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| Now that we’ve got your attention,we don’t mean that women can’t play instruments with the best of them.Rather, why aren’t women allowed to rock? Why does it seem to be sociallyunacceptable and unsuccessful commercially for women to be rockers? “Idon't believe that at all,” said Kari Tweiten, bassist/vocal ist for RoastBeast. “I believe women haven't been brought up in that atmosphere, haven’tbeen encouraged to rock. But I think that that's entirely wrong [that womencan’t rock]. There’s absolutely nothing behind that. It’s just some ofthe same oppression that comes about for women in any other way. Everygroup is oppressed in some way.” “I think women are made of rock,”said Steph Dickson of Tulip Sweet. “I think women are the rock on whichthe world has built its foundation.” Can women rock? By rock, we’re nottalking about Lilith Fair singer/songwriter types and we don't necessarilymean style of music. It’s more of an attitude and a fearlessness that embodies“rock.” It also means playing your instrument with a passion, not strummingand singing “Kumbaya.” Now, we’re not saying that people like Tori Amosand Sarah McLachlan (and all you Twin Cities’ singer/songwriters) aren’t decent performers in their own right, but we want to know why there aren’tmore bands like Babes in Toyland, Kittie, Nashville Pussy, The Blue Up?and the Kelly Deal 6000. Carla DeSantis, founder and editor of RockrgrlMagazine (found online at www.rockrgrl.com), had this to say, “When youthink about Sarah McLachlan, about Sarah’s world — and I like Sarah — butyou know, Garbage would be a heavy metal band compared to what Sarah does.[With Roc krgrl], I want to do something that’s inclusive. If you thinkabout it, the music world is really all about divide and conquer. It’slike, ‘we’re rap, so we’re off in our corner,’ or, ‘we’re queer-core, sowe’re off in our corner,’ there isn’t anything where the younger folkscan learn from the older folks, or vice-versa. The thing is, there’s somany cool types of music, and people are afraid. There’s so much fear,based on I don't know what — ig norance? Ignorance and fear seem to gohand in hand.” “I don't really like folk music,” said Missy Greer, formerlyof Lily Liver, “but fucking Dawn [Miller] or Ani DiFranco, or whateveryour name is…kick ass and make some money. Do what you want to do.” “Anyonewho’s really rocking right now,” said Dickson, “you’re not going to hearabout it because it’s not what the radio's playing and not what’s on MTV.The men and women both who are o n TV and the radio right now, none ofthem rock. You have to go other places to find that kind of stuff.” “Thewhole industry —live sound, record production, booking, management, everyaspect of the subculture —is totally underrepresented with women,” statedSharon Baker, guitarist/vocalist for Roast Beast. “Having more women involvedwith all aspects will make it easier for everyone.” “It’s similar to thewhole job thing for women,” added Tweiten . “Women used to be able to bea teacher, a nurse, or a housewife — and that was kind of their options.And it used to be with female musicians, that they could be a vocalist.There are a lot of hot female vocalists from every decade. It’s only morerecently that other roles have opened up. It’s like, O.K., I can do morethan sing, I can play.” “I think that men have had so much more time tobe in this field and develop more skills,” added Terrica Kleinknecht, drummer/vocalistfor Roast Beast. “I don't think women really got into it until the ’70sand ’80s and even then it was being a frontperson in a band. Not that there’sanything wrong with that, but you didn't really see people developing skillsin rock music. Probably because they never thought they could. I hear allthe time from women who say, ‘Oh you play drums. I wanted to play drumsbut my parents wouldn't let me.’ That wasn’t O. K. ‘I was a girl, theywanted me to play the flute.’ There just haven’t been enough women whowere told they could do it and there weren’t enough female role models.For me growing up, all my role models were male. And I think for most people,that’s kind of discouraging. Some people might think because women aren’tdoing it, that they can’t do it.” The Beauty Standard What about thedouble standard for looks in the music industry? Is it just not acceptablefor women rockers to get older? Or, worse yet, unattractive? Just ask Annand Nancy Wilson. Every article about Ann seems to focus on her weight.She has been quoted as saying that she can do an incredible job singingon stage and when she reads the reviews, they all say "why is she so fat?"It's disheartening to see the double standard in action. You can probablyname quite a few portly male musicians, even frontmen. Now thin k abouthow many popular acts there are with overweight women. Nancy also has talkedabout how uncomfortable she was with the record company's demand that shehad to carry the "sexy and beautiful" label. "Where’s the fat, ugly,stinky broads?" asked Baker. "I’ve always had a problem with that. Whereare the fat, ugly women? There’s no model for me. Whereas, bands like theScreaming Trees, boy punk rock bands like that, have these fat, ugly, stinkymotherfuckers." Even an event like Lililth Fair that is supposed toglorify and support women artists can get caught up in promoting the beautystandard. “What happened with Lilith Fair is that they're sponsored bylike, Loreal, the makeup company!” exclaimed Cindy Lawson, founder/singer/songwriter/guitaristfrom Whoops Kitty. "The whole Madison Avenue idea of, we have to let womenknow they don't look good the way they are, they have to spend all kindsof money and do this and that. It's probably no mistake that Tori Amosand Sheryl Crow are really beautiful women, you know? The Indigo Girlshave got a huge, huge cult following, but they've never been accepted onMTV and places like that." "Nowadays, everything is all about being soskinny that you almost don't exist -- that you're almost skeletal," saidDeSantis. "The thing is, we're living in a material world, as Madonna said, and now more than ever. People don't want to talk about the ERA, or anythinglike that. As long as people are judged by purely superficial means, we'regoing to be a purely superficial society." "There's so much emphasison what a woman looks like, from the time that they're a baby," said Baker."That's something that's engrained in this culture. I'd like to see a daywhen it doesn't matter, but I don't know, I'd have to live to be prettyold." "There will come a day very soon, in the next ten years," saidDickson, "where people are gonna get sick of all this pretty, polishedshit and they're going to say, 'please, bring in the ugliness, give meTulip Sweet, give me Ear Candy.'" “Women in Rock” Most of the women thatwe spoke with for this article agree that corporate rock has always beenindifferent in its treatment of women rockers. In a recent interview, JoanJett said, "I t hink that's probably always going to be the case, whenyou're talking about business. But if you're talking about 'Women In Rock,'no. Because there is no woman in rock out there [on national, commercialradio]. Name one. There's no rock! I mean, there's pop and folk, and stufflike that. But people -- and especially the press -- use the word rock,and the word women, very loosely. I mean, any woman playing music is allof a sudden a 'Woman In Roc k.' The word rock is used because it's excitingand it's a headline grabber. But it's not real, that's not what's reallygoing on. So you ask me if women in rock are being more accepted? No. Because...no."As an example of Jett's point, the Rolling Stone Women in Rock compilationCD contains songs by artists like Diana Ross, Joan Baez, Suzanne Vega,Jewel and En Vogue! While these women are all terrific performers in theirown right, to call them "rock" is a misnomer. "I think the mainstream isbullshit," said Dawn Miller of Ear Candy. "I hate it. I hold myself exemptfrom the mainstream. I'll never be part of that because I don't like it.I don't care about the mainstream. All the girls I know in this town whoare doing well in their music, or do capture the attention, or just inspireme all have this certain kind of attitude - sassy, crazy…" "not afraidto look ugly," interjected Dixon. "…not afraid of anything really," continuedMiller. "Not really fearless, but not caring what people think." "The thingis, when there's an article about 'Women In Rock,' there's five or sixof them, like they're a gaggle of geese or something," said DeSantis. "Theydon't get their own individual article, they get a paragraph or a mentionsomewhere. That's why I very seldom do an article that's 'Women In...'People say, 'You want to do a n article on Women In Audio?' And I'm like,nooo (laughs)." "When I was a kid, every time I would read about peoplethat were my role models, like Heart or whoever, there was always thisbig thing because they were 'Women In Rock'," continued DeSantis. "Theyweren't 'real' musicians, they were women musicians. I started