New festival celebrates trans and non-binary acts
A new festival celebrating transgender and non-binary artists in the Australian music industry is launching this year.
The inaugural TRANSGENRE festival will take place at The Red Rattler Theatre in Sydney on 17 December, with Melbourne duo Cry Club topping the bill.
The all-ages event will also feature Perth siblings Josh and Hazel Meyer (aka Those Who Dream), Adelaide pop-punk luminary Nonnie (with frontwoman Lilly Peterson delivering a rare solo performance), Melbourne hyper-pop artist Wolfjay, and some of Sydney’s brightest up-and-coming talents.
Also on the bill is pop-rock gem Blake Williams, punk band Final Girls, hardcore outfit Cherish, hyper-pop dynamo KHAOS EMRLD, emo outfit FVNERAL, experimental rocker enpriestess, post-hardcore favourites Two Knives and alt-pop mastermind NOCTICA.
“We hope this festival encourages people to pay closer attention to the wealth of gender diversity that exists in Australia”
The festival is being produced by music journalist Ellie Robinson and FVNERAL’s Tim Blunt, in partnership with BLUNT magazine, Young Henrys brewery and Cistem Error.
“It’s been a pretty wild year to be trans (to say the very least) and especially now, it’s so important to champion our community as loudly and proudly as possible,” says Robinson.
“We need to be visible, defiant and thriving – and at the core of that is positive representation in all corners of society. Our aim with TRANSGENRE is to offer a bit of that representation to the Australian live music scene, showing that trans and non-binary voices are among some of the strongest and most incisive in the country.
“Personally, we hope this festival encourages people (cis, trans and everyone in-between) to pay closer attention to the wealth of gender diversity that exists in the Australian music industry, and be louder in supporting it. The show is obviously open for everyone to enjoy, but we’re so bloody keen to see a bunch of our fellow trans and gender-diverse people having an incredible day at the first-ever TRANSGENRE, enjoying some of the best live music in Australia, and celebrating their identities as excitedly as they want without having to worry about being judged for it.”
Tickets for the all-day event range between AUS$40-50.
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Femnøise launches map of female and non-binary pros
Femnøise, a digital platform aimed at fighting the gender gap on a global level, has launched a new map feature to help locate and connect women and non-binary professionals in the industry and empower them to monetise their skills.
The map allows users to find other music professionals by filtering geographical area, type of activity and musical genres. Profiles can request to connect to each other, send and receive private messages with other users, and participate in forums and discussion groups.
The platform already boasts 2,000 registered users ranging from tour managers to artists, photographers to designers, conductors to bookers.
“Our idea is to serve as a bridge between different needs, and profiles that fit the demand,” says Natalia San Juan, founder and CEO of Femnøise.
“Our idea is to serve as a bridge between different needs, and profiles that fit the demand”
“For example, if you are preparing your tour and need a guitarist or tour manager; if you want to look for a photographer to renew your book or find a designer for the cover of your next album, you can find her on Femnøise. The connections are as diverse as the profiles that connect.”
Users will also be able to create and monetise small courses using the platform’s nano learning functionality, in turn, helping others on the platform to strengthen their skillsets.
Alongside helping professionals to connect and skillshare, the platform will also give visibility to associations around the world which are promoting women and non-binary professionals in the industry and encourage collaboration to find solutions to diminish the gender gap.
The non-profit has received support from the likes of Keychange, the European Music Manager Alliance, the Spanish Ministry of Culture, and the Barcelona local development agency.
Similar initiatives serving women and non-binary people in the music industry have popped up across Europe, including Helvetiarockt’s one-stop shop for festivals, promoters, bookers, producers, musicians and more in Switzerland and Vick Bain’s F-List directory of UK female and non-binary musicians.
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Directory of UK female musicians launches
Today marks the launch of the F-List, a directory of UK female and non-binary musicians to be used by promoters, festival bookers, commissioners, music supervisors and “those scratching their heads over the fact they don’t know any female artists”.
The resource, launched by equality campaigner Vick Bain, provides details of more than 4,500 musicians across all genres of music and is free to use.
Bain first uploaded the directory as a sprawling online spreadsheet but after proving popular, she has re-launched it as a fully-searchable, not-for-profit website.
“The problem for women in the UK music industry is they are still in the minority when it comes to professional work,” Bain told BBC Radio 4’s Today.
“Only 20% of musicians signed to record labels are women and about 15% of festival headliners are women. So they don’t have much presence, professionally, even though they consist of nearly half of all music degree students.”
The F-List will launch alongside a concurrent community interest company that will champion equality and diversity in the industry. IQ’s New Boss Alex Ampofo is among those on the board of directors for the company.
“Only 20% of musicians signed to record labels are women and about 15% of festival headliners are women”
“We are going to raise awareness, we’re going to create initiatives to help facilitate training and development, we are going to increase knowledge about gender inequality,” said Bain. “We want to be a major authority for promoting women in music.”
British-Indian-American sitarist and composer Anoushka Shankar will be the inaugural president of the enterprise.
“The F-List is the first initiative of its kind to give female artists and musicians a platform where they can be discovered,” says Shankar.
“Its breathtaking thoroughness and scope nullifies any excuses from people in the music industry who blame a lack of representation and diversity by saying there’s a dearth of women to hire. But it’s also a supportive network that can transform the music industry into a place that better represents, and reflects, the richness and diversity in British society.”
Helvetiarock, a Swiss association and networking platform pushing for gender equality in the live music industry, launched a similar directory earlier this month.
The resource, located at MusicDirectory.ch, will serve as a one-stop shop for women and non-binary professionals, including festivals, promoters, bookers, producers, musicians and more.
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