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Empowering the Next Generation of Women in Audio

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Erika Earl – Always be yes-sing! (say it out loud)

Someone once said about Erika Earl, “the building could be on fire, and no one would know because all nine sessions would keep going.” She has made more than a few musicians, engineers, and producers feel good about broken gear or a tough situation.

Earl has been working in the professional audio industry for 15 years. She is currently the Director of Hardware Engineering at Slate Digital. She has worked in key positions in the audio industry, from being the Chief Tech at The Village Studios to running live sound at Coachella, to performing quality control and repair for leading audio manufacturers including Drawmer, Focusrite, Tube-Tech, and Daking. Her passion for audio was ignited at the age of 12 when she was introduced to the recording studio. Her mother booked time for her older sister to record a few American standards in Spanish and brought her along. Earl was captivated by the studio environment and the recording process: “Anyone who has ever walked into a professional recording session with talented artists knows she never wants to leave that room. It’s fucking cool to experience the moment of capture!” Earl knew she wanted to be a part of that process and her technical skills came from realizing she needed a reason to be in the control room beyond a simple desire to be there.

Earl’s education has been non-conventional. While she attended public school, her greatest influence came from observing her immigrant mother who in addition to having five kids, established, owned, and operated several sewing factories: “I think growing up in a factory environment informed my understanding of what ‘work’ is: long hours and sometimes under grueling conditions. I thought I better choose a job I like doing if it’s always going to be that hard.” Her audio engineering education has come from mentorships and a willingness to fail. “I have learned the most from just doing it. I have audited audio production and engineering classes at various institutions over the years. I studied math in college. I volunteer a lot, write and record as much as possible, make giant mistakes, and frequently spend late nights studying up and teaching myself. Many of my friends and mentors are serious musicians, engineers, and sound people. They encourage me to be still and listen, which I have discovered is the best way to learn more. I try and make it a point to be the dumbest and least talented person in my friend circle.”

Erika started as a studio intern working for free. Producer and engineer David Nichols gave her a key to his studio and allowed her to observe and participate as much as she was able during sessions. At night she produced live shows with friends. “My cousin and I had a club night series called Lipgloss and Cigarettes. I would book the bands and arrange the sound production while she was in charge of the venue and creative art direction.

Earl finally got a chance to mix live and get paid for it from Randy Lopez who would hire her to run FOH at a venue in Tucson, Arizona called Plush. Erika says, “I was a pest and just started showing up all the time until one day the sound guy didn’t show up, and there I was foaming at the mouth ready to go. I think Randy appreciated my enthusiasm and mentored me until I could fly on my own.” She also interned with Craig Schumacher at Wavelab, while attempting to fix guitar pedals and cables at Bevins Guitar shop.  At the same time, she worked at Epic Cafe serving coffee and vegan scones before sunrise. “Sometimes I would work at every place in town on the same day. A band would be touring and buy a cup of coffee from me in the morning, visit the studio in the afternoon, and then I would run their live sound at night. It was a trip.”

Earl says that at every trade show and conference she made a point of introducing herself to as many manufacturers as possible. “I met Jonathan Little of Little Labs at a TapeOp conference, and he hired me after a working interview. I worked there during the day and then recorded at The Distillery at night. If I wasn’t recording, I was running live sound, or stalking rehearsal spaces in LA looking for bands to work with me.”

After a few years working in LA, she got pregnant and quit everything to go home to Arizona and be closer to her family. She knew she wanted to go back to work, but studio hours and a baby seemed like a miserable combination. “I just didn’t think I was ready to commit to that lifestyle again, so I cold called Tony Marra at Thermal Relief Design on a recommendation from Jay Fitzgibbons (DSPdoctor, LLC) and asked Tony for a job. Thermal Relief was the only authorized service center for many brands I respected at the time. Tony did not have a position available, but I somehow managed to impress him into meeting with me. I moved to Las Vegas and started at Thermal Relief as a tech, receptionist, shipping & receiving person and was eventually promoted to Technical Service Manager.”

Village Techs and Ed Cherney

During her time at Thermal Relief, Earl was invited by Brad Lunde (Trans Audio Group) to work as a tech for his Audio Underground Roadshow which is a traveling high-end audio showcase. At one showcase hosted at The Village Studios Earl was introduced to Studio Manager, Tina Morris. One of Earl’s goals was to work in a large classic commercial studio, and The Village was a perfect opportunity to do just that. About a year after their first meeting, Morris was interviewing Earl for the Chief Tech position. Earl accepted the job and moved back to LA. Earl was in charge of the technical staff and all of the electronics in the building at The Village, including the phone system and internet. “The place is three stories and has four commercial recording studios, eight or nine private studios, two NEVE 88Rs, one NEVE 8048, a NEVE 8068, a Digidesign Icon which we upgraded to an AVID S6, an auditorium, a ballroom, and loads and loads of gear. At one point we had an all female tech staff which was pretty radical. Outside of servicing and maintaining the gear, I was responsible for assisting engineers with any technical support they required, training, and developing new processes and systems. I also helped create the forensic archiving department, design a cam lock and distro for live concerts, build two new rooms, and completely re-wire another”.

