SHREYA BOSE
Girls grabbing the console
Women in EDM
There’ s plenty of material discussing how women have it harder within the light-and-shadow domes of EDM. For the longest time, it was hard to come by a female DJ, and while we might be seeing a welcome change in terms of girls handling the turntable, it is still not the norm. Latent misogyny is still annoyingly prevalent, as testified to by many of the most established women in the scene. In July, The Chicago Tribune ran an article entitled“ EDM is a big, lucrative world, but not for women DJs” which mentioned“ only 9 percent of music on EDM labels is produced by females”. This statistical disparity could be attributed to a lower level of interest among women when it comes to gearing up for electronic, but it’ s a theory that comes with far too many holes.
Women have been spinning in the scene for a long time. Delia Derbyshire( 1937 – 2001) was one of the greatest synthesisers of her time, and adapted a piece by Ron Grainer into the theme music for Doctor Who. Yes, THAT Doctor Who. Annie Nightingale, the first presenter on BBC Radio 1 DJs regularly and is called the“ Queen of Breaks” because of her role in bringing breakbeats to the masses through her radio career. DJ Storm is the first lady of the British drum and bass label Metalheadz, which in 1996 the first volume of the Platinum Breakz series of compilations which went on to be constructed, by both critics and listeners alike, as generating a sound unique to a young, multiracial Britain.
On the other hand, women still have to deal with things akin to what female singer, songwriter and producer Grimes said once,“ I don’ t think there are few female producers because women aren’ t interested. It’ s difficult for women to get in. It’ s a pretty hostile environment.” Or what Australian female duo NERVO mentioned in an article on FLAVORWIRE:“ DJing is definitely male dominated. I think in a way it works for us, but sometimes it works against us. I don’ t think our generation will see the day when there will be more female DJs than male DJs“. Pakistani-American duo Krewella told a Magazine:“ The electronic music industry can be daunting for women.” And the following happened to Annie Mac who won the Best Female award at the 2009 Drum & Bass Awards and whose compilation series has included dance music artists that ended up being hugely influential:“ I did an interview for a reputable dance music magazine in which the journalist asked me what it was like to be a mum and a DJ. Then he asked me what it was like to be pregnant and a DJ. Then he asked me about an outfit I wore to the Brits and asked me how I DJ in a dress and heels? Finally he asked me for two music recommendations for 2015. I recommended a female artist and a female DJ, so he asked was this me doing the‘ supporting women’ thing? As far as I know‘ DJ’ is a genderless word. Yet I’ ve been asked questions like this in every interview I’ ve ever done.”( as told by Annie Mac to FLAVORWIRE). India’ s first female DJ told www. radioandmusic. com in 2012:“ Even after ten years of DJing, a male DJ ' s mistake is always overlooked but if a female DJ makes the same mistake, people talk. They are waiting for you to make a mistake. Lots of people told me to just flash my smile, body and everybody would look at it and not bother about your music. So it took a long time to make my mark and tell people that I am here to stay.” Given that these are women who are widely popular and earned numerous accolades, one has to stretch the imagination to wonder what it is that female amateurs and novices go through.
The causes behind this phenomenon aren’ t really all that different from the cause behind
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