‘People in the scene would sometimes be mean to us. They’d forget we were teenagers’: Daphne and Celeste look back

The 00s pop pair on their enduring sisterhood, an embarrassing encounter with Brian Eno, and somehow ending up on a tour of the UK’s Asda supermarkets

New Yorkers Celeste Cruz and Karen “Daphne” DiConcetto auditioned to become a pop duo in 1998. Their career was short-lived but memorable – releasing Ooh Stick You, U.G.L.Y. and a cover version of Alice Cooper’s School’s Out!; they were also bottled off stage at the 2000 Reading festival. After getting dropped in 2001, Celeste pursued a career in acting, and Karen in screenwriting. They reunited in 2015, with the album Daphne & Celeste Save the World following in 2018. Karen lives in Brooklyn, and Celeste in New Jersey. They perform at the Mighty Hoopla festival in London on 31 May.