Female musicians breaking through the industry that you NEED to check out
March 2020 has been a celebratory month for the lives and talents of women. With the whole month being Women’s History Month (UK) and of course, International Women’s Day falling on Sunday, March 8th, this month has become a landmark occasion that especially praises the fantastic achievements of women whilst also highlighting the dire need for a revolution of gender equality.
The awareness of this month brings topics of gender pay-gaps, sexual harassment, gender bias and other inequalities women are currently facing to the forefront of conversation, particularly in the music industry. We want to celebrate women who’ve been championing through music, especially those women who are breaking through the industry with their unique and unconventional approaches that are making music an overall more diverse, interesting and fun place to exist. Here are our top picks for the women breaking through this industry and shaking things up!
NOVA TWINS
NOVA TWINS are a duo-female powerhouse unapologetically taking over the punk scene. Their sound could be best described as a Frankenstein creation of THE PRODIGY, 90’s rap & grime and outrageous punk circa Riot Grrl era.
The vivacious pair are storming into 2020 with their acclaimed debut album Who Are The Girls?, ranking at a hefty 10/10 from us for its bold lyricisms that are unafraid to call out the seedy underbelly of society, including one track Bullet that takes an open fire to cat-callers and the hyper sexualizing of women.
Amy Love and Georgia South are reasserting a strong black female presence back into punk, that one might say has arguably been “white-washed” over the years despite rock & punk’s history of prominent black female figures like Grace Jones or Poly Styrene.
Listen to: Bullet, Vortex, Play Fair
Milkie Way – WARGASM
WARGASM is the rowdy multi-gender duo of Sam Matlock and Milkie Way, who are giving nu-metal a refreshing facelift with a Riot Grrrl sounding twist that results in a collision of angst and fun.
Whilst they’re yet to announce an EP or album, the pair have already sent shockwaves through the scene with their mouthwatering, riff-heavy tracks Post Modern Rhapsody, God Of War or Gold Gold Gold. Their recent cover of Lapdance by N.E.R.D just highlights the band’s creative capabilities in being able to completely reinvent the whole sound and vibe of a song.
Before joining the underground music veteran Sam Matlock, Milkie Way was known for being an international model featured in Tony & Guy and Valentino campaigns and ran a photography project GIRL IN THE PIT, that stood in defiance against the masculine hold around mosh pits. Speaking to Kerrang! Way said she still experiences inappropriate comments, even from those who come up to her at the merch table, but has said that she’s unafraid to break into this industry “if there’s a spot that I can wrestle my way into, it will be filled.” This is the sound of war.
Listen to: Post Modern Rhapsody, God Of War, Lapdance
Hannah – HOT MILK
The Manchester pop-punk/punk rock four-piece have quite literally just broken into music with their 2019 Are You Feeling Alive? Fronted by the wholesome and hilarious Hannah Mee, who’d previously been working on the other side of the music industry as a promoter, Mee is a bold personality who’s unafraid to make her stance on society and politics known.
For their track Candy Coated Lie$, Mee tweeted “IF you got somethin to bloody say go and fkin say it. We got angry and we put it into this”. Whilst their debut EP’s tone tackled topics of heartbreak and finding happiness within yourself, their later tracks are leaning more toward being politically outspoken, like in Candy Coated Lie$.
IF you got somethin to bloody say go and fkin say it. We got angry and we put it into this. JAM IT, RT, SHARE IT. SPREAD IT LIKE A DISEASE. link is in the bio. we love ya 💜 https://t.co/cLayRgug7V
— LIL TITS (@hotmilkhan) November 17, 2019
Listen to: Candy Coated Lie$, Awful Ever After, June Gloom
CJ Gilpin – DREAM STATE
DREAM STATE crashed into the scene last year with their brutally honest and heartfelt Primrose Path, and since then the Welsh post-hardcore band’s debut has sent them sky-rocketing into success. Whilst the album is comprised of some undeniably catchy bangers, what’s been the hook for many fans is the relatability of the lyrics.
Leading vocalist CJ Gilpin has spoken about her struggles with addiction in the past and how she writes this into her music in an interview with Kerrang! “you can hear it in [lead single] Primrose; it was a big realisation of the cycle I was stuck in. I was still drinking a lot of nights and finding myself trying to self-medicate, and having a lot of health anxiety, too.”
Gilpin is a role model for many with her upfront honesty about struggles she’s faced, helping to de-stigmatise the way we view drug addiction and creating safe spaces for conversations about mental health issues.