Erika is now at Slate Digital and is the Director of Hardware Engineering, where she directs teams and engineers in the technical development of hardware products from concept to launch. She also manages manufacturing and supervises logistics and hardware support. “I sort of perform double duty as Product Manager / Director of Hardware Engineering. Prototyping is one of my favorite things to do. I also really enjoy standards testing. I find radiated emissions fascinating. Working at Slate Companies and keeping up with Steven Slate, Fabrice Gabriel (Slate Digital), Alex Simicev, and Sergey Danilov (Slate Media Technology / Steven Slate Drums) is insanely rewarding. Their ideas and skills are what I imagine X-Men are made of. Our teams are working at the edge of technology using critical, complex, and creative strategies to come up with innovative solutions and tools for everyone. Every role at our company is held by a high-level high-output individual, and that makes it so thrilling to be a part of. I love being surrounded by so many gifted and talented people.”

Erika’s long term goals are:

What do you like best about your job?

You know what people say “behind every great man is a great woman?” For me, that woman is, Jesse Honig. He’s my right-hand man. In fact, he answered this question for me. After having kids, I have become very selective about work. Anyone who knows me understands how much I enjoy motherhood and contributing to my community. If I am going to spend any time away from my kids, then the work better be worth it. And if I am going to spend more time with any other people than my children, they better be worth it. I feel so lucky to be working with some of the most incredible and inspiring human beings on work I believe in. They are what I like best about my job.

What do you like least?

Working across three different time zones is my least favorite thing about work. I thought after my son turned two I would get to sleep through the night. NOPE. We have engineering teams and clients all over the world.

What if any obstacles or barriers have you faced?

You’ve seen American Ninja Warrior right? You know the moment in the show where they unveil an obstacle and once the athlete gets through it they are awarded a new obstacle…yeah, I think in many ways, and very much by my own design, I have chosen paths which have led to bigger and badder goals which are inescapably riddled with bigger and harder obstacles.

How have you dealt with them?

Practice, patience, and a relentless desire to succeed. A good sense of humor has saved me on more than one occasion. I think it’s extremely important to acknowledge my feelings and then do my best to let anything that doesn’t serve me or the project go. I try and focus on the next logical move and take small steps until I have overcome or maneuvered past the barrier. I rely heavily on my support team of friends and colleagues. Therapy helps a lot. Meditation helps a lot. Exercise and diet help a lot. At the end of each day, my kids remind me of what really matters.

Advice you have for other women and young women who wish to enter the field?

Oh dear, this will be cheesy and probably echo every inspirational calendar you have ever read, but I mean it: take care of yourself. Don’t believe everything you think. Especially when that inner voice is telling you “you suck!”. Define your boundaries. Stand up for yourself even if that means you might lose the job. There will be others. Be honest. Listen more than you speak. Be thoughtful in everything you do, no matter how big or small the job or task is treat it with the same care. Look to your right, look to your left, and make friends. These are your peers and your future community. I am a big believer in you get what you give, and a goal without a plan is just a dream. Never make excuses.

What side of the glass do you prefer? The creative side or the recording side or tech side?

I feel like this is somewhat of a trick question because that’s assuming that being an artist is non-technical and being an engineer is non-artistic which is not often the case. I am a results oriented person by nature. If that means making everyone in the room feel okay about broken gear to continue the creative process, I am happy to bring relief. If that means staying up all night to fix said broken gear, I will do it. Setting up and getting tones are just as thrilling to me. Want to write a song? Come over! I also think creating intuitive interfaces which expose engaging parameters of more complex systems remains one of the most interesting types of work as far as bridging STEM to humanities and the arts. I believe artists and engineers are more alike than different.

Must have skills?

Attention to detail. A “can do” attitude. Must be kind and willing to listen. Admit your mistakes promptly and without emotion (cry later, problem solve first!)

Favorite gear? APx515, Coles 4038, Hakko 888, Flickinger console, ATR 102, Slate MTi2, VMS One, Snap-on anything, Ampex MM1200, Scully 280, RCA BA-6A, M49, Slate Control, I could go on forever!

How do you juggle being such a bad ass in the industry and being a mom?

Wow, thank you! First thing is maintaining that illusion; kids are a lot of work! I have also worked for some incredibly understanding and flexible employers. I sort of feel like kids are on a suicide mission until they are like ten. They see an outlet as a perfect target for a fork! Being a mother is my favorite job. I don’t know, we all have our lives and responsibilities. I just find ways to do the things I want to do, and I start by believing I am capable of it.

 

Conversations About In-Ears

One of my favorite things is seeing musicians embracing, understanding and using technology to further their artistic goals. I regularly do monitors, and I get so excited seeing when singers have successful soundchecks and go on to just nail the performance. I notice that time and time again singers struggle a little harder with wearing in-ears than most musicians do. I decided to use the resources I have close to me and talk to vocalists I know in the area. These are women I believe excel at what they do and also wear in-ears properly.

First I talked to Nikia Hammonds-Blakely. She is a local singer that I have the pleasure of working with regularly. She started performing in a choir at age ten which progressed to her performing as a solo artist in her teens. Her early influences were obviously gospel. As she got older singers such as Whitney Houston, Toni Braxton, and Celine Dion have become an influence. Her favorite style of song is a mellow love song.

When I started asking her about her experiences with in-ears, I noticed a how she hesitated. She has been using IEMS for three years and is still hesitant to say she is comfortable. Nikia uses Shure SE425 a dual driver generic in-ear. I asked her what her biggest struggle with in-ears was. To which she replied, “I’m a people person, I like to connect with people. I want to feel the room. I want to feel a vibe off the atmosphere.” She felt that she initially didn’t want to hear just the music, it made her feel as if she was in a recording studio and in her own world.  She said she struggled at first to be able to describe what would help her still feel connected.

