quoted 16 lines At 02:01 PM 9/18/95 -0700, you wrote:
> At 02:01 PM 9/18/95 -0700, you wrote:
>
>> Although there are not nearly as many female Techno artists as there
>> could be, there are at least a few. DJ Rap makes great, deep Jungle;
>> the late Lee Newman was one half of one of the most innovative Techno /
>> dance Industrial groups ever (GTO / Greater Than One / John & Julie /
>> Tricky Disco), and Chelsea Grin makes deep headfuck weirdness. Not to
>> mention K. Hand, Deep House mistress from Detroit.
>
> This is something that has concerned me for a while now. Though there are a
> few female artists, artists, and DJs, I don't think the ratios in electronic
> music in general are any more inclusive than rock or punk.
> [...]
> Instead of discussing these individual
> artists as reasons to not do anything about it, maybe the thing to do is to
> ponder why female presence in techno is so easy to forget about.
Well, seeing as how I might be the only person on this list whose better half
is a Real Live Working Female Techno Musician, I'll put my big mouth in.
The reason you don't see more working Women Techno artists is simple:
Men.
There's one big problem with most men, and especially men that are musicians:
E-G-O.
I've seen so many male egos try to assert themselves around Jennifer (said
aforementioned better half) when it comes to music that it isn't funny. From
former bandmates to associates to people she's just trying to strike up some
sort of conversation with or association with, I see this endless parade of
males who feel this need to assert their supposed superiority.
One time I was in the studio when she and her band-mate (in a previous guise,
working in an Industrial band for Belgium's Kk Records - home of Psychic
Warriors ov Gaia et al.) were talking to the engineer. Even though she did
most of the work on the music, every time there was a decision-point, the
engineer turned and looked straight at her bandmate. Finally I said "Why
don't you ask try asking *her*, you woman-hating sonuvabitch?" And don't
EVEN tell me that this is an "isolated incident". I've seen it, sports fans,
and it ain't pretty.
And when I don't see the suppressed-male-dominance ego breast-beating at work,
usually instead it's a sort of begrudging "One of the Boys" type of thing.
i.e., she gets treated as if it's nothing special that she's a female trying
to do this kind of thing. To a certain point I understand that - hey, sex
*shouldn't* matter, after all - but given that it's a Known Problem, some
allowances should be made to acknowledge that.
Related to this is having a support network. A lot of really creative people
are a lot more sensitive than others. They *need* that "Atta girl!" or
"Don't let the bastards grind you down" kind of support sometimes. Ever read
the credits on some of these IDM male-generated records? The ones with the
credits like
Thanks to me Mum, Ben the Old Geezer, Tony, Andy, Fluid the Mad
Trainspotter, ... [insert dozens of other oddly-named people here] ...
These people have support networks. Lots of people around to give them
encouragement, not be competitive or negative, even collaborative (how many
collaborations have been mentioned recently? Gescom? Aurobindo? Plaid +
Mark Broom? etc. etc. etc.?) MY Female Techno Artist doesn't have that kind
of support.
(Of course, then again we *do* live in Los Angeles, land of "Hi! What can I
get out of you?".)
Then there's the geek factor. Being an electronic musician is like being a
computer geek in a lot of ways (like people on this list wouldn't know that).
I mean, isn't being fascinated by the endless pathways that is the Black Hole
of the K2000 (thanks Jon D. (-: ) not terribly dissimilar to being, say, a
UNIX weenie? When he tables get turned - when I go to net.geek events, she
doesn't have the vaguest idea what I'm talking about; conversely, when she
starts throwing around "bulk dumps" and "SysEx" and chunks" in Performer or
whathaveyou, I don't have the vaguest fuckin' idea what she's talking about :-)
It takes a very particular mindset to involve oneself in the intricacies of
making IDM, and there's a techie quotient involved that might not be of much
interest to women (or too intimidating, for whatever reason).
There's also the cost factor. Gear ain't cheap! How many women have you heard
lately say "Oh, if I only had the cash for a Mackie board ... " or "Man, I'd
give anything to be able to afford a VL-1 ... "?
Wanna support female Techno artists? Fine. C'mon out to L.A. next month on
October 14th for "Funtopia" -
http://www.forfood.com/~garyblit/funtopia.html -
and see Jawa Sandcrawler for yourself. What kind of music does she do? All
kinds, mostly in the heavy Trance/IDM/Funk/Electro-influenced vein. If you
want more specifics, how about this: "Wagon who? Jake who?"
- Greg