To say there was a dearth of women in DJ magazine’s most recent list of the top 100 DJs would have been a generous understatement. In fact, there was only one — Lisa Lashes — who scraped in at a dismal no 99.
‘I thought that after 20 years things would have changed,” sighs Roz Scordillis, who has been DJing under the pseudonym Queen Bee since 1988, ‘but the industry is still very male dominated.”
Despite the obstacles, though, women are currently taking to the decks in droves. And this new wave is proving that women can be just as geeky about music as men.
‘I discovered pirate radio as I was becoming a teenager,” explains DJ Lizzie Eve. ‘I’d tape the jungle and hardcore shows, even though I was too young to actually go to raves.” Eve’s taste evolved as she started going to hip-hop clubs, kicking off an interest in vinyl and moving towards a love of techno. ‘I started getting to know some of the labels and producers from what was happening in the London, Paris and Berlin scenes at that time. You couldn’t easily get the tunes you wanted in any other format than vinyl, so I’d go shopping a lot, and then me and my friends would take it in turns to select tunes.”
From that basis, it was a short route to becoming part of a DJ collective — Octopussy — which Eve formed with some friends. In doing so, she is part of a growing trend. From Queens of Noize and Sister SF to Shejay, DJing as a group has become a popular choice, especially for women.
For Sophie Ruston, another member of Octopussy, the point of DJing together is to pool their talents. ‘Lizzie and I are very different, and DJing together means we cover all the bases. Then we have another girl, Dee, doing the visuals, and Yolanda MCing, so we bring all the talents together.”
Female collectives offer women support in a sometimes hostile music scene.
Over the years, Scordillis has had men stop the record she’s been playing to check that she’s actually mixing. ‘Women have to work harder in this industry to get to the same level as men,” she says.
DJ Holly Williamson, who forms all-woman line-up Cherry Bomb, along with Paula Melsom, Lula and Jude Williams, agrees. ‘When I DJ and there’s a male friend sitting behind the decks with me people will ask him for records, even if I’m clearly the one playing the tunes.” Lula says that when she takes to the decks with a man, promoters and club managers address all the questions to her male partner — even though she runs the show.
There is also a strong sense that women are forming groups because they are more willing to share their ideas and skills than their male counterparts. ‘I think it has something to do with ego,” muses Hannah Wright, part of the collective, Chicks with Decks. ‘I couldn’t imagine having a big ego persona for myself, like a lot of solo DJs do. It’s never been ‘look at us, we can DJ’, it’s more about the music.”
Collectives can offer aspiring DJs huge support, something DissMiss, the founder of Dutty Girl, feels very strongly about. Dutty Girl formed as a collective for women involved in all aspects of urban music, and comprises DJs, MCs, producers and VJs. DissMiss’s aim was to create a group for women passionate about a style of music often regarded as male-dominated.
‘I’m not offended by any aspects of hip-hop,” she tells me, ‘because I love it, and if I got rid of all my records with sexist lyrics, I wouldn’t have many left! But years of seeing women under represented in music depressed me.
‘What I want is for women to come through and fight back against that sexism. I think there are lots of reasons why there aren’t as many women DJs, and working with something like Dutty Girl helps combat this. If I can get one young woman to feel able to stand up and do what she wants to do, then I have done my job.”
Sarah Bland and Katie Dane began DJing after they met while working at the same nightclub, and decided that they could do as good a job as the guys they saw behind the decks each night — their partnership is called Tight Fit.
‘As a pair we communicate really well,” explains Sarah. ‘We work together to enhance each other’s sets, which you can only really do with someone you feel comfortable with.”
Stereotypes persist though — a lot of the women I spoke to are still very aware that they’re considered a novelty, and most have heard jokes that women can’t play, or faced incredulity that women DJ at all.
I wonder whether women DJs play a different type of music to men — are they more likely to play female artists, for instance?
The women I speak to are split on the issue. Eve thinks not. ‘I guess what we play is seen as boys’ music in many ways,” she says.
‘It’s certainly bass-heavy. Some of it’s pretty rude — but who’s to say if that is the territory of boys or girls? We just play the sort of music we want to hear ourselves when we go out.”
Anna Wiggins, who runs her own solo night, Hey La, in Sheffield, northern England, disagrees, and says that she does ‘feel more drawn to female singers. For instance, I love James Brown, but I tend to play records he’s produced for female vocalists. I like records that speak to me, and this tends to mean I listen to more women.”
Ultimately, most of those I spoke to felt that they shouldn’t be judged on gender, but ability. And they were overwhelmingly upbeat — there was a strong conviction that, when it comes to DJing, the music will eventually win the day.
‘That’s the dream,” sigh Bland and Dane. ‘To reach the point where you play so well, people forget you’re a girl.” —