“I am a work in progress. I’m an artist. By no means do I have any tech-savvy-ness. . . I want to grow to the point where I know the science behind sound. So I can ask for what I need.”

The most exciting thing, as a monitor person, was to hear repeatedly her desire to know more about the technical aspects. The more she knows, the easier and faster she can achieve her perfect in-ear mix.

“I used to hate them because I felt contained. I’m much more comfortable with it now because it allows me to hear my voice better and perfect my voice. When you can hear yourself better you can adjust yourself without going sharp or flat.”

Another interesting point she brought up was performance. She said her performance changed using in-ears. Before she relied on a lot of auditory cues for how engaged the audience was, now she is forced to open her eyes and make a connection. Her stage presence has changed. Her actions now are more deliberate. When she inserts her in-ears, it is as if she is now entering performance mode and is now there to bring her A game. The world of in-ear monitoring can get complex. Now there are cues, countdowns, and people calling songs or note changes all of which a singer could hear.

“In-ears is not just me listening to myself, or the band. It’s someone talking to me while I’m singing, distorted sounds, some sounds too fat; some are too soft. So you have to listen to those things and drown it out. You hear many more things than you did while just listening to wedges.”

As she grew more comfortable wearing in-ears she realized there was more than just going out there and singing.

“All that said, it is growing me. It is making me more aware of all the elements that have to come together to achieve a good sound. As a professional singer, you need to have an awareness of how one thing plays into another and the balance that is required to create this beauty that is music. ”

I always find it interesting what different singers want in their in-ear mixes. I feel like I’ve encountered a lot of singers who are timid with their requests. There is no wrong way to build a mix that helps you, the singer, give an incredible performance. When I asked Nikia what she liked in her mix she said herself, keys, whoever is carrying the melody, kick, click, audience mics. And what she calls the cherry on the top, reverb. She said, “reverb is like a filter on a camera or lip gloss on ashy lips. It just comes out a little prettier.”

When I asked her if she had advice for techs, new singers, and fellow musicians, she warned that as professionals we forget how foreign and overwhelming it can be for someone who hasn’t worked in this professional world. Her specific advice for monitor engineers was,

“Teach. Teach, the more you take a second to teach the more you will get out of them. In gospel music you have to be able to feel it, you have to be able to unplug from the technicalities and feel the audience and the message. It takes a certain level of confidence and being equipped on the front end to be able to do that.”

When I asked her if she had advice for new singers who are just starting out wearing in-ears she said,

“Talk to your engineers. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. I wish now I had asked more questions. I’m just now feeling more comfortable asking for what I need. Don’t feel intimidated by the engineers and people who know what you don’t know. You’ve got to learn from them and not be afraid to ask.”

That is the key for anyone coming up in the music business. Don’t be afraid to ask.

You can learn more about Nikia at:

nikiahammondsblakely.com

championpromise.org

Aubrey Caudill: Aubrey lives in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and works as a freelance audio engineer. She currently works for several area wedding bands and runs monitors at The Potter’s House North Dallas. She is also a mother of two sons under ten.

CWM (SWIM) Celebrates International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day is a celebration celebrated globally. The focus is on celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The main purpose: Gender Parity or the idea of equal distribution of gender to every dimension in life. European Institute of Gender Equality

For women in the music industry, the best way for us to celebrate that goal was to partner with a local business that is at least part-owned by a woman and invite all the local singer-songwriters and musicians together for a night of music. Attendees were encouraged to wear red for solidarity. This year we celebrated it in Modesto, CA at Sandude Brewery and Tap Room co-owned by Janette Samuel Freitas and her husband.

The event was hosted by California Women’s Music with performances by Kayla Just, Melynda Rodriguez, The Islands Duo, Francesca Bavaro, Matte Overstreet, and Victoria Boyington. This was a perfect mix of local women coming together with a purpose: to show solidarity for equality in music.

Megan Avila, lead singer of The Islands Duo said “It was beautiful, a beautiful experience seeing women come together through a common passion that we all share. It made me excited and grateful to share music with one another and the community. The support I have felt from these women is so immense.”

Local singer-songwriter Kayla Just was inspired by the event “ I thought it was an amazing event. I was and always am so happy to be a part of anything involving Women’s Music. It is so cool to have everyone come together to show their support and just genuinely love what we do. All of us ladies are inspired by each other and the sense of unity was strong. I love that feeling! It is super uplifting to be part of it as a musician and also as a woman. Such a wonderful experience.”

Mattea Overstreet, newest CWM Board Member said “The International Women’s Day Celebration was a collection of eclectic and powerful female voices gathered to celebrate women in music, business, education and the fine arts and to promote equality and local businesses. Many thanks to Sandude Brewing CO.  for hosting a successful and historic event in Downtown Modesto. It was a pleasure to be given this amazing platform to showcase my original music.”

Jordan Waters a local singer-songwriter shows his support for women “I thought it was a terrific event and was glad to see so many talented women being recognized in our community. Glad they were able to show their talent and we were able to come together to support equality.”

Overall, It is the small movements everywhere in the United States that will help to advance women in music. When we all come together to show our support globally, in all of our local communities we show that we are united together. Let’s continue to show our support for the advancement of women in business, education, music and the fine arts. Find a local women’s organization today and go to their events, support the Future is Female movement today. The best way to make a change is in your own community.
Visit www.cwmusicfest.com for more information on the advancement of women in business, education, music and the fine arts. Get more information about upcoming events in your area. Want to have CWM come to your town? Let us know. Go to the contact page and send us a message subject line “Our Town”.

