March 8 marks International Women’s Day and we’re celebrating women artists all day on-air and online. While we’re honoring women from all across the globe, there’s boundless talent from women and femme-identifying artists in our own backyard.
KEXP reached out to Northwest artists Corin Tucker of Sleater-Kinney and Filthy Friends, Alex of Cumulus, ParisAlexa, Alaia D'Alessandro of Tres Leches, and Bree McKenna of Tacocat to get their thoughts on what International Women’s Day means to them, their thoughts on being a woman in the Pacific Northwest music scene, as well as some of their favorite songs by women. Read their reflections below.
What does International Women's Day mean to you?
International Women's Day, to me it means celebrating women and highlighting some of our achievements around the world.
What is your favorite song by a woman who most inspires you?
I would say that my International Women's Day anthem is "Running Up That Hill" by Kate Bush. Thanks so much for having me. And Happy International Women's Day.
What about the music scene in the Pacific Northwest do you find empowering?
The music scene in the Pacific Northwest has been very inspirational to me because when I was a younger person I was able to find really strong women like Jean Smith from Mecca Normal, Kathleen Hanna and the rest of Bikini Kill who were outright feminists in their work and really did some amazing, incredible performances and also wrote really inspiring lyrics.
What could change about the PNW music scene to make it more empowering for women-identifying artists?
If I was going to change something about the Pacific Northwest music scene, I would like to see even more women in the music industry. More women producers, more women running record labels, more women promoters. I think all of that would be great just to have more women in positions of power.
What does International Women's Day mean to you?
The Pacific Northwest is awesome because there's so many female, queer artists making amazing music. I think that the scene could be improved by supporting these artists all year round. A few of my favorite songs made by really cool local women are "What Are You Doing" by Tres Leches, "Black Holes" by Baywitch, "Scene Queen" by Matriarch, and "Plaid Pants" by The Black Tones.
What does International Women's Day mean to you?
International Women's Day to me is really just another day when women are exceptional, like any other. I don't know, we can get overlooked sometimes and so it's nice to have a day when we actually will be recognized for all that we do. And I know the women in my life I would never take for granted. And they've made me the woman I am today. I'm exceptionally grateful that I could celebrate them on International Women's Day as well.
What about the music scene in the Pacific Northwest do you find empowering?
I find the celebration of diversity really empowering about the Pacific Northwest scene. I like how there's different sounds, there's different looks. We're kind of a quirky place and there's all these different pockets and kind of genre-bending and I love that. I think it's so cool to see what people are influenced by just by listening to their music. You know you can hear hints of like Stevie Wonder or hints of some Seattle bands that have come out from here. I think that's really empowering.
What could change about the PNW music scene to make it more empowering for women-identifying artists?
“Being in this industry, it's always kind of male-dominated. Especially here. I think it'd be dope if there were more like collectives where women in the music scene could come together and maybe like workshops and stuff. More open things like that would be really cool. Maybe even KEXP Mastering the Hustles targeted just for women musicians. I think that'd be really dope.”
What does International Women's Day mean to you?
International Women's Day is a really awesome day. I mean, in general, I try to celebrate women every day of my life. I have some amazing women in my life. I think that it's just an important day to highlight women that are making things happen in our communities and to talk about the struggles that we're going through and talk about the women that are making awesome changes happen.
What about the music scene in the Pacific Northwest do you find empowering?
I think the Pacific Northwest music community has been really inspiring, mainly because I'm seeing the actual music scene become as diverse as our city. And I think that's really important. There's so many great women musicians, nonbinary musicians, queer musicians in Seattle making waves happen and I'm really honored to be a part of it.
What is your favorite song by a woman who most inspires you?
Songs that are inspiring me right now, written by women, I've got a three-way tie. I've been listening to Sharon Van Etten - "Seventeen," Maggie Rogers - "Light On," and Soccer Mommy - "Your Dog."
What does International Women's Day mean to you?
International Women's Day, or at least what I hope it is, is celebrating women around the world. I mean, all women identifying people and that's across every race, creed, age, etc. Simply put for me, that's what it is. Or I hope it's that inclusive.
What could change about the PNW music scene to make it more empowering for women-identifying artists?
The thing is that there is always work that can be done. And although I've seen a spike in women of color and trans women of color taking up space and stages – like I said, we're all helping each other and we're doing this ourselves – but it would be nice to see them being booked more and not just by us. So venues can do better, festivals especially can do better.
What about the music scene in the Pacific Northwest do you find empowering?
I've been seeing more and more women of color in the scene and they've just been killing it and just rocking it. And it's kind of like we've all kept to ourselves because we didn't see a whole lot of us doing this. But we realized all this time we were all doing this – it's just we weren't being represented equally. And right now is sort of this renaissance period where we're all helping each other out and we're creating platforms for each other. Women of Color, trans women of color, we're going out here and unapologetically expressing themselves. And I love seeing that. I love it, I love it.
What is your favorite song by a woman who most inspires you?
The song "Judgment" from Reverend Sister Mary Nelson. The best song I've ever heard sung and delivered by a human being. I think there are about four other vocals on the track. There's no instrumental music. It's all acapella. And I'm not a religious person by any means, but I have a very strong appreciation for gospel music and the genuine passion that comes with the person delivering the gospel music. And the passion in this song – you can tell she absolutely believes what she's singing about and it's so powerful and she's so sure and beautiful. So I would say "Judgment" by Reