6 minute read
Activist Vibes
In late September of 2017, before the Harvey Weinstein articles and subsequent wave of #MeToo stories revitalized a much needed global conversation against sexism, sexual abuse and violence, jazz vibraphonist Sasha Berliner published a blog post on her website about her personal experiences as a young female musician dealing with these issues that quickly went viral.
In the post, 19-year-old Berliner outlined the sexism and inappropriate behavior that she endured already at her young age, while connecting her experiences to the deep patriarchal history that continues to dominate the jazz world. (And let’s face it, all worlds and histories.)
The post’s honesty and intelligence clearly resonated with others, as it was reposted and shared by many prominent musicians and writers across the globe. Soon after, Sasha found herself featured in articles in the New York Times, interviewed for the PBS NewsHour, and was featured in New York’s annual Winter Jazzfest.
Berliner continues to publish new written pieces to her website, sashaberlinermusic.com, on everything from environmentally conscious production of music media to white privilege to her own personal struggles with depression. Her commitment to open honesty with herself and others is complemented by her dedication to mastering her craft as a musician. Her skill is evident in the video posts of her music and performances, which are also available on her website.
I sat down with Berliner on the last day of her teens to discuss her activism and her music, which she feels will always go hand in hand.
“I think art is one of the coolest ways to go about activism, and one of the most effective ways, too. It’s so intrinsic to our emotions. You can really learn how to control that with music. So in that sense, why wouldn’t I take advantage of that?” Berliner asks. “That is a very intentional message, and that’s something that I want people to know. That when I create music, there’s always a purpose.”
At 16, the musician had already written and recorded her first album, Gold, a four-song EP of beautiful and sophisticated jazzy pop tunes on which Sasha plays and sings. It is a polished album that seems ready to be marketed to a large audience. But it’s a sound that Berliner already feels she has outgrown. “There are still people who really like it, but it’s definitely not how I write music now. I’m really excited to get out some new stuff and for people to see a different side of me. A more evolved side of me, I guess,” she explains.
This new evolved side is evident in one of her recent singles, “A Heroine’s Manifesto,” which features a beautiful jazz trio flying under forefronted samples of speeches, news, and interviews from alt-right rallies; The Daily Show; Angela Davis; and Donald Trump, all emphasizing our country’s racial injustices. “Artists have historically been some of the strongest activists. Especially when you play jazz music. That’s embedded in the civil rights movement and Black activism, and it’s always been a source of empowerment. You have to recognize your space in that. You can’t just block that out. You owe it to the music and the history of the music to acknowledge your place in it.”
With regard to her place in jazz history thus far, Berliner says that it took her a long time to build the courage to publish her now legendary blog post. “It’s really hard to be so young and so new to an industry and to be that vulnerable at the same time. A lot of prominent activists in music, or otherwise, make their impact over many years, being established time and time again. It was very hard to do [as someone] still building [my] career. It could cost you some opportunities, and that’s a very genuine, scary thing to think about. That’s what stopped me from publishing it for a long time. But then what inspired me to finally get around to it was going to the Banff International Workshop in Jazz & Creative Music, and we had like 50/50 female students to male students atthe program. One of the female faculty had brought up the issue of sexism and harassment, and then every single one of [the female faculty] got emotional, because it happened to all of them. And it’s discouraged all of them. It just put it really in perspective that this isn’t about me. This is about all the people who are affected by this. You can forgive your own vulnerability. Yes, I am telling my own story, but I’m also telling otherpeople’s stories. You have to know that you’re doing this for a greater good. That made me think, ‘Oh, I do have to publish this, because it’s not just me anymore dealing with this, standing up about this. It’s everyone who’s being affected.’” She explains, “Watching how affected these women [are], who have been fighting against this, working for decades against this, and are still dealing with it—that just really struck me, and it was like: this is something I have to do. My vulnerability is not nearly as important as furthering that change.”
After publishing it, Berliner shared it on her Facebook page, and from there it took off all over the world. “I definitely didn’t expect it to go anywhere at all. I had no idea that as many people would read it as they did. I was nervous about posting it. I thought it just wouldn’t be shared that much, that it wouldn’t get across, because it wasn’t that heartbreaking, or maybe people just don’t care that much. I didn’t know,” she says. “My goal wasn’t to do some sort of paradigm-shifting thing. I never went into it thinking about that. I just thought, if I can make a couple more people more aware, then I’m doing my job, because that’s how much it matters to me. So it’s really amazing that it reached as many people as it did, and that makes me really happy. Especially that so many people are like: ‘Thank you for sharing the experiences that I have literally also gone through.’ Also a lot of men who are like: ‘Thank you for helping me be more aware. I had no idea.’ Or, ‘Thanks for teaching me how to be more actively aware of these issues; I want to make a pledgeto make this community a better place than it was for you.’ That kind of thing is really amazing to hear. Also young women who were like, ‘You have inspired me to keep going.’ That’s amazing, because I feel like I didn’t ever have that when I was younger. I didn’t have anyone, any female role model to be like, ‘I know what you’re going through, and I wanted to tell you to keep going,’ or ‘You mean more than your stereotypes.’ No one was there to tell me that. I had to discover that on my own. I wanted to be that person for other people.”
Sasha is currently continuing in her studies in her third year as an undergraduate in music at the New School in New York, while working on a new album scheduled to drop in early 2019, titled Azalea. “I’m trying to really just take mytime with it. I want more people to hear more of my compositions and to have another album that people can hold on to and listen to and have this sort of composite of all of these songs that tell a collective story. That’s something that I really value in the concept of this next album,” she says. “Some of the songs are going to be instrumental. Some of them will have spoken word, which I do plan on doing myself, because I do write so much.”
What she won’t be doing much of on Azalea is singing. While her first EP, Gold, featured Berliner singing on every track, she says with this new album, she has the urge to go against a societal pressure for female musicians to also sing. “I don't want to be known as a singer. My specialty is really in percussion and composition and orchestration, and I want people to know that. I feel like it’s such a common thing for people to be like, if you’re a female instrumentalist, you should probably also learn how to sing. It’s certainly helpful. It will increase your utility in some shape or form. But that shouldn’t be a prerequisite for female instrumentalists. They’re not approaching men that way. It feels like a product of a society that women are obligated to do that, and that’s their only way of becoming really successful. I just don’t think that’s true.”
While Berliner is quite firmly rooted in her ideals, she is fully aware that as someone still in school and perfecting her craft, her sound and how she defines herself musically is in flux. “I’m still finding my voice,” she reflects. “But throughout my whole life, I’ll be finding my voice. I think inevitably by the act of publishing music, you are forced to have some sort of definition or understanding of what your voice is, even if it is still evolving. So in that sense, I do have the defined part of my voice, but I also acknowledge that it’s still growing and developing.”
By Geoff Shelton | Photos by Alison Brady
