WOMEN ARE PLAYING LOUD, WHY ARE THEY STILL NOT BEING HEARD?
Lucia and The Best Boys. Photographed by Cameron Brisbane
By Beth McLaughlin
Please note: Throughout this blog when referring to women/females I mean anybody who identifies as one.
For the past few years Scotland has developed a thriving music scene which is responsible for pumping out a huge number of bands and solo artists, creating a talent hub and a real sense of community.
In terms of Scottish women, there are a bunch of people bursting on the scene that are worth keeping an eye on (some of which can be seen in a previous blog post here). Moreover, there are plenty established bands and solo artists such as, Lucia and The Best Boys, Spyres, Magpie Blue, Honeyblood, Bdy Prts, Jill Lorean, Dead Pony, Martha Ffion, Lizzy Reid, Carla Easton, Alex Amor and Emme Woods, who – if they aren’t already – should be on all your playlists. However, it is hard not to notice a distinct lack of female musicians within the scene, particularly in more traditionally male-coded genres.
A UK radio survey found some pretty disgraceful truths: Absolute Radio, Kerrang! and Radio X had ‘No female acts among their top 20 most played songs by British artists. British women accounted for 15% of the top 20 on Kiss FM, 5% on Kiss Fresh, and a sector high of 30% on Bauer’s Magic FM.’ It is hard to see those painful numbers in general, but how especially low – or non-existent - they are in the more rock orientated stations.
In an article written for the MoPOP Pop Conference in 2018 Jes Skolnik asserts that, ‘it is not that we (women) were largely prevented from making music, but that our contributions in this space were devalued.’ This claim can be easily backed up without looking too hard, taking a glance at Scotland’s new answer to T in the Park – TRNSMT. In 2019, out of the 23 acts on the mainstage, only 3 were female performers. The director of the festival put this down to not enough women ‘picking up guitars, forming bands, playing in bands.’ If ever there were a time to use the eye-roll emoji it would be now. Considering other festivals such as Primavera managed a 50/50 gender split on their line-up, and you and I both know there are plenty of female musicians, those kinds of excuses just don’t stand up.
The Van T’s. Photographed by Cameron Brisbane
One Scottish band, The Van T’s, have been on the scene for the past few years, confirming that there are in fact women playing rock n’ roll, who knew?! The Glasgow based band are Hannah, Chloe, Joanne, and Shaun, they produce a mesmerising blend of alternative new wave punk rock and pop, accompanied by sensational guitar riffs, strong sounding drums, and harmonious surf-rock-esque vocals that are all brought together by a relentlessly driven bass.
You will notice that paragraph started with the names of three (3!) women, somehow still a rare sight in the music industry of 2020. The genre and general scene that the Van T’s are a part of is significantly more male orientated than the space in more mainstream pop, but what does that mean for them? With distortion fully applied and a powerful energetic kick behind the vocals, are bands like the Van T’s participating in a political act simply by existing and doing their thing? They shouldn’t have to be, but perhaps they are.
There have been a number of other people who have noticed the disheartening trends and are now doing some major things to help out the fight to get more female voices heard out there. ‘Scottish Women Inventing Music’ was an alliance created in 2019 with the goal of creating a ‘level playing field for women’. ‘Creative Scotland’ is a government funded source which helps distribute funds to those in the arts who need it! ‘Girls Rock’ is a great initiative for younger kids aged 8-16, helping out the younger generation of girls and non-binary kids create ‘confidence, creativity, and noise’. The Delicate Rebellion came into print in 2017 promoting and challenging the perception of women in the media, alongside featuring local artists, they also have an amazing collective which hosts events, workshops, and general helping hands to those creatives that need it.
With the help of such organisations, an easier path is being paved for women and younger kids who are interested in a role in the music industry, and support is available for those who are already involved. This combination should hopefully foster and produce generations of women who rock – as we are seeing now! In a scene so bursting with community spirit, it shouldn’t be difficult to ensure that women are heard, and made to feel comfortable - even in the likes of Scotland’s grimy but groovy spaces, to which we have an abundance - because women want to enjoy messy, moshy rock too.