The first time I stumbled across a Freakshow Cartel video, I wasn’t quite sure what I had just witnessed or heard.

My brain scrambled for a comparison: The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star” meets The Neptunes, with a cosmic splash of Ziggy Stardust energy- the fictional alter ego character persona of David Bowie. I blinked. “Okay, this is … different,” I mumbled to myself.

Curious (and slightly entranced), I reached out, and boom. Jade, one-half of the duo, hit me back. She casually mentioned that she and her bandmate, Shelbi, were performing at a place called The Chill Room in Tempe.  A sober lounge with holistic, non-alcoholic drinks and vibey energy? Say less. I was in.

The night of the show, I pulled up and squeezed into a cozy crowd of about 50 people, which was a solid turnout for an intimate venue. Everyone was clutching strawberry kava lemonades with rainbow umbrellas like they were at a spa for their souls. The vibe? Unbothered and effortlessly cool. And Freakshow Cartel? They fit right in.

Jade shredded on an electric keyboard, occasionally dropping playful ad-libs like it was second nature. Meanwhile, Shelbi, mic in hand, delivered smooth, confident verses that had me wondering if I had just missed ten years of their career. Plot twist: they’ve only been performing together for six months and are about to drop their debut EP “Alien Disco” on all streaming platforms on August 1.

“We actually met at Guitar Center back in January,” Jade said. “We were both on the hunt for gear.” Casual. Jade’s been deep in audio production since her teenage years, while Shelbi used to play electric bass before getting sidetracked by the corporate grind. “Eventually, I just picked up the bass again and started playing,” Shelbi said, shrugging like it was no big deal.

But on stage? Big deal. Huge synergy. You’d think they’ve been jamming for a decade.

Then came the moment that officially turned this performance into an out-of-body experience. Mid-set, they launched into their track “Alien Disco.” Yes, it’s exactly as weird and delightful as it sounds. They got the crowd in on the fun:
“When I say extraterrestrial, you say F’n magistical!”

Now, at first, we were all awkward turtles. But after a few rounds, the whole room transformed into a gloriously weird call-and-response chorus. Even I found myself yelling like a true member of the freaky fold.

After the set, I asked them how they came up with this wonderfully odd music. Jade laughed, “Honestly, I was in the shower one day, and this beat just hit me out of nowhere.” No rigid process. No genre rules. “If it sounds like hip-hop, that’s cool. If it sounds like pop, that’s cool too,” Shelbi added. “Our music is a reflection of us, free spirits.”

When it comes to musical inspo, they’ve got an eclectic playlist: “Red Hot Chili Peppers, Snoop Dogg, Eminem … we like a little bit of everything.”

And you know what? It shows. Their sound isn’t just genre-bending, it’s genre-smashing. Freakshow Cartel isn’t trying to please Spotify algorithms or chase TikTok trends. Their music is messy in the best way: raw, unfiltered, and refreshingly real. It explores themes like self-confidence, heartbreak and feeling like an outcast.

Listening to their EP took me back to when music made you feel something, not just scroll past it. When I asked if they’d ever consider narrowing their sound down to one genre, they paused. “Maybe someday?” they said.

But me? I had only three words for them: Don’t. Do. It.

Find them: @Freakshowcartel on all social media platforms.