Scarlett Stevens (San Cisco)

How did you first get into drums?

So my dad is a music manager and before that, my mum and dad owned a live music venue in Fremantle, where we’re all from. So I grew up just watching lots of bands play, and then when my dad started managing bands, I went on tour with one of the bands that he was working with, ‘cause I was, like, ten at the time, and they just brought me along for the tour. Jack Johnson was the main act and an artist my dad manages was supporting, and somewhere on this tour, there was, like, a barbecue and a drum kit at this house, and Jack Johnson’s drummer showed me how to play a basic rock beat. That’s what kind of set me off on my path drumming—I just really liked it and then I begged my parents to let me take lessons.

You’ve been singing on the band’s tracks since early on with the Awkward EP—how did the singing/drumming dynamic come about?

I just got thrown into [it], because the producer and the boys were like, “you have to sing on this track”—and that song was written in the space of, like, two hours. It all just happened really quickly, like all of a sudden I was just singing on a song and I didn’t really have a say in the matter. And then when it came time to learn it for our live set, it was actually just something that kind of came naturally—I could do both at the same time. But I don’t do anything too crazy on the drums, and as long as I’m not doing drum fills, I can hold a beat and sing at the same time. You just find a way to get the lyrics and the rhythms to interlock, and yeah—it always kind of works out in my head. It takes a few tries, and once it’s there, it’s locked in.

How about some of your other projects— like I’ve listened to some of the Ghetto Crystals tracks on Triple J Unearthed…

That’s my uncle’s project, so I just kind of joined just to have fun and do something that’s completely out of my realm. It’s something fun to do on the side—of course, San Cisco’s always my main project, but saying yes to things like that when those sort of opportunities come along… like I did play in Jay [Watson] from Pond’s band, GUM, and that’s really good—you always learn something from it, from the experience, and just get better at your craft, ‘cause I’ll push to learn things a different way—especially with the GUM stuff, ‘cause I was learning Jay’s drum beats, and I was like, “oh I would never do that, but that’s so cool,” like it just makes you better.

Speaking of stuff on the side, tell me a little bit about how you got into DJing.

My mum and dad used to buy records back in the day and have a big record collection, and so I always just had a play around vinyl and would just say yes to DJ gigs without even knowing what I was doing and just bring vinyl and just fade in and fade out. It’s just about song selection for me, like, just playing songs I love and I don’t really overthink the mixing side of things— I’m not like a big party DJ or anything.

At what point do you feel like people in the industry started treating you differently as a female?

Well, I guess I’ve been doing gigs since I was twelve, and being in, like, a kid band—‘cause my band before San Cisco was The Flairz—and then no one would take you seriously because you’re a kid, and you’re constantly being told that you only got gigs because you were cute, and then becoming a woman, it’s kind of the same thing— you just have to put up with people being assholes. I did have a really tough time in the early years of touring with San Cisco, just because no one was really talking about the kinds of issues that are, like, so talked about now, which is amazing, and I feel like the landscape has completely changed.

I know in the US there’s a lot of controversy surrounding festivals booking really low percentages of female acts— most festivals have lineups with under 25% of the acts having any women in them at all.

That movement is really big in Australia—lineups without males, and I think it’s really big there since the scene is a lot smaller so it’s easier to make people aware of these issues, but in America, it seems to be a bit less so. We always tour with female-led bands or female solo artists, because it’s just a better energy—if you’re on a four-week tour, I don’t want it to be all dudes—it’s just nicer. I think people are getting tired of seeing the same, just five guys on a stage.

Have you ever found that any male drummers or industry professionals will “mansplain” things to you—like assuming you don’t know as much because you’re a woman?

Yeah, definitely. Like in the really early days of gigging, guys would just come to me with unsolicited advice about, like, what gear I should have or how I should play. And they just felt like they could comment on my playing style and my equipment. And also—I don’t care, [because] I’m not a drum nerd. I care about drumming, but I don’t care about having the coolest lightest case or cymbal, [so] it would drive me nuts. And so many backhanded compliments, like, “You’re great… for a girl,” and it’s like, most of my favorite drummers are women. Female drummers happen to be some of the best drummers, like Chloe [Saavedra] from Chaos Chaos. I also used to work in a record store, and you’d answer the phone, and immediately people would just be like, “I need to speak to one of the guys there.” Like, about what?

Do you find that people who come to your live shows are surprised that you’re the drummer?

I think if they’re coming to the shows, they already have a good idea, but whenever I’m out during the day—going shopping and meeting people— when I tell people I’m on tour and play in a band, they’re always like, “Are you the singer?” and I say that I’m the drummer, it’s always such a big deal for people, which is nice, I guess. People always assume you’re the singer.

What advice would you offer to any female musicians intimidated by the prospect of starting a band?

I think it’s a really positive time for women to be in music, and there’s always support for you there. If you encounter some sexist behavior or sexist comment, you can always talk to other women about it, and I just think there are some really good people in the industry… now. I can’t imagine what it was like in the 70s or 80s, but I think we’re just in a really good place at the moment, in music. I think you’ve just got to go for it—the only way to learn how to do it is to just do it. And just have fun with it! I think if you have huge expectations—I mean, it’s great to be career-driven, but you just don’t know with music, where it could take you, and that’s the best thing about it—that you can always have fun with it and it can be a hobby, and I think when you let go of wanting to “make it,” that’s probably when you’re gonna have success.

When can we expect new music from you guys? Will you be singing more?

We’re playing a new song tonight, and then hopefully the album will be out next year. And we’ve got a couple singles out this year—we played this new song for the first time in Minneapolis; [the crowd] loved it. And yup, a little bit—more so than the last album.