"I'm not a great self publicist but I will try to give you an idea about my little journey in sound." Perhaps you may or may not know of Feminatronic, a website that is "about celebrating and highlighting the musical creativity of electronic artists who just happen to identify as female". A large yet very simple repository of music, artists showcases, DJ mixes and related news focussing on female talent and voices.
What is Feminatronic?
In a nutshell, Feminatronic is about celebrating and highlighting the musical creativity of electronic artists who just happen to identify as female. It includes women from all genres of electronic music making, producers, engineers, sound artists, writers, bloggers, DJs, Organisations and websites, all of whom combine to make electronic music interesting and evolving, building upon great historical foundations. It is a personal voyage of discovery and as such, is an on-going evolving site that is perennially under construction, which is a good thing.
Generating awareness is a difficult thing. What is your take on it?
I see Feminatronic as a metaphorical megaphone or the ripple effect. Following on from visibility there have been several ways to get the word out. Obviously reposting, SoundCloud spotlight, Bandcamp releases, social media for all its faults can be very useful. Many thanks also go to the reviewers, writers, bloggers, labels and websites who allow me to reblog their articles on my and on other platforms. In essence, you are not supporting me personally but the many artists who deserve to have greater visibility. That I have seen increasingly are groups / organisations who are proactively and physically creating spaces for women to either get a chance to create music for compilations via call outs or learning about production techniques, providing training or opportunities to perform, social support and community building.
Your view on gender imbalance?
There is so much I could say about this as it needs a massive change in attitudes, language, unconscious and subconscious prejudices and there seems a long way off but in simple terms, this for me is what I hope for - to ultimately just have an equal chance or opportunity no matter what your gender, ability, age, race, etc.
Recently, someone asked me what I hoped for in the future and I replied for there not to be a need for Feminatronic, my tiny little blog. I remember what Nadia Boulanger said “ To study music, we must learn the rules. To create music, we must break them.”
What is Feminatronic?
In a nutshell, Feminatronic is about celebrating and highlighting the musical creativity of electronic artists who just happen to identify as female. It includes women from all genres of electronic music making, producers, engineers, sound artists, writers, bloggers, DJs, Organisations and websites, all of whom combine to make electronic music interesting and evolving, building upon great historical foundations. It is a personal voyage of discovery and as such, is an on-going evolving site that is perennially under construction, which is a good thing.
The website is also an agency?
I am not a PR Agency and it is NOT a business. I am a tiny cog in a larger community of sites and organisations who aim to increase the visibility of artists. It is a personal voyage of discovery and as such, is an on-going evolving site that is perennially under construction, which is a good thing. Recently I’ve been able to get to a couple of gigs and shows highlighting female identifying electronic artists and quite often I’ve been questioned as to what Feminatronic is. “What is it?” “Is it a blog?” “Is it PR?” “What’s the problem?” “There are loads of female identifying artists out there doing perfectly well, thank you.”I see Feminatronic as a metaphorical megaphone or the ripple effect. Following on from visibility there have been several ways to get the word out. Obviously reposting, SoundCloud spotlight, Bandcamp releases, social media for all its faults can be very useful. Many thanks also go to the reviewers, writers, bloggers, labels and websites who allow me to reblog their articles on my and on other platforms. In essence, you are not supporting me personally but the many artists who deserve to have greater visibility. That I have seen increasingly are groups / organisations who are proactively and physically creating spaces for women to either get a chance to create music for compilations via call outs or learning about production techniques, providing training or opportunities to perform, social support and community building.
There is so much I could say about this as it needs a massive change in attitudes, language, unconscious and subconscious prejudices and there seems a long way off but in simple terms, this for me is what I hope for - to ultimately just have an equal chance or opportunity no matter what your gender, ability, age, race, etc.
Recently, someone asked me what I hoped for in the future and I replied for there not to be a need for Feminatronic, my tiny little blog. I remember what Nadia Boulanger said “ To study music, we must learn the rules. To create music, we must break them.”
Feminatronic is also contributing her views and suggestions to Fembot5. Launched in 2017, Fembot5 is an empowerment project for female talent emerging out India in the field of music. A result of an international coalition of female producers, DJs, bloggers, activists and professionals currently engaged in creating awareness, collecting information and discussing gender bias and inequality in India, context to music. More about Feminatronic on Fembot5 soon ...
