jessie and the toy boys

Um, did we mention we love her style?

If the colder weather and cloudy skies have got you down, we’ve got some supernova sunshine for you in the form of Jessie and the Toy Boys—your new must-know band. Full disclosure? The “band” is just Jessie Malakouti and three male mannequins (who um, don’t contribute much but their looks), but we like their looks, so yeah. They count.

If you’re a CW junkie like we are, you might have already heard a bit of Jessie and the Toy Boys super-infectious dance song “We Own The Night” in previews for The Vampire Diaries, Gossip Girl and all your other favorites—but it’s seriously worth listening to the whole thing. Getting ready for a night with the girls? There’s no better song to get ready and twirl in front of the mirror to.

Jessie and I chatted the other day about the new Jessie and the Toy Boys album (we can’t wait for its January release!) and her tour with Nikki Minaj—she’s awesome and I thought I’d share:

gURL: Obviously you love music—who are your biggest influnces?

Jessie: I love Madonna. She really is the queen of pop, and I love how she’s evolved over the years. Also, Dale Bozzio from Missing Persons. She had wicked cool style and set a ton of trends. Basically, I love girl singers from the ’80s. Blondie, Debbie Harry, Cyndi Lauper—they’re all so great and such an influence on Jessie and the Toy Boys.

gURL: You just got off tour with Nikki Minaj. What’s she really like?

Jessie: She’s really a genius, she’s very very smart. You might not know that about her. The other thing is that she’s the sweetest most wonderful person. Really, that gushy, super-sweet side of her that everybody saw on Ellen when she met the little girls who sang “Super Bass” on YouTube? That’s the real Nikki.

gURL: Some of your songs, like Nikki’s, are pretty explicit. Where do you stand on being a role model?

Life must be pretty rough when your band mates are a bunch of dummies.

Jessie: I think I do have a responsibility to be a role model to girls in a way, which is why I’ll be releasing clean versions of all of my songs when the album comes out, but I also think part of being a role model is showing girls that you don’t have to censor who you are or be someone else just because the world would prefer it that way. So I’m not going to censor myself or not say something that’s on my mind in my songs. You can’t be afraid of who you are.

gURL: What can we expect to hear when your album comes out in January?

Jessie: The album is called This Is How Rumors Start and it’s going to be amazing. I’m working on it right now, just finishing it up every day. There are lots of great songs with juicy stories behind them. You’re really going to love it. And I’m really excited about the short films I made to go along with the songs. It’s a five part series that you’re going to be able to watch online, and they kind of tell the stories of the songs in a deeper way. I’m really proud of them and can’t wait for you to see them.

Do you already love Jessie and the Toy Boys? Tell us in the comments!
jessie and the toy boys