NEWS
HITTING THE RIGHT NOTE
Katharine Gemmell discovers a Glasgow record label putting their money where their mouth is to make a real difference on International Women’s Day
COMING UP
HEBRIDEAN DARK SKIES FESTIVAL An ambitious programme features stargazing events, workshops and talks led by leading scientists, as well as fi lm, music and theatre, all located on the Isle of Lewis, which has some of the darkest skies in the UK and is one of the best places in the country to see the Aurora Borealis. See feature, page 36. Various venues, Isle of Lewis, Fri 8–Mon 21 Feb.
DUNDEE WOMEN’S FESTIVAL Celebrating International Women’s Day (Fri 8 Mar) with almost three weeks of events, drama, discussions, workshops and community integration. The theme for 2019 is ‘Hear Women’s Voices’. Various venues, Dundee, Sat 2–Sat 16 Mar.
ABERDEEN JAZZ FESTIVAL Musicians and performers descend on the Granite City for a few days of jazz and blues, with everything from jamming and workshops, to chilled out gigs on the green and late-night sessions. Various venues, Aberdeen, Thu 21–Sun 31 Mar.
PUPPET ANIMATION FESTIVAL The Puppet Animation Festival is the UK’s oldest and largest performing arts event for children, attracting over 16,000 children and their families to performances and workshops throughout Scotland, provided by leading puppetry companies from the UK, Europe and the rest of the world. Various venues, Scotland, Sat 30 Mar–Wed 20 Apr.
COUNTERFLOWS A festival of underground, experimental and international music, Counterfl ows marries the local to the international with artists from around the world collaborating with homegrown talent in spaces across Glasgow. The line-up features Humming Dog, Triple Negative, Sholto Dobie and many more. Various venues, Glasgow, Wed 4–Sat 7 Apr.
March 8 marks International Women’s Day, an important commemoration of the movement for women’s rights that honours their achievements and stands as a reminder that the world remains gender imbalanced. In recent years, IWD has become increasingly blighted by marketers who use the day for faux activism, usually to sell a product, reducing the day’s importance to a feed of half-hearted hashtags and affi liate links.
However, beneath the white noise of meaningless campaigns are well-intentioned initiatives using the day as ammunition to do some real good. Enter Glasgow’s Double A-Side Records, a tiny record label that is releasing an all-women compilation for IWD, with all proceeds going to Glasgow and Clyde Rape Crisis.
The record label’s fi rst compilation release, Play It Like a Woman features ten diverse tracks from women artists based in or connected to Scotland. Among those featured are Carla J Easton’s ‘Girl From Before’, Hairband’s ‘Sassy Moon’ and Law Holt’s ‘Hustle’, with further contributions from Lunir, Martha Ffi on, L-space, Curdle, Life Model, Lou Mclean and Jo Foster. Alicja Tokarska and Angus Lawson, co-founders of the label, list three main motivations behind the project: to raise awareness of the scale of gendered violence, to question the underrepresentation of women in the music industry, and ‘to show the middle fi nger to the patriarchy’. Alicja explains: ‘It’s unbelievable how many women experience
14 THE LIST 1 Feb–31 Mar 2019
gendered violence each year, both in Scotland and worldwide. There needs to be a drastic change of policies around this issue, including educating young people about consent. We hope that one day the need for organisations like Rape Crisis will cease to exist but, unfortunately, all we can do today is support the cause and their great work.’
On the topic of under-representation in the music business in Scotland, she says: ‘There are countless talented women in the music business in Scotland, which made choosing artists for the project extremely diffi cult, and it still feels that promoters don’t seem to see that. We want to continue the conversation and show that there is so much choice when it comes to incredible women in the industry.’ Alicja and Angus started Double A-Side Records in their living room in 2017 with the desire to promote local artists while giving them a fair contract. So far, the label has released two LPs, one from Edinburgh multi-instrumentalist Barbe Rousse, and a double single from Home Economics and Life Model.
The Play It Like a Woman compilation will be released digitally and on a playful purple-coloured vinyl on Friday 8 March, with an all-day launch party at The Glad Cafe on Saturday 9 March. The launch will feature live performances from acts featured on the record and friends of the label. All proceeds from the launch gig will also go towards Glasgow and Clyde Rape Crisis.
To fi nd out more and to buy the record, go to doubleasiderecords.com