Shooting Daggers: The Future Should Be Female
It could be said the female population of the world holds a lot of power. Perhaps that’s the reason women’s rights are being debated at every turn by those who don’t identify as women. It wasn’t so long ago outlandish women were burned at the stake on accusations of witchcraft. If a woman has a bold attitude, she is something to be shied away from. Heaven forbid she have a strong opinion without being branded a bitch or something worse. Embracing the energy of the Salem Witch Trials, hardcore punk trio SHOOTING DAGGERS recently released their EP Athames.
aking the name from a ceremonial dagger typically used by witches during rituals, the EP is seven tracks of visceral female opinion. Themes of misandry may rule the roost but it would be foolish to write this trio off as “bitter bitches”. SHOOTING DAGGERS also turn their attention to what it means to be queer, sexual abuse, and veganism.
“You wanna talk about in music or in general?” bassist Bea Simion laughs as we dive into the topic of sexism. “It’s complicated but if you look at it on a global scale, a lot of things are built for men. Laws, education, all of that. As long as men are in those positions of power, there won’t be equality,” she continues. Many would dance around the issue of sexism in the music industry out of fear of being ostracised. SHOOTING DAGGERS hold no such trepidation as vocalist Sal Pellegrin explains. “We get discredited because we’re women, like people don’t think we’re cool because we’re women. I felt we couldn’t be part of certain scenes because we’re all girls.”
If anything could have disproved Sal’s feelings, it would have been the band’s recent set at Desertfest London. Playing in the iconic Powerhaus (formerly Dingwalls), the band’s vivacious energy drew the crowd in by their hundreds. Having played the festival with a previous band, drummer Raquel J Alves describes being asked to play again as “a dream”. “You think it’s all slower doom bands. Then there’s us – hardcore punk. We were thinking it was gonna be weird but we’ve gotten some amazing feedback.”
During the 30 minute set at Powerhaus, one continuous theme reared its head very quickly. Within the heavy music world, tales of sexual harassment, molestation, and inappropriate behaviour in the pit have become more and more widespread. Or at least talked about more freely. While no such behaviour was reported during this half an hour, it was called out regularly. “I’ve not seen it at our shows but I’ve experienced it at many others,” Bea tells us. In a sad epidemic almost every woman we encounter within the metal community have one story or another about being touched inappropriately at a gig. Though some incidents last for a second or two, the feeling of violation lasts much longer. “You don’t wanna get angry because people will think you’re overreacting but at the same time you can pass behind a woman without touching her hips or grabbing her ass. It’s not that difficult.”
While the heavy music scene has improved on calling out predatory behaviour by members of our community, taking that first step to break the silence is still difficult. It may take months for some. Years for others. In many cases, that time never comes. Instead, survivors carry their unspoken trauma like an albatross around their necks. In a rightly uncomfortable, yet powerful listen, Liar breaks those chains and speaks out. Sal’s pained scream of ‘I will not remain silent’ echoes in the ears for a long time afterwards. It may not be the darkest song on the EP sonically but the lyrical content is enough to leave us feeling drained. Especially for those of us who’ve experienced that very trauma.
When we ask about the decision to make Liar a single, Raquel explains the band has had no regrets. “We are opening the conversation. It’s an important conversation to have,” she pauses for a moment to gather her thoughts. “It happens everywhere in the music world, right? There’s a power dynamic. If something’s happening to you at the hands of a promoter or someone in a popular band, you become afraid because they have this importance. It’s something we’re seeing more of, so we absolutely made the right choice.”
Taking ownership of widely feared feminine power is not only the MO for bands like SHOOTING DAGGERS but of many within our scene. In a wider society which seems keen to regress rather than progress, it’s difficult to claim the future is female. With SHOOTING DAGGERS and many of their ilk picking up the mantle from outspoken women of the past however, the future will draw ever closer to equality.
Athames is out now via New Heavy Sounds.
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