Mouthpiece

Mouthpiece

Carla J Easton is one of the artists given a leg up by Hen Hoose Tamara Schlesinger was fed up with the music industry continually excluding female artists. This is what excluding female artists. This is what she’s doing about it

How often have you been angry about injustice and thought ‘how can I make a difference?’ The temptation is to turn to social media and vent that anger, knowing that it won’t really change anything. For years now we have seen a lack of female artists on festival line-ups. When you remove the male artists from the promo posters, the number of acts that remain is just embarrassing. And while many of us shout as loud as we can, not much has changed.

In spite of festivals signing up to schemes such as Keychange, an initiative led by PRS (the royalties collection society) for 50/50 gender equality on festival line-ups, only 15% of 2022 headliners are women. The problem is not just on the live circuit but across the board. Only 17% of composers signed to PRS are women; only 20% of acts signed to major labels are women; and only 5% of Hollywood film composers are women.

Fed up with shouting on social media, in March 2020 I made the decision to launch Hen Hoose, an all-female and non-binary songwriting collective. During lockdown we brought together some of the finest female songwriters, producers and engineers in Scotland and created an incredible body of work with the aim of highlighting the talent that we have right here on our doorstep. Our resulting album Equaliser has gained critical acclaim from national press and radio.

Hen Hoose has also been looking at alternative revenue streams for artists. We all know the pittance that Spotify pay their artists, and that many have had to cancel live dates. There are also those artists who are clinically vulnerable and unable to perform while the virus still threatens. Given these circumstances, it’s important to find other ways to make a living from music. We have created a niche for ourselves composing for TV, film, adverts and podcasts with great success.

The pandemic has seen options open out for remote working which has also enabled accessibility for the Hen Hoose writers. Mothers can work around their childcare needs and those that are shielding can partake in co-writes at a distance. We’ve found a method that has allowed for artists to be included where they may have previously been overlooked. Across the music industry, companies and organisations need to look at what we are doing. It’s time to actively embrace and support change, and cultivate greater inclusivity. n Tam ara Schlesinger is founder of fem ale and non-binary songw riting collective and production stable H en H oose; new single ‘N ot Alone’ by MALK A from the debut H en H oose album Equaliser is out now ; henhoose.com

Might be a big joke to you lot, but having a birthday on the first day of April is no laughing matter for some. Such as Asa Butterfield, David Oyelowo and Bijou Phillips. Breathing a huge sigh of relief that mum and midwife couldn’t release them into the wild a day earlier are Michael Fassbender, Emmylou Harris and Jesse Plemons. Still, perhaps April is officially the most hilarious month given these comics are all celebrating: Eddie Murphy (3rd) David Cross (4th), Jerry Seinfeld (29th) and Vincent Gallo (11th). What do you mean Vinnie’s not a comedian? Have you heard an interview with him and his cuddly conservative views over the past 20 years? Two of those famous Hollywood hellraisers you used to get will be keeping the party on the downlow this month in the shape of Robert Downey Jr (4th) and Jack Nicholson (22nd). And April’s selection of Scots marking their entry unto the planet include ex-Time Lords Peter Capaldi (14th) and David Tennant (18th), plus Emma Thompson (15th), James McAvoy (21st) and Sam Heughan (30th). Bon anniversaire to you all.

Sam Heughan adopts an unconventional method for blowing out his candles