Listen to: Spitting Lies, Are You Ready To Live?, I Feel It Too
DOLLSKIN
DOLLSKIN found their footing in this industry with their 2017 In Your Face (Again), since then the all-female band has been bouncing across the world with their insatiable punk rock/pop-punk sound that again, isn’t afraid to make controversial statements that might get them into hot water like their track, Puncha Nazi.
Even the band’s formation sounds like a plot to a badass rockstar movie, coming together for a battle of the band’s type contest. That would only be the start into their career of success, now they stand with three albums down the line and their third album Love Is Dead And We Killed Her marking as the band’s biggest win to date.
Speaking to us back in 2019 the band shared their experiences of sexism, and that’s just in the past five years. Bassist Nicole Rich said “Oooh my favorite tiny one, this is really really small but it’s funny to see the attitude shift. We played a venue and I remember there was a sign on the greenroom that said: ‘no girlfriends allowed’. So basically, you’re assuming that only people dating women, presumably men, are playing this venue? Like you’re not saying ‘no partners’ you’re saying ‘no women, as dating is big part of life, as people want company and have sexual needs, of course there are toys you can find in an adult store which can help with this.
Listen to: Mark My Words, Daughter, Outta My Mind
Heather Baron-Gracie – PALE WAVES
My Mind Makes Noises debuted alternative/dark-pop Manchester four-piece PALE WAVES into 2018 where they found themselves throttling towards unimaginable amounts of success, touring with THE 1975 and landing festival spots across the world with just their first album. Though they’ve been kicking around since 2014, they were only picked up by Dirty Hit Records in 2017 with their hit, There Is A Honey.
Beloved for their dark aesthetic that takes influence from the likes of MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, THE CURE and Avril Lavigne and their soft yet emotional lyrics, the powerhouse at the front of all of this is leading lady Heather Baron-Gracie. Gracie has been a passionate artist even in her earliest years, posting songs and covers onto her Youtube channel in 2011.
PALE WAVES sound is like happy songs for sad people, the instrumentals are always very enthusiastically poppy but the darkness within the lyrics can hit like a tonne of bricks.
Listen to: My Obsession, Television Romance, Eighteen
Theresa Jarvis – YONAKA
YONAKA is another band who’ve been kicking around for a few years, 2016 to be exact with their single Ignorance. But this Brighton four-piece took the world by storm with 2019’s ecstatic Don’t Wait Till Tomorrow LP that peaked at 38 on the UK charts.
Theresa Jarvis stands as the face of it all, a lively and eccentric female lead who’s said to have an insane stage presence. Jarvis also isn’t afraid to speak her truth either, sharing in an interview with Clash that the idea of female-fronted is ‘cringe’ to her “like, what the fuck are you on about? I don’t understand why everyone’s got to talk about ‘female-fronted’ bands. If you’re good, no one should care if you’re a boy or a girl. If you’re shit, it doesn’t make a difference. Obviously there’s a lack of women in the industry, and that needs to change. I feel like sometimes those terms turn people off before they even hear the music. We just want ‘fucking amazing YONAKA’!”
Listen to: Teach Me How To Fight, Rockstar, Ignorance
Justine Jones – EMPLOYED TO SERVE
While heavy music and hardcore have a wealth of astounding female talents, they might feel shunned by the overarching male presence in the scene. Breaking through the masculine tape is Justine Jones and her ruthless vocals for EMPLOYED TO SERVE. Their latest album Eternal Motion Forward is arguably their greatest acclaim to date, tackling the twisted decline of society into a vacuous state of self-absorbed social media zombies. It’s received nothing but appraisal, gaining high ratings from Kerrang!, NME and from us. If 2018’s The Warmth Of A Dying Sun hadn’t put them on the map then their latest LP made them an unforgettable name.
In an interview podcast with The Curator Podcast, Jones commented on women coming into a male-dominated industry saying that it’s almost patronising to say you can be in a hardcore band just because you’re a woman. “I think if you really wanna do something you’ll do it, but I don’t want to be patronising like ‘oh you’re a girl!! you can start a hardcore band’ because you shouldn’t have to have someone saying “oh you’re a girl, you can do what you want dear.’ It just seems unnecessary, as they say, there’s a will there’s a way.”
Listen to: Force Fed, Harsh Truth, Owed Zero
And that rounds off our spotlight on just a handful of women who are kicking ass in the music industry. We are just scratching the surface here however, there are hundreds upon hundreds of incredible female musicians and bands as well as countless women working tirelessly within the music industry. We, of course, encourage everyone to support women in any capacity in this industry.