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OK, so normally I'm a bit wary of projects that use the phrase "women in music", even when they're (mostly) championing those women. This is because ideally I don't think that separation should exist, and when we talk about men who are in music we don't feel the need to highlight their gender. I don't think I've ever read an interview with a male musician where he's asked, "What's it like to be a man in music?" yet I'm asked that in every interview these days. Obviously I know why - women are in the minority in the industry and that sucks - and of course the more women producing, engineering and making music, the better. I guess I just wish it was already an accepted fact that some people working in music are men, and some are women. Also, I'm so uncomfortable about anything that excludes men from the conversation, as they're just as important as women when it comes to things changing.
THAT SAID, I wrote a piece for 'The Girls Are' new print magazine recently because I read their online mag all the time, I like writing, and also because they said I could write about whomever I wanted. An icon from the 90's perhaps? They knew how to get me. I picked Shirley Manson, one of my teen idols.
'The Girls Are' is first and foremost a great web mag about music, and it covers musicians of both genders, but it does also stick its hand up to say "Hey - covering the women doing this is really important to us." Annette Barlow, editor of TGA puts it really well: "We're excited to offer an alternative perspective...Historically, music magazines have been skewed from and for a male perspective. But that’s not reflective of their potential audience. I'm tired of finding music magazines in the 'men's interest' section”.
The new print magazine is gorgeous and features Warpaint on its cover and Kim Gordon inside You can get it here. In the meantime, click here to read my column. (Unless you're a superhero and can read the very small version below, in which case why are you on the internet?? GO AND SAVE SOMEONE/KISS YOUR CRUSH UPSIDE DOWN IN THE RAIN.)