 

SoundGirls Sound Camps – 2019

 

Upcoming Camps

2019 Camps TBA

SoundGirls Sound Camp is a one-week camp for young girls & women ages 12-18 (all genders and non-binary people welcome) who want to learn about live music production. The camp curriculum was designed by industry veterans and teaches the skills and technology to run live sound. Working in small, collaborative and hands-on groups, the attendees learn:

The camp helps to empower young women in underserved communities by giving them hands-on training, access to technology, life skills, and most importantly – confidence. Over 70% of girls attending our camps receive scholarships.

Testimonials

“The week-long class allowed me to learn the basics of stage plots, setting/striking gear, navigating analog/digital consoles, and working with a live band before ultimately sharing the responsibility of mixing with a professional at an annual music festival in the area.”

“Through workshops like these I think we can change the current trends. Someday soon long gone will be the days of the lone SoundGirl.”

“I absolutely loved the Live Sound camp for girls. I was able to learn a lot in an environment where I felt comfortable. The instructors were very helpful and I gained the confidence I needed to pursue a career in Live Sound.”

“My girls, who are musicians, now have the knowledge to set up their own PA and manage their own sound. This knowledge is invaluable and will follow them throughout their music life.”

Mission

To inspire and empower the next generation of women in audio.

Our mission is to create a supportive community for women in audio and music production, providing the tools, knowledge, and support to further their careers.

“It’s a generally accepted statistic that women make up about 5 percent of the audio engineering industry. And while more girls are participating in STEAM classes at a young age, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says women are still underrepresented in many engineering fields. SoundGirls.Org‘s vision is to inspire and empower young women and girls to enter the world of professional audio and music production.

A Big Thanks to our 2017 Sponsors:

Get Involved

To donate, sponsor, volunteer, or request info please contact Karrie Keyes at soundgirls@soundgirls.org

Seizing the Opportunities – Dawn Birr of Sennheiser & Neumann

Dawn Birr is the Channel Manager of the Americas for Sennheiser’s new Business Solutions division. Dawn has spent the last 17 years with Sennheiser and worked her way up, starting out as a temporary receptionist. Dawn has held several titles within in Sennheiser & Neumann; Global Commercial Manager, Audio Recording, Product Manager, RF Product Manager of our 3/5K series, Channel Manager for Installed Sound, Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Installed Sound in the U.S., and in between Sennheiser encouraged her to obtain an MBA.  

Dawn always wanted to work in the music industry and says she “was obsessed with it growing up, but as a teenager or young adult, I really didn’t have any idea the real scope of the music/audio business.  It’s a very diverse and interesting business to be a part of, with many ways to contribute and still nurture your passion.”

Sennheiser became a good fit for Dawn as she learned about the company and the people, igniting a passion. It is not uncommon to find individuals who have been with Sennheiser for over 20 years, and they are strong mentors for people coming into the company. On top of that Sennheiser has been championing diversity within the company Dawn says that “Daniel Sennheiser and Andreas Sennheiser, have been strong supporters of diversity within our organization.” and that “Sennheiser’s culture is a positive and encouraging environment for women.  I have great support from my peers and colleagues.  Our leaders set the tone, and they firmly believe that diversity makes us a better company.”

Dawn was fortunate to have strong mentors both inside and outside Sennheiser. Dawn says that  “Leslie Ann Jones has been both a mentor and friend to me since the first time we met.  She’s been encouraging and honest with support and feedback whenever I’ve needed a check or balance”. In addition to Leslie, John Falcone was the  U.S. President of Sennheiser when Dawn started, and she learned a lot from his examples. Falcone is now the Global Director of Sales and Dawn says “ I’ve also been allowed to learn from mistakes and grow from them under his leadership, especially in my early days.  I have a lot of respect and admiration for both Leslie and John”.

Dawn and SoundGirls Interns Melissa and Victoria at AES

Even with the nurturing environment at Sennheiser Dawn has faced adversity due to her gender and age“ In my earlier days I did have a few instances where I was questioned or called out (to my face) because of my gender.  Luckily, it only happened a few times, and it helped me develop some thick skin.  As I’ve gotten more mature both personally and professionally, it’s not been an issue.”  Her advice to women in the audio industry is  “Take every opportunity you can.  You never know who you will meet now and then again meet later in your professional life.  Believe in your skills and abilities, no matter how disingenuous that may feel in the moment or how loud the negative voice is inside your head.  Find the people you admire and get to know them.  Mentors will naturally come to you, and you to them, in many cases”.

Today Dawn loves that her job is different every day; she loves being a part of one project and then seeing the results on TV, in the studio, onstage. She says she “loves being able to talk about the history of our company and the products we’ve made that have changed the industry. I really love contributing to the success of our company”. Sennheiser has a range of new products that just debuted at NAMM; Sennheiser RF systems for live sound to exciting new studio monitors from Neumann. Dawn says Sennheiser is “spending a lot of time and focus on Immersive Audio and our AMBEO line of 3D products and services.  We have two pop-up shops that will run through the end of March in NYC, and the focus is both on Consumer and Pro audio. They’ve allowed us to be present in the public space in a really interesting way, and show off our full range of products from studio to stage to personal use”.

