Hot Grrrl Shit

When I was invited to be in a music video for NYC-based indie band Stolen Clementines, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. My resume reflects next to no music video experience, and even though I knew Magali (one-half of Stolen Clementines), and we shared several mutual friends, I was surprised she had deemed me cool enough to be a part of her music video for their single boys r opps.. Especially not a video whose concept revolved around a house party of cool girls doing, in their words, not mine, ‘fuckshit’. 

But as soon as I entered Magali’s apartment and offered a beer, it became clear to me that the coolness surrounding Stolen Clementines isn’t purely aesthetic; it’s genuine. Magali’s apartment is stuffed with childhood photos, books, instruments, and political memorabilia. Tammi (the other half of Stolen Clementines) cooks Hainanese chicken, rice, and veggies in Magali’s kitchen for the guests. She maneuvered about the kitchen with the comfort only a best friend can have in someone else’s kitchen. 

Their newest single, boys r opps, captures all of the most comforting and infuriating parts of Magali and Tammi’s bond. Between the songs, bedroom pop production and cheeky lyrics, boys r opps sounds, and feels like sitting in your friend’s room, listening to music and shit-talking boys. 

Unsurprisingly, moments like that built the foundation of Magali and Tammis’ friendship.

The duo first crossed paths in such a kismet, Pinay way that, if it had been written, would be considered cliche. They both attended a 2023 Beabadoobee concert at Brooklyn Steel. While they never said anything to each other at the show, they both took BeReal’s with Bea after the show, and later realized they were in the background of each other’s photos. 

”We really started being friends this past November,” Magali recalls being reconnected with Tammi through a mutual friend, “we basically spent the whole night bonding over how we both needed to break up with our chopped hoe boyfriends.” Tammi makes a face and laughs from the kitchen at the mention of chopped hoes and boyfriends. 

Both coming from Filipino families, Magali and Tammi grew up surrounded by music. Magali was raised in Brooklyn, with a father who has his own indie rock band, +/- (Plus/Minus). Tammi took up the violin at age 8, with ambitions of joining a professional orchestra. They shared pressure from their families to pursue music, only to discover a love for music on their own.

“I felt pressure from [my dad], but I had access,” Magali said. She only picked up the drums on a whim, after experimenting with a drum kit originally meant for her younger siblings. 

Along with similar backgrounds in music, the girls also share music influences, from Elliot Smith to Beabadoobee to Paramore. 

Almost instantly, the two became inseparable and realized they were meant to make music together. “This brought us together, like, really, really fast. I think, in a way, because we started getting to know each other more, and realized how similar we are and how much we connect on every single level, and then it became more than the music,” Magali said.

Tammi pointed out that creatively, they aren’t always on the same page, “I feel like becoming friends with someone and then engaging in a project like this… you get to know someone on more of an intimate level, like, how are we gonna work out disputes? What are we gonna do when we disagree?” Though they don’t disagree often, they’ve learned not to take constructive criticism personally. 

For boys r opps, Tammi took the lead creatively, “I wrote that song on my own, in like February, like the day before Valentines, and that was kind of just me shooting off the head, like, oh my god, this guy just fucked me over, I hate you.” 

When fleshing out the song, Magali and Tammi both contributed personal experiences with lame guys to the lyrics, and you can tell. 

“Even though some of the verses are specific to certain people, I think that either way, it connects on the basis of what it made us feel like,” Magali continued, “It was like, this guy’s being a fucking idiot. So we connect in that way.”

The song’s lyrics also don’t shy away from Magali and Tammi’s political convictions. Both have a background in leftist student and union organizing, and a long history of vocal anti-capitalism and anti-zionism. In the second verse, they sing, “maybe I’ll meet someone that’s sweet in leftist spaces/at least then I’ll know his politics are okay/he’ll love liberation as much as I want change.”

“We wanted to be very apparent [about] what our political stances are. We don’t want to be the band that’s silent about those things because of exposure,” Magali said. 

Their politics don’t only bleed into their music, they extend to the ethos around the band. When guests asked if they could bum cigarettes off of Tammi and Magali, they shared their stash of foreign cigarettes openly, joking that they have to, because they’re communists. 

As call time for the shoot approached, a diverse crowd of cool New York kids filtered into the apartment. Magali and Tammi frenzied between getting ready, welcoming friends, and offering them Costco-sized drinks and snacks. 

While drinks flowed and music played, everyone slipped into a state of comfort. If not for the cameras and Magali and Tammi’s focus on getting the shots they need, you would never know it wasn’t a regular house party. True to the theme of the song, before shooting even started, a boy found himself overserved and passed out on the couch. Stolen Clementines handled the party faux pas professionally and gracefully, like cool girls do. 

The video, directed by Alvin Nuñez is out now. You can listen to the song on Spotify, and follow that band on Instagram.