MUSIC INTERVIEW: VINYL VIXENS

Article by Clemmie Wetherall

It’s the year 2016 in one of the ‘luckiest’ countries in the world but somehow or other gender equity, parity, equality, call it what you will, still isn’t business as usual in many areas of life, including the arts. Just this past week Music Victoria has announced their first gender diversity policy aiming for at least 40% women* and 40% men* across all of their activities to address a gender gap that just doesn’t ever seem to shrink.

For fans of electronic music it sometimes seems as though things are even more dire in regards to gender diversity than in mainstream or indie rock/pop. Only a couple of weeks ago DJ Mag released their 25 Years – 25 Pioneers anniversary edition – and no – there aren’t any women in that top 25 – in fact DJ Mag challenges you to name a woman deserving of a spot and let them know who it is.

But while we might expect as much from DJ Mag, whose ‘Top DJ Anything‘ lists have been a bit on the nose in regards to music diversity and gender diversity for many years – the truth is that across the western world it is not uncommon to go weeks without seeing a woman identifying DJ or Producer on the bill. This might be understandable on a night with only four people playing – but on line-ups with more than 20 people playing and not a single one of them feels like a lady – it starts to feel a little bit like salt in the wound – especially now that social networks such as Facebook and Soundcloud make it really easy to discover the many women out there who are DJing and producing music across every genre.

Enter Vinyl Vixens – a funked up house of feministas – who are launching their first two free parties this weekend at Loop Bar and Howler. While only in existence for a few short months they have already attracted an impressive wealth of talent across all areas of electronic music – from Jungle to Techno, Disco to Psytrance, House and everything in between. They also boast an impressive amount of experience with many of these women having broken their first needle on the decks decades ago (possibly before you were born).

Artists currently involved include some of Melbourne’s best DJs such as DJ Kiti, Volta, Sunshine, Sophia Sin, MaloU, Sundelin, SK, Ayna, C:1, Chiara Kickdrum, Bec Grenfell, Sorceress, Dayle, Freya, Mish’chief & Artemis to name just a few.

Anna Pilkington (DJ Wax Fox) founder of Vinyl Vixens says the idea is not a new one, but she and co-founder Co-founder Gabrielle Nolan (Miss Gabrielle) hope for it to become more than just a party.

“The idea of having a party that is predominately women DJs isn’t a new one – there are groups around the world doing that and also there have been lots of nights like that in Melbourne – but Vinyl Vixens is not just about the party itself – it’s also about building a community where women can network and support other women who are starting out – and also of course, it’s really just about a love of music and dancing.”

“The idea came about on New Years Day when me and my friends were sitting around listening to all the girls Djing, we thought how good would it be if we could build that into a community.”

With more than 20 years in the scene did you think that there would still be a need for a group like this in 2016?

“To be clear, we’re not about excluding people, but we are turning the tables a little bit so instead of having one or two female DJs on the line-up – maybe we’ll have one or two men and then eventually, hopefully we’ll get to a point where 50/50 is more common across the scene.”

“In electronic music, as with everything, if someone is passionate enough and driven enough, they will get where they want to go – but, if you look at line-ups they are very male dominated still and I could see there was a need for that to be addressed. To be clear, we’re not about excluding people, but we are turning the tables a little bit so instead of having one or two female DJs on the line-up – maybe we’ll have one or two men and then eventually, hopefully we’ll get to a point where 50/50 is more common across the scene.”

“Mostly though, I really just want to provide an avenue for female DJs to have that moment, that first experience of playing to a crowd and feeling that vibe of getting people moving.”

In just over two months Vinyl Vixens has seen over 30 women join the collective, including some of the most experienced and acclaimed DJs in Melbourne, were you surprised at the response?

“I’ve been really pleasantly surprised – we’ve had an overwhelmingly positive responsive and it feels like there was a bit of a hole there that is now being filled with really passionate DJs – people keep contacting me all the time.”

“Not in a million years would I have thought it would have grown so fast and enthusiastically – so we’re really hoping the night will work out and we’ll take it from there.”

Any ideas about what’s next?

“After the launch this weekend we’ll see what that brings. We’ve had discussions about mentoring programs, networking and skill-sharing – but we’re a collective so the idea is that everyone gets involved in that discussion and brings suggestions to the group. We also want to help people with their own events, so they can promote them on the page as well as the Vinyl Vixen events.

It’s very exciting, with such a diversity of women and styles of music there is so much scope for what we can do as a group – but I think we’ll know a lot more on Monday about who we are after we party”

Vinyl Vixens Launch their monthly party this weekend 27-28 May 2016, you can catch them Friday night at Loop Project Space & Bar, Meyers Place City 10-late, followed by the landing at Howler Melbourne in Dawson st Brunswick, in the front garden bar, Saturday 3pm-1am.

Find out more:

https://www.facebook.com/Vinyl-Vixens-1001640306570177/

https://www.facebook.com/events/1784045325160544/
(Launch at Loop)

https://www.facebook.com/events/1784045325160544/ (Landing at Howler)

*Music Victoria acknowledges that gender is a diverse spectrum and when referring to women and men it includes those who identify as female and male, and those who are gender non-conforming.