SoundGirls.Org would like to thank Sennheiser and Neumann for their support. They are sponsors for our Live Sound Camps for Girls and recently hosted two Sound Academy RF & Wireless workshops in Los Angeles and New York, for our members. Dawn generously volunteered her time to part of our NAMM Mentoring session.  Dawn encourages our members to contact her at Dawn.birr@sennheiser.com for help and information with any Sennheiser & Neumann Products.

 

Help Promote Women in Audio

SoundGirls Social Media Campaign

SoundGirls will be collecting short video clips on Why I Love Being a Sound Engineer. These videos will help us promote our Live Sound Camps for Girls for Summer 2017 and our Fundraising Campaign.

Why I Love Being a Sound Engineer

Musicians welcome too – Why is important that there are more Women Sound Engineers.

We are asking members to record a short video of themselves at work

If you have a SoundGirls Shirt, Sticker, Lanyard please include it in the video

Be natural, don’t make it something that seems fake or too rehearsed

What to talk about

Why do you love being a Sound Engineer?

Guess what I did today? What gig or project are you working on?

Why women don’t even consider this as a career?

Example: “oh if only women knew about what life is like when my work is going to gigs and being sort of the boss since you are in control of the most important thing: the sound!”

Since you will most likely be filming this your phone – please consider the background and lighting. The image must be clear. Music in the background is great – but make sure your audio is clean and we can understand you.

Keep it short – one minute or less – (no more than two minutes)

Please email videos to soundgirls@soundgirls.org

Thanks for your help

Team SoundGirls

Madame Gandhi – On Women in the Industry

As we enter 2017 women’s issues, seem to be at the forefront of the countries mind and I encourage everyone to stand up and support women-led organizations and stand in solidarity with women worldwide. I was lucky to have met Madame Gandhi at Girl Power! Women Working in the Music Industry Conference: Blending Careers in Entertainment and Technology in San Francisco last April. It was a great way to start off the year. She was so amazing to listen to because she has worked at all levels of the industry. Working for Interscope Records as a data analyst and MIA as their drummer in an all-female lineup. She has an MBA from Harvard University. Listening to her explain algorithms just amazed me and taught me so much about boosting yourself on social media.

Aside from being an accomplished musician and music industry thinker, Madame Gandhi is also a feminist activist. I thought about all of her experience, and it made sense to interview her to find out more about women in the industry from someone who has been on all ends of the music spectrum. I was very excited when she agreed to the interview. I think the most exciting thing for me was the way she answered my questions. I received audio answers. It made the experience so much more intimate. Here is what Madame Gandhi had to say.

What is your experience working with women on a sound crew? Has it been good? How does having women on your sound crew affect your show experience?

OMG, It’s like a game-changer. It’s totally night and day. It’s extremely important for me to work with an all-female team especially when it comes to sound. I think women are really talented at doing live sound and sound design on the actual records for two reasons; one is that women are more emotionally sensitive and aware of what’s going on, so they respect both the needs of the artist, but also the needs of the audience at the time. I think that when I have worked with men, they’re kinda more rudimentary about it, and also a lot of them are really burned out from being treated badly on the road. Because I as a drummer have experienced that sort of “subtle sexism,” I know how to work against it and prevent it, in the way I treat my fellow women. So, those are some of the reasons I think it’s really important and actually quite exceptional to have a female sound team.

The other thing too is when giving feedback when I’m like “ooh no this doesn’t feel good, or I want this louder, I want this softer” a lot of times men are condescending. They think you don’t know what it is that you need or want, which is really frustrating and women are like, dude my job is to make you feel good on the stage and feel what you feel. What you feel isn’t right or wrong it just is and so, therefore, how can I augment the sound or make subtle changes so that you feel really good doing your show and you’re not thinking about the sound. That’s how you build trust, and that’s how you build mutual respect. I really do prefer to work with women. If any men are reading this too, I would say that they should learn how to be more trustworthy and respectful of the artist on their stage and just give them what they want, so long as the artist is respectful and kind in return.

What is your advice for a woman who wants to pursue sound engineering as a profession?

Just keep doing it. No one is gonna sit there and teach you. It really is that you have to go and kinda just hang around at the clubs and the bars. Start watching someone else do it, usually a guy, and be like “oh, hey you need someone to plug that mic in, sure I got you”. You have to fill in where they wouldn’t even ask for help they just could use it. Most sound people are so frustrated that they don’t ask for help because they think that you’ll make a mistake so why would they want to do it twice like you’ll make a mistake and then they’ll have to undo your work. If you spend time watching, then you start assisting with the really basic tasks, then they’ll start mentoring you and giving you more stuff because you’ve made their life better.

MADAME GANDHI - MIAThe dream scenario is: you wanna get to be a person who’s super helpful in the beginning and like reading stuff on the side not asking the sound person too much but more just watching. You’ve become so helpful that if you left and you didn’t help them out at each of their shows, they would really miss you, you know, the person who is mentoring you. So, you wanna get to a place where you’re making their life less stressful and therefore, in turn, they’ll wanna show you more and then you get to learn. All the female sound engineers that I know learned from men and learned by being humble and helpful instead of being annoying and asking too many questions. I want to give some love right now; My FOH sound engineer right now is Jess Jacobs, and my sound designer who performs live on the stage with me is Alexia Ryner.

How do you see yourself assisting in the advancement of feminism in music this year?

