Starting out VS successful; how 3 famous female musicians say they were treated at the top VS on their way up in the industry
“I’ve had people message our recording studio asking to ‘speak to the guy in charge’ and I’m like hello it’s ME. I'm the ‘guy’ in charge.” – Imogen - Novustory
Is it is harder for women to prove themselves in the industry? I spoke to 3 female powerhouses, from different parts of the UK, to see if the reaction to their sound, image, and overall message had changed, dependent on their fame and where they came from.
When women start out in the industry, aiming for the stars, their ambition might be labeled as ‘cute’, a dream’, ‘unrealistic’. Making waves in the industry may be seen as more of a pipedream, than a feasible career. Everyone knows you have to be different from the rest, but more so if you’re a woman, the competition is fierce, and the judgment is too.
When you’ve ‘made it’ though, when you’re successful, earning, with a big fan base – does the tone change? Are you finally accepted, does the judgment disappear? Wow, you’re a woman, who can sing, dance, write, AND you ‘made-it’?
I wondered if the rumor was true, that once you’re established, you’re more supported as a female artist. There are many things to home-in on and discuss in this debate, however, one thing has never been looked at; does the support women receive also depend on where they are from? If you’re from the south, is it seen as less of a pipe dream compared to a female artist trying to make it from the north of the UK? And vice versa. I spoke to 3 famous female artists from Doncaster, Sheffield and Manchester in the UK, here is what they said about their experiences:
Stars – Bang Bang Romeo “Your vagina is a weapon – NOT a drawback”
Anastasia ‘Stars’ is the front woman of the band ‘Bang Bang Romeo’ from Doncaster UK. They supported P!NK on her 2019 Beautiful Trauma world tour! The band was catapulted into the world of fame instantly. Stars is an out and proud lesbian, and she epitomizes female empowerment. Here’s what she had to say:
Has your treatment as a female artist differed from when you started out to where you are now?
Absolutely it has! And as a whole - we’ve never been a band that you can fully pigeonhole. We’re inspired by so many records and films, so knowing that our sound and image would develop as time went on was always a no brainer, so has the reaction to us, even from when we first started the band.
You’re viewed as empowering, how does that feel? Do you ever still get bad comments?
I’m flattered! I don’t play by any rules of the industry standard. Like, I’m a big girl, shall I cover-up? Nah. Am I gonna tone down my political views and attitude? Nah. To this day I’ll get comments about my weight, but 9/10 it’s from people I don’t know or care about. In school, I was bullied, and my dad always taught me to tell someone to stop hurting me, if they refuse, you punch them. And guess what, not only did the bullying stop and the apologies start, but other kids started to stick up for themselves. My point is, if you see sexist comments, reply, educate, and mic drop the f*ck out of them. Flush that sh*t out.
Do you think that as a female artist, it matters where you come from? Are all cities supportive of female artists, or some more than others?
I think the world of music has changed so dramatically within the space of 5 years. It used to matter that you lived in London, now it doesn’t. Women used to be a token on a festival lineup, but questions are finally starting to be asked! To be successful; stop blaming the world, and take the world on. Your vagina is a weapon, not a drawback. Keep that mindset through-out, and at the very least, you’ll get to perform in front of beautiful, supportive, and loyal fans and maybe even get laid at the end of the night. (Yes blokes, we see that as an end game too)
The Seamonsters “Our age and gender was constantly mentioned to us by promoters”.
The Seamonsters are an Indie Pop Band made up of 5 women from Sheffield in the UK. They are greatly influenced by 80s synth and present themselves as unapologetically striking and colorful with their image and style. Their whole mantra surrounds women empowerment and this is why their fan-base continues to grow daily.
I asked them – as a female band – has your treatment differed from when you started out to where you are now?
Definitely. We’re now all 22 but we started the band when we were about 13 years old and it was hard to get people to take us seriously. Starting a band in school wasn’t easy, despite the fact a lot of boys in our year were playing as well. Our age was and gender was constantly mentioned to us by promoters and sound engineers and even when we’d got to the stage where we’d played loads of gigs people still presumed we were incompetent, which just wasn’t true.
You’re viewed as empowering, how does that feel? Do you ever still get bad comments?
Sometimes we’ll get messages from teenage girls telling us they’re starting a band and we’ve inspired them and that’s amazing. Of course, some people disagree with us – Twitter is the worst place for it - and you get the comments about us being stupid because we’re women, but you just sort of having to laugh it off!
Do you think that as a female artist, it matters where you come from? Are all cities supportive of female artists, or some more than others?
Different cities are supportive in different ways and they may simply be because some people prefer our music and others don’t. We’ve always found Liverpool to be so supportive of us right from when we started, there’s always a real buzz for new bands over there. We’ve found London to be quite a hard city to play in, I’m not sure if this is because we’re not from there or because there’s just so much going on every night but it definitely can be harder to draw and keep a crowd. Ultimately in our experience of growing up and starting the band in Sheffield people have been very supportive.
Imogen – Novustory “I’m the ‘GUY’ in charge”.
Novustory is a female-headed alt-rock band from Manchester, UK. Imogen (the front woman) and the band, have recorded for fashion magazine GLAMOUR, and big stations like Planet Rock Radio and Virgin Radio! Imogen is hot on spreading the word about female empowerment. Here’s what she had to say:
Has your treatment as a female artist differed from when you started out to where you are now?
100%. There has been a lot of progression in terms of how seriously I was taken, from when I was just one woman trying to record piano vocal covers in a shed, to now where I own and run a professional recording studio and front a popular rock band. Alongside that progression, there have been a lot of hoops I feel I’ve had to jump through just to be taken as seriously as male. As a woman, you have to work twice as hard.
You’re viewed as empowering, how does that feel? Do you ever still get bad comments?
It feels like everything to be known as empowering. We still get negative comments all the time - I’ve been called a ‘fat bitch’ online. It’s funny how the comments are always directed towards me and my body, my clothes, the way I perform, it’s never about my voice. You look through the negative comments on a man’s YouTube section VS a woman’s and you tell me you don’t see a glaring issue with the subject of the negativity. We should always challenge sexism, a challenge that suspiciously male-orientated festival line-up that doesn’t line up with the 50:50 ratio of male to female success in the official charts. Challenge that unnecessary sexist remark by a colleague or friend that makes you feel uncomfortable. I’ve had people literally message our recording studio online asking to ‘speak to the guy in charge’ and I’m like hello it’s ME. I’M the ‘guy’ in charge.
Do you think that as a female artist, it matters where you come from? Are all cities supportive of female artists, or some more than others?
I think there is an absolute whirlwind of pressure when you’re a woman, just starting out, to ‘move to London where all the jobs are’ and my response to that is; why uproot yourself and try and get a slice of the pie in another town when you can make your own damn pie. London’s ‘got the big fish’ - so make a big enough racket in your home town that they can’t ignore you anymore.
Stars of Bang Bang Romeo: (twitter: @BangBangRomeo) (instagram: @bangbangromeo) (facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bangbangromeo/)
The Seamonsters: (twitter: @cmonstersmusic) (instagram: @the_seamonsters) (facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheSeamonsters/)
Imogen of Novustory: (twitter: @Novustory) (instagram: @novustory) (facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Novustory/)