readingmore and more things that were upsetting, and I stopped doing music forawhile. When I came back in, it was because I saw what they [the media]were doing to Courtney right after Kurt had died, and I thought that wasreally unconscionable. I really think it was horrible. Any time a womantakes control over her own career, the way Courtney has, the way Madonnahas, obviously they're not the puppets behind whatever guy. It's not likeSonny pulling the strings for Cher. That's extremely threatening to people.It's almost like, you better shut down the monster before it gets a lifeof its own." "It seems like in the past five or six years women getattention just by being women and I feel like that's been the case withthis band [Roast Beast]," said Baker. "We've gotten so much press withthis band and I've been in bands for 12 years and have gotten nothing.I think it's really kind of weird. Why are people paying attention now?Because all three of us happen to be women. And that's not what drew usto gether." Some believe that the tide is changing for women. CindyLawson explained, "I play guitar. When I lived out in New York, I playeddrums also. Actually, now I have a 16-year-old son, along with my two daughters.He's just always known that that's what mom does. My favorite thing thathe said was back when he was four or five. He was around The Clams, aroundus with guitars and everything all the time. And I asked him what he wantedto be wh en he grew up, if he wanted to be a policeman or a zookeeper,or whatever. And I said, do you want to be a guitar player? And he goes“(sigh) Mom, I’m not a girl!” So it's like, you grow up with what you know.I think that's the one thing that's really important is, if young girlsgrow up being exposed to the fact that they can do anything musically,then they'll just take it for granted that they can do it." The Next GenerationAre the next generation of females turning away from becoming musicians?When you see Korn or Kid Rock in concert, it sure seems like the tide hascome full circle. The young women in the audience look suspiciously like80s groupies. Rock bands are once again exhorting women to remove theirshirts and, the sad thing is, women are actually complying -- if you cancall them women, considering most of the girls at these concerts are 12to 16-year-olds. Has t he surge in women musicians caused a backlash againstwomen? Why is it that young girls' goals have changed from "I'm going toform a band like Korn" to "I'm going to sleep with the members of Korn?"With the exception of Kittie and The Donnas, there are very few young femalehard core/punk bands attracting national attention. DeSantis believes,"they don't know the info is out there. The thing is, most everything isin the hands of very few. Take a look at the mergers of Time-Warner andAOL, whatever, so much is in the hands of so few. And it's not gettingany better. I think girls are rocking. Just because the media is not consideringit a trend this week, doesn't mean that it's not happening. Ani Difrancotold me, 'Just because it's not on the radio, doesn't mean it's not outthere. You have to work a little harder to find cool stuff.' They haveto do some research on their ow n. They have to realize that there's notjust four cool bands in the world. That there's not just two designers,and three TV stations. They have to have the initiative. At a certain age,everybody's into what's cool, or what's the in-thing. Those trends comeand go faster than you can say, Spice Girls!" "When you're thirteen, youdon't know who the hell you are," said Dickson. "Especially when you'rea girl and they're screwing with your head abo ut discovering your sexuality.I don't think girls are suddenly just going to be groupies and not makingstuff. Sometimes it takes girls a little while to get past that pubertypoint where they have to grow up all over again, once they realize it wasall just bunk." Advice for Young Girls Who Want To Rock “As for advice-- read Rockrgrl, first of all!” said DeSantis. “I’m not saying that tobe self-serving, I’m saying it because it’s totally true. Rockrgrl is whatI wish I’d had to read when I was that age. I didn't really have anythingthat made me feel good about being a musician. Everything made me feelbad about being a musician. Going into a music store and not being helpedmade me feel bad. Guitar teachers who weren’t very encouraging made mefeel bad. I really didn't feel like I was getting much support. I reallywould encourage girls who want to play music to read Rockrgr l. I get lettersall the time from girls who say, 'I just read your magazine for the firsttime, and I went out and played my guitar for two hours.' And that's whatit's all about for me. I don't want to see this generation of girls becomeunsung heroes." "Unfortunately, with the media, everything's being boughtby what -- Time-Warner/AOL? (laughs) -- it's getting to be just one bigcompany now, and you're going to get spoon-fed the same things," said Lawson."The important thing for kids is to see is that there's lots of differentoptions out there, and you can be anything. What my son said way back thenkind of proves it -- it's what you know. As for female guitar players,I mean, Bonnie Raitt is an exceptional guitar player, male or female, andthere's female studio musicians that will blow your head right off. Justbecause they're not out there in popular culture doesn't mean they're notthere, you know? (Loud, exasperated sigh.) It just shows people's ignorance,when they make a blanket statement like, there's no female guitarists thatcan rock." "[Girls] can make it, with the proper encouragement from thepeople around her, you know?" continued Lawson. "As long as we just takecare of our kids, and let them know that their feelings are valued, andit’s not wrong or bad to be yourself, you know? I'm just really disap pointedthat there aren't more female 'rockers.' I watch VH-1 just to catch theold clips of the Runaways, like really cool stuff. Joan Jett is really,really, cool, and she's hung in there forever. I wish I could say thatI've seen more [like her] lately." "I encourage them not to sit aroundtheir boyfriend's practice spaces and watch them practice," said Miller."Waste all this energy for a dude, like going to his gigs and stuff. Pickit up and do it if you like it." Dickson added, "become what you wish tolove. Everyone should do what they want and not think of themselves asa gender or a human or an alien or an American or a whatever, just thinkand then act how you want. Otherwise you'll just be a big copycat.” “Ido think it’s getting much better though," said Tweiten. "I remember sixyears ago, when I was playing in a band with all guys. Out of all fourbands that we playe d with in a night, it wasn't unlikely that most nightsI'd be the only woman on stage. And now, it's pretty unlikely if thereisn't at least one other girl, often one in each band. It's unusual thatit's all guys in every single band. So at least that's encouraging." BrightSpots DeSantis plans to continue to do her part to promote women in music.“I’m doing a Rockrgrl Music Conference in Seattle in November, with LouisMeyers, who founded SXSW, a nd women are going to run the show —completely.All the panelists are going to be women, we’re going to have a varietyof different kinds of music, but every act has to have at least one femalein the band. We’re gonna do a trade show, where the chicks are gonna playthe guitars. It’s going to be more like summer camp, and they’ll feel goodrather than fried. Ronnie Spector is going to be here, Meredith Brooksis going to keynote. We’re bringing i n lots of really great, cool people.”If you look at the Twin Cities as a microcosm of the United States, thepicture looks very encouraging. There are a large number of women herewho are managing to keep the faith and continue to rock despite the odds.In fact, with just the interviews we did for this story, we could havedone three cover stories. It was impossible to talk to everyone recommendedfor this article, so we felt compelled to include additional artists thatdeserve a mention in any article on women who rock — Katastrophy Wife,Interstate Judy, Selby Tigers, The Green Pyramids, Zuzu’s Petals, OuijaRadio, Brits Across America, Busiest Bankruptcy Lawyers in Minneapolis,Touchy Feely, The Short Fuses, and Thee Kiss and Tells. As for youngerartists, there’s always Shannon Curfman. As DeSantis says, “somebody fromMinneapolis that I’m really impressed with is Shannon Cu rfman. How canwhite 14-year-old girls play the blues? I think of Shannon as more of aBonnie Raitt than a Blind Lemon Jefferson, you know? She’s a baby still,but there’s talent there for only playing for four years. If she keepsup what she’s doing, she’s going to be monstrous.” If you haven’t seenthese bands, make the time to check out some amazing rockers (who justhappen to be women). Angry that your band is not on the list? Do more promotion and send us your info. We hope to be able to do a follow up article ina few months about all the new upcoming rocker girls. |