It’s all about taking my ideas about the world that I wish we lived in and what the future is females means and what women’s contributions bring to the table and then expressing it through my voice, which could either be musically or through speaking and writing. That’s what I think about daily. Every time I have ideas, I write them down. Then if I’m asked to give a talk or a show, I try to take the recent learnings or ideas that I’ve had from that month from my notes and then put them into that show or talk so that everything that I do is fresh and inspired.

What obstacles do women in the music industry face today? Are there still obstacles? What work needs to be done to provide women in the industry more opportunities?

I think one of the biggest ones is people underestimating them. I think it’s really frustrating to walk into a situation where someone already thinks you’re gonna be bad at what you do. I think another obstacle is that some of the old-school constructs still exist. Where you bond over going to maybe a strip club or you bond over commenting on how hot one of the artists is, you sort of bond over misogyny. It’s not cool.

I think a lot of time women are the only ones in a situation with a bunch of men saying sexists things; it’s weird that we don’t live in a world where the fact that the woman is right there is not enough of a check to make you not want to say sexist things. A lot of us have been in situations where just because we want the job or we want to be able to hang with that crowd, we sort of bite the bullet and take in that sexism and allow it to slide. I think those are some of the biggest barriers on an emotional end on a very practical level.

I think another barrier is the fact that we haven’t seen many female CEOs of record labels and big companies. The best female-run companies I’ve seen are those who leave their old company and go and start their own thing. For example, my management team that I’m assigned to is called Friends at Work which was started by Ty Stiklorius, who’s a badass billboard 100 in music woman. She manages John Legend and Alicia Keys and now is the head of my management company. So that’s pretty extraordinary. I think a lot of times women have to just self-select out and just start their own thing, once they’ve reached a certain level of prestige because if we depend on men to give us the positions that we want, we may be waiting for a long time. Even at my booking agency, my booking agent is this badass woman, Amy Davidman. She’s one of the top people at Windish. She has a really incredible wife. They understand very much, my mission and so then both on an emotional and very practical level Amy is perfect for the job. So, I think those are some of the things. You have to kill it, and then you probably have to start your own thing and then set norms within your own company that actually make a difference in the world.

How did your experience drumming for MIA influence your ideas about women in music

MADAME GANDHI- DRUMMING MIAI mean, MIA used to only put women on her stage. It was so badass. I’ll never forget one day, I came across a tweet that I was tagged in that said “OMG, it is so incredible that MIA has only women on her stage right now. These girls are killing it”.

I think that when you get to be as big as she is you have the ability to put women on and really paint the picture that you wanna see in the world. And I think just by doing that and showing how sick the show can be with only women changes a lot of people’s perspectives and stereotypes about what’s possible and about the capabilities of women in music. So, I think that was one of the biggest things.

I also learned about some of the stresses through her. I think she definitely keeps space from a lot of people. I think she continually changes her line up and the people who are working for her and in her show because with women, people tend to push women around more. They tend to expect more; they tend to give their input when they weren’t asked, and so, I think she rotates her line up a lot so that she can keep performing freely without the pressures of others. I think people give men the space they need to create and the respect they need as an artist, but I think with women people think that their opinions are open and welcome even though they’re really not.

You are booked to play GIRLSCHOOL in January. How did you get involved with their festival? Do you think we need more festivals that have women-fronted artists?

Obviously, I do. I think it’s a kind of push and pull. It’s like you wanna have a lot of female-focused and fronted festivals so that we as women can kind of bond with each other and show that there’s power in solidarity and not in competition. And also just to be with those that have a really similar walk of life as you and who can teach you something and who can uplift you so that when you do go into the more co-ed environment, you are equipped with the tools and some of the emotional strength to deal with it.

Anything else you would like to share?

Yeah, I love that you’re doing this blog. I think that being able to share the experiences of other women is really empowering. I think that each of us as women who are doing well owes it to each other to give each other the tools we’ve learned along the way. I think that successful people are not threatened by the success of others, which is the notion of the Future is Female and the notion that Gloria Steinem talks about all the time called “we are linked and not ranked”. You know, the male energy in the capitalist system is that it’s a zero-sum game. For one person to win someone has to lose. But in a Future that is Female, the idea is instead that each of us has something very unique and special to contribute. So by giving each other the space and the respect to be our best selves then we actually live in a far better world than one where we’re trying to dominate and control each other.

Madame Gandhi - FUTURE IS FEMALE

I completely agree with Madame Gandhi about the need for less competition and more solidarity among women in the industry. Interviewing Madame Gandhi was so enlightening, and I thank you so much for your voice and support for women in the industry. I look forward to her playing the California Women’s Music Festival.

You can read more about Madame Gandhi and check out her page to learn more about her activism, show dates, and more.

Australia SoundGirls – First Meet Up

sound-girls-2k16-v-2We are excited to welcome Toni Venditti as SoundGirls Chapter Head for Sydney Australia. We know Australia is a large country and hope to expand to other regions.

SoundGirls.Org’s vision is to inspire and empower young women and girls to enter the world of professional audio and music production while expanding opportunities for girls and women in these fields, and to share resources and knowledge through cooperation, collaboration, and diversity. SoundGirls supports women working in professional audio and music production by highlighting their success and providing a place for them to connect, network, and share advice. SoundGirls.Org provides support, career development, and tools to help those working in the field advance in their career.

We invite you to join Toni for the first meet up in Australia in Jan.16th. Members will get to meet each other and determine the direction and needs of the chapter. Please RSVP to soundgirls@soundgirls.org.

