By María José Camargo @MARIAVFORVOLUME Photos by Diego Vega
March is to women in this field what Christmas is to a carol choir. That's how my conversation begins when I'm asked to write about gender and independent music around this time of year. I've been dedicated to music for 20 years, and always against the grain of what trends dictate. That makes me doubly marginal, and triply independent, because it seems no one knows any rock bands with women (even though there are plenty). Besides, rock has thankfully become a niche thing again, and therefore deliciously alternative and independent. I feel like I'm swearing every time I say that word to the marketing person: "rock." We don't have to please anyone, and no one's going to dictate market trends to us. We don't have to follow the latest trends, and we can basically do whatever we want. Be as extreme and experimental as we want. Talk about anything. Be politically incorrect, turn up the distortion as much as necessary, raise your voice and shake your ass or head however you like.
I begin by saying this to explain where I stand, having played in funk, jazz, metal, punk, electronic, rock bands and even in the school orchestra, but above all being a silent witness (or not so silent) to the role of women in independent music and culture in Colombia. From Danny Dodge, Polikarpa y sus viciosas, IRA, Pepa Fresa, Aterciopelados, Ají Baboso to Las Yumbeñas, Poker, Las Pinkers and Ssstallone. Being a woman and making independent music (truly independent), It means opening the right wounds, talking about what nobody wants to talk about, questioning stereotypes, to make fun of oneself, to scratch the surface and allow oneself to be primitive in the lyrics, tone and intention of the voice.
However, since it's Women's Month, and it's Christmas for my carol choir (this is not to diminish carol choirs or trivialize the struggle of women), It is also the right time and place to talk about the other side of being a woman and an independent musician, This means that to the difficult situation of making the music we make, which is alien to current trends, we must add the constant need to reaffirm ourselves.
Let me explain: You have to be a composer, writer, performer, manager, designer, engineer, producer, roadie, booker, public relations specialist, community manager, and also look fabulous. She must be gorgeous, thin, have followers, never age, hopefully have a YouTube channel, and also a baseball bat in her hand when she's fine-tuning the EQ on her instrument, and someone decides what's best for her and changes everything. She must be hearing someone tell her (and it happened to me when I was doing guttural vocals in a metal band) “She plays well for a woman”, “The girl needs to be sorted out”… The girl! Or “too many clothes,” or putting up with the businessman, after a few too many drinks, deciding he can say or do inappropriate things because he assumes that “"That's included" as a little toy in the McDonald's Happy Meal. This happens a lot to female DJs, and that's why they created a separate collective.
Over time, Being a woman and an independent musician means studying the history of our involvement in alternative culture, And to realize that we arrived late to this journey. That being a singer was a frowned-upon, poorly paid, and marginalized profession until the 1970s. That women didn't enter the business world (and the music business) until the end of the last century., and that we still need to educate ourselves as women in entrepreneurship, negotiation, and above all in correcting all that fear we have of the stage, to aging, to investing, to horoscopes, to being called bitches, ugly, or fat, and above all, to confidence in our value proposition. We must recite to ourselves like a mantra that the 53% of music consumption decisions (concert tickets, festivals, t-shirts, stickers, and whatever else comes to mind) We women make them, And we're hungry for new forms of representation. We want more real stories!
On the other hand, being an independent musician, now more than ever, It is understanding the true notion of sisterhood, It's not about being friends and playing the exact same genre, and awkwardly holding hands while reciting the same lines. It's about generating actions for change. Look at Spotify and Deezer to see what percentage of music made by women we are consuming. Realizing what percentage of participation women have in festivals, and how many women top those lists in the lineups, And invite our friends to do the same. Support events and festivals with strong female representation, and create them if they don't exist. Forge strategic alliances, talk about everything we want to change and what we want to bring back. Connecting, informing, healing, sounding good, supporting each other, recommending our colleagues and above all making good songs and setting stages on fire with our talent. If we don't do it now (and I'm not just talking about March), no one is going to do it for us. It's now or never. If the world isn't ready for us, we're going to set the world on fire. Let it all burn!
