls sitting before me with the cerebrally apocalyptic lyrics to “Mystery Lights,” a track off their upcoming LP. I’m about to ask something else but Hailey abruptly whirls sideways to examine Grey with narrowed eyes, who looks back at her calmly and shrugs. “OK, what?” Hailey says incredulously. “You do not look like Ashlee Simpson,” – she covers her face with her hands – “God, you did not just say that.”

When asked if they consider themselves romantic, they speak simultaneously. Hailey, openly gay, says emphatically, “Yes,” while Grey, rumoured to be gay (but I don’t know and don’t ask) says “No.” They collapse into laughter.

“Well, once I went to this really shack-ish place in a really small town,” Hailey confesses. “I shopped for all these things and made a little home away from home for me and someone. [She smiles, gesturing at the ceiling] It was all lit up with Christmas lights and music.”

Grey furrows her brows in thought, searching for an example of her prosaic tendencies. I think, for the fifth time in 10 minutes, how arrestingly sultry she is. Then she surprises us and finally says, “I flew someone on a helicopter once. To an island.” This may be construed by some as a pretty damn romantic gesture, but her tone suggests mundanity, like dusting shelves or fluffing pillows.

Suddenly Hailey laughs. “You ask hard questions. Like you have to go back and look in your brain…” – she trails off. I shrug apologetically.

“File?” Grey suggests helpfully.

“Yeah. Brainfile,” Hailey affirms. “But I don’t really date very much. I’ve never been on a real date.” I find this hard to believe and almost say so when the crowd cheers again and a roar sweeps through the room. We talk easily and I feel a little like I’m chatting to two girls while in line for the bathroom. The conversation turns to shyness and I ask if they’ve ever been naked in public.

“Ummm… not fully,” Grey says, hesitating. She smiles mysteriously and goes quiet. We look at Hailey.

“Um, no. Well, I guess I’ve been naked in public from the show,” she admits.

Grey laughs and mumbles, “Uh yeah, that’s a pretty big public.” Hailey shoots her a frown and starts to laughs too. I smile. The rockers don’t lend themselves to easy analysis. As I rise off the couch, Hailey reaches for a white laptop. She lets out a giggle as she points to the screen. Grey leans in and stares, wide-eyed. I have no idea what they’re looking at. As I leave the dressing room, I think about whether they sound as good as they look.

They do.

(@Toro Magazine)