SoundGirls meet ups welcome all members regardless of age, gender, race, etc. to attend.

 

NAMM Mentoring Session

SoundGirls.Org Presents NAMM Mentoring Session – Hosted by Heather Rafter

Join us for a Mentoring Session with Women Leaders in Professional Audio

You must be a member of SoundGirls.Org. You Must RSVP for this Event as Space is Extremely Limited. You will receive venue address with your confirmation. RSVP to soundgirls@soundgirls.org

This event will be a casual mentoring session – where you can get advice and answers to your questions. Groups will rotate between leaders specializing in Live Sound, Recording and Mastering, Broadcast Engineering and Professional Audio Sales.

Industry Leaders Include

working-tara2LESLIE ANN JONES

Leslie Ann Jones has been a recording and mixing engineer for over 30 years. Starting her career at ABC Recording Studios in Los Angeles in 1975, she moved to San Francisco in 1978 to accept a staff position at the legendary Automatt Recording Studios. From 1987 to 1997 she was a staff engineer at Capitol Studios located in the historic Capitol Records Tower in Hollywood. In February of 1997 she returned to Northern California to accept a position as Director of Music Recording and Scoring with Skywalker Sound, where she continues her engineering career mixing music for records, films, video games, television, and commercials.

She is a past Chair of The Recording Academy’s Board of Trustees and is the recipient of 4 Grammy Awards, including 2 for Best Engineered Album-Classical. She serves on the Advisory Boards of Institute for Musical Arts, Ex’pression College for Digital Arts, and is an Artistic Advisor to the new Technology and Applied Composition degree program at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

20160717_113247-1Karrie Keyes – Monitor Engineer for Pearl Jam and Eddie Vedder – Executive Director and Co-Founder of SoundGirls.Org

Karrie has spent the last 25 plus years as the monitor engineer for Pearl Jam. Karrie started out doing sound for punk bands in Los Angeles in 1986 under the tutelage of Dave Rat of Rat Sound, where she spent twenty years helping to establish the company. She was able to gain an immense amount of hands-on experience and technical knowledge at Rat, which eventually led to her becoming the monitor engineer for The Red Hot Chili Peppers from 1990-2000. She first met and started working with Pearl Jam who opened for RHCP on their 1991-1992 Blood Sugar Sex Magic Tour. She has worked with Sonic Youth, Fugazi, and Neil Young.

10329981_10202734866705629_3189953941176639467_oErika Earl – Director of Hardware Engineering for Slate Digital and Slate Media Technology

From pulling out the soldering iron to setting up microphones around a drum kit, Erika Earl brings experience from all sides of the professional audio business. Her understanding of audio electronics was earned through more than a decade of experience repairing, servicing, and performing quality control for a wide range of top manufacturers, including Tube-Tech, Drawmer, Focusrite, Daking, Bock Audio, Avid, Little Labs, and many others.

She has also engineered for studios and run FOH throughout Arizona and California. Erika served as Head of Technology and Chief Technician for LA’s landmark studio The Village. When she’s not thinking through a schematic or evaluating the subtleties of a tube compressor, you’re likely to find her sifting through her collection of vintage records and rare books.

imageLeslie Gaston-Bird Vice President for the Audio Engineering Society’s Western Region  & Associate Professor of Recording Arts at the University of Colorado Denver

Lesie has over 25 years of experience in audio for film and video, music recording, and radio. She graduated from the Audio Technology program at Indiana University in 1989. She also holds a BA in telecommunications and an MS in recording arts. She has worked for National Public Radio in Washington, D.C., Colorado Public Radio in Denver, as recording engineer for the Colorado Symphony and as a sound editor for Post Modern Company in Denver. She has performed soundtrack restoration on films from the Sony/Columbia Pictures archives and is one of the pioneers of a music video production style she calls “Music Video Vérité”. She runs her own freelance audio post production company, Mix Messiah Productions, LLC. She is also a Fulbright Scholar.

fullsizerender-1Grace Royse – Live Sound Engineer and Production Manager

Grace Royse is a Live Sound Engineer and Production Manager with 11 years of experience in world touring.Clients include Sublime with Rome, Fitz and the Tantrums,  Maintaining a background in studio productions, business management and artist development, she has mentored several young men and women over the years, all successfully working within the industry today.”

 

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Jett Galindo Audio and Vinyl Mastering Engineer at The Bakery

Jett Galindo is an audio & vinyl mastering engineer from The Bakery, located on the Sony Pictures Lot in Culver City. With credits spanning different genres and legendary artists (Bette Midler, Nile Rodgers, Colbie Caillat, to name a few), Jett carries on the legacy left behind by her late mentor, mastering legend Doug Sax of The Mastering Lab.

