written by suzie frith
As a child, I remember being in the back seat of the car, music vibrating through. All the way up to my mid-teens, I loved music as much as the next person, but never realised that most of the bands I heard had a male voice. You could ask in response to this; ‘what’s the big deal?’ Well, it’s not that there aren’t female artists - the world is full of them. Female singers have dominated the last 50 years of music. The list goes on through Adele, Rhianna and Lady Gaga, to Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, and Madonna. Beyoncé is an argument for female empowerment in the music industry alone. But I’m talking about women who play music. There are limited number of musicians in bands that happen to be women. We have a panoply of successful male bands from the last 50 years; The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Arctic Monkeys, Oasis, The Smiths etc. And it is clear that there is lack of all-female bands, women in male bands, as lead singers or guitarists or drummers. In the music industry, women and men are marketed completely differently. Looking at album covers, you’ll see Britney or Shakira posing in some provocative outfit, while Noel Gallagher’s is pissed off, or Paul McCartney is strumming the guitar. This never occurred to me until I discovered my first all-female band. I had heard of the odd one from the 80s; The Bangles, Heart. But, I’d never been truly intrigued. They never quite got the same appreciation or recognition as their male counterparts.
So, when I became exposed to Haim, I had a revelation. It was 2013, and I was at a day festival in London, the main event was Mumford and Sons. I didn’t care for any of the bands on the line up, and I was only mildly bothered about Mumford. I just wanted to go to huge concert in the sun.
Haim came on second – they were low on line ups back then. From the first instance, there was something so unbelievably different about them. They didn’t echo the same ‘ick factor’ that put me off a lot of female singers at the time. They were just cool. Whenever I watched someone like Katy Perry on stage, it would almost make me cringe, because you realise that she is more of a brand and less of a musician. Female artists seemed over produced, auto tuned, sex images. And that’s not me slating female artists, I also felt the same way about Justin Bieber and similar 'heartthrob' male artists. Subconsciously, I steered more towards bands, most of which happened to be male.
Haim changed this for me. Instantly, I was obsessed, and I completely understood their image; extremely talented musicians. It didn’t matter what gender they were because their songs were so good, but it was also nice to see women up on stage playing just the like the men do. Ever since then, I have become more interested in discovering bands where all the members happen to be female. Another favourite band of mine is First Aid Kit; two Swedish sisters who play soulful country music with gorgeous harmonies and Americana vibes.
All it really takes is a change to make you realise there was a lack of something. There are a select few all female bands who play instruments, but the ones who are more well-known are good! So maybe, for now, quality is better than quantity.
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