• Repeal and Appeal: Lisa Marie on Bodily Autonomy and Performance

    March 8, 2018 - By 

    I remember the first time I stepped on stage as a fresh faced student in school about 15 years ago. I don’t even remember the pre-show nerves but one thing that stayed with me was the buzz I had afterwards and it’s something that has stuck with me. So it’s no wonder that when given the opportunity to step back on stage as a 20 something year old, I jumped at the chance. I started my burlesque journey on the incredible stage of The Sugar Club for the Dublin Burlesque Festival as part of burlesque troupe La Folie Déshabille. It…

  • Oh and by the way, I am a woman too – Aoife McCann of Æ MAK

    March 6, 2018 - By 

    Overall my experience so far in the Irish Music Industry has been a positive and supported one. Unfortunately the music business is most definitely a business. Like any business it boils down to who you know and what connections and contacts you make along the way to enable a further reach for your music. Ireland’s music scene is very small in comparison to London’s or L.A’s but being small it also has its advantages as once you’ve been working in it for a few years you just end up meeting and getting to know almost everyone else moving in it;…

  • Bare Bones: A Conversation with Landless

    March 6, 2018 - By 

    One of our 18 for ’18 Irish artists, Landless are a rarity in today’s traditional music landscape. Their unaccompanied vocal folk has been described by ourselves – and doubtless many others – as ‘evocative, celestial, ethereal and, above all, extremely resonant’. Having formed in 2013, their debut album, Bleaching Bones – recorded in a variety of sonically rich, luxurious spaces – finally gets its release tomorrow through recently-formed Irish independent imprint, Humble Serpent. Alongside acts like Lankum and Brigid Mae Power, they’re responsible for the establishment of folk music that’s as appropriate today as it was in its stages of infancy; a conduit for the human spirit, and a platform from which greater ideas…

  • Jess Kav – You Sound Like a Black Person

    March 6, 2018 - By 

    I have, over the years had a fair amount of punters look at me suspiciously when I discuss my racial background. There has been numerous occasions that enquiries on my ethnicity arises when someone hears me sing for the first time. It has gone something like this; Punter: (Eyes look around around to deter eavesdroppers) “Has anyone ever told you that *whispers* you sound like a black person when you sing?” Me: Yes! My mother is black. Punter: *Laughs uncomfortably* Me: … Punter: “Oh…really? You’re serious?” Many have looked curiously at me, eyes darting to the sploof of curly hair…

  • Elaine Mai – Electric Dreams

    March 6, 2018 - By 

    The first artist that really inspired me to get into music was Alanis Morissette. She was an honest, powerful, female musician and I wanted to be just like her. Although the music I write today is very different, ‘Jagged little pill’ sparked a love for song-writing in me that I know will last for the rest of my life. My parents separated around the time it was released, and in a new town and a new home, I turned to music. I started writing and playing songs with my guitar and two-deck cassette player, using a cheap microphone to record…

  • Southern Hospitality: A Conversation With Aisling O’Riordan

    March 6, 2018 - By 

    Aisling O’Riordan is a musician, booker, promoter, radio host and is about to add tour manager for Brigid Mae Power to her already exceedingly impressive CV. Amidst all of these roles, Aisling also co-founded the Southern Hospitality Board and the revered annual Quarter Block Party festival which hosts a variety of music, spoken word and theatre throughout Cork city. A vital figure in the Irish music industry, O’Riordan spoke to Zara Hedderman about her beginnings, experiences and the importance of women encouraging each other within the business. Photo by Brid O’Donovan. What was your introduction to the music industry and…

  • Those Who Can, Do (and Teach): A Brief Herstory of Girls Rock School Northern Ireland

    March 6, 2018 - By 

    Established in March 2016, Girls Rock School Northern Ireland offers workshops and mentoring in electric guitar, bass, drums and vocals to women and girls of all ages. Taking inspiration and mentorship from it’s sister school Girls Rock School Edinburgh, it was the very first collective of its kind in the whole of Ireland. Since then, there is now also Girls Rock Dublin; just as Girls Rock camps and schools have been popping up across the world since the very first camp was held in Portland in 2001. GRSNI welcomes participants who self-identify as female, trans and/or gender non-conforming; they are…

  • Iwona Blasi – The Art of Life

    March 7, 2018 - By 

    When I lived in Poland, I never thought I could paint and I never thought I was an artist. I studied Social Science at Warsaw University, I was always doodling but never had the courage to do anything more than draw for myself. I have a big sister who thought me how to do art. She was my main inspiration in my early years as she was always painting, sketching, drawing, preparing her portfolio for art college… but she stopped painting after she wasn’t offered a place. It was a true heartbreak. My parents are very pragmatic, I don’t remember…

  • You Can’t Be What You Can’t See: Films About Real Women

    March 6, 2018 - By 

    When it comes to women in film, lasting progress has been slow. While it is positive that the two highest grossing films internationally in 2017 had female protagonists, more work remains to be done both in front of and behind the camera. Promoting the visibility of women onscreen ultimately means telling stories that recognise the complicated and messy lives that actual women lead. Here, there is still some distance to go. Research by the Center for Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University identified that film audiences in 2017 were twice as likely to see a male…

  • Never Judge a Book by its Cover: A Conversation with Maura McHugh

    March 6, 2018 - By 

    Maura McHugh is a writer based in the West of Ireland, predominantly working in comic books, prose (fiction and non-fiction) and works for the stage and screen. She recently made history by signing on as one of the first official writers of the upcoming all female special of 2000AD, the renowned British comic book series and dwelling of the indomitable Judge Dredd. She talks to Loreana Rushe about her work, female heroes and diversity in the comic book industry. What do you enjoy most about writing comics and how did you get into the industry? I love working with artists. That collaborative process, when…