A GRAMMY Voting Member (P&E Wing) & Latin GRAMMY nominee, Jett is also an accomplished soprano who specializes in choral ensemble music. Jett also ​devotes part of her time writing for Soundgirls and volunteering for Berklee College of Music as an Alumni Ambassador.

sara-coversdolliesimg_1024Sara Elliot VP of Operations and CoFounder of VUE Audiotechnik

With more than 20 years of experience in professional audio, Sara has held strategic marketing and operational positions with numerous sound production companies including Burns Audio, A-1 Audio, and PRG. Sara also served as Director of Marketing and Sales for Live Sound International Magazine and ProSoundweb.com, two of the industry’s most respected news and technical information sources. Sara brings to VUE Audiotechnik a wealth of industry relationships and a deep understanding of business operations.

dawn-birrDawn Birr – Global Commercial Manager Sennheiser and Neumann

Dawn Birr is the Global Commercial Manager, Audio Recording with Sennheiser & Neumann.  Dawn started out as temporary receptionist and with strong mentors and a nurturing culture has been able to work her way to the top.  During the 16 years she has been with Sennheiser she has held these positions, Neumann Product Manager, RF Product Manager the Sennheiser 3/5K series, Channel Manager for Installed Sound, Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Installed Sound in the U.S.

download-40Fela Davis Sound Engineer and Owner of 23db Productions

Fela Davis is a co owner at 23db Productions based out of New York City. She’s a graduate of Full Sail University and has over a decade of experience in audio engineering. Her past experiences includes working for industry power houses Clair Broadcast and House of Blues. When she’s not mixing or mastering songs for 23db Productions, she’s mixing front of house engineer for the 5-time Grammy award winning jazz artist Christian McBride and Grammy nominated Ottmar Liebert.

img_5006Claire Murphy Guitar and Backline Tech

Claire holds a Bachelors degree in Music Technology from Hertfordshire University in the UK. She has 7 years of professional touring experience as both guitar/backline tech and as Tour Manager. She recently moved from London to California (Los Angeles). She has a business in the UK providing storage for bands in London, and previously provided rental sprinter vans but sold these when she moved.

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Catharine Wood Recording – Mix Engineer – Owner Planetwood Studios

Catharine Wood is a Los Angeles-based composer/producer with a recording studio in Eagle Rock. With a background in audio post-production for commercials, Catharine engineered on the first iPhone commercial among hundreds of national and international campaigns – including the Geico Caveman and Priceline Negotiator spots. As a mix and mastering engineer, she has engineered on over 200 commercially released songs – including her own custom compositions which have aired on NBC, ABC, BBC, ESPN and more – both nationally and abroad. She is a GRAMMY® Voting Member and Producers & Engineers Wing member.

Catharine currently holds a position on the LA Recording School’s Recording Arts Program Advisory Committee and is the former Director of Southern California for the West Coast Songwriters organization. She is a proud Professional Member of the Society of Composers & Lyricists and in 2016, Catharine was elected to the California Copyright Conference board of directors. Her company, Planetwood Productions, specializes in producing singer-songwriters and providing engineering and composition services to the TV and Film industries.

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Tiffany Hendren Live Sound FOH and Monitor Engineer

Tiffany Hendren is a monitor engineer at The Pageant in St. Louis and the House Engineer for the Del Mar.  She tours as the FOH Engineer for “A Silent Film”. She has been involved in sound professionally for around seven years, full-time about five. Tiffany is the Co-Director of SoundGirls.Org.

 

loanneLoanne Wullaert Venue Manager and Owner of the Phoenix a Stagehand Labor Staffing Company

Loanne is not a sound engineer. She does not know the difference between a NL4 and a Noitrix.  She cannot spell that either. However, she is a venue manager, and performer and runs The Phoenix a successful stagehand labor company. She has worked in the industry since 1986 and knows what good sound is. She also knows flattening the EQ and turning it up to 11 does not solve anything.

About Loanne:  In her spare time she sings and plays piano, works on restoring her 1850’s house and has helped to save hundreds of dogs in the last year from being euthanized at Los Angeles shelters.

love-my-job-sasquatch-2016

Jessica Berg – Tour Manager and Live Sound Engineer

Jessica is a freelance TM/FOH/MON engineer and is currently touring as the TM for Phoebe Ryan. Jessica is SoundGirls.Org’s Director of Development. She is honored and excited to be volunteering with a growing organization and community that is achieving its mission – to help empower the next generation of women in audio, expanding opportunities for girls and women in the audio and music production fields, and sharing resources and knowledge through cooperation, collaboration, and diversity.

dan_profilepicDaniella Peters – Head of Sales and Management Team at Rat Sound Systems

Daniella has been with Rat Sound for over 15 years building their sales dept from a concept to a multi million dollar part of their business. She started off her career working for an international cosmetics company doing their live event production. She then transitioned to HHB Audio and Ashdown Music, Emap Performance (Kerrang and Q magazines) in London and now with Rat Sound.

She is passionate about women’s issues and spends a good portion of her spare time using her production skills to produce and host music and fashion fundraising events for various women’s non-profits.

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Meegan Holmes – Global Sales Manager Eighth Day Sound Los Angeles

Meegan graduated from California Institute of The Arts from their Technical Theater program in 1993; she entered the live production industry before graduation as a local stage hand with LA Stagecall in Los Angeles. In 1997, she began her 18-year audio career with Delicate Productions where she worked as a touring technician and engineer. Meegan wore many hats simultaneously during her time with Delicate Productions including Labor Coordinator, Project Manager and Account Manager.

This past March she joined the international touring audio company Eighth Day Sound to open and manage their new Los Angeles operation. Throughout her 24 years in the industry, she has worked hard to elevate others through hiring and mentoring. Her new position as a Global Sales Manager with Eighth Day Sound is no exception, hiring a full-time staff and expanding the company’s west coast-based freelancer pool as well as building the company’s touring and west coast based clientele.

Broadcast Engineer Jeri Palumbo, Production Manager and StageHand Hire Loanne  Wullaert, Touring Production for Rat Sound Systems Kim Sawaya Levine. Stay tuned for more announcements.

 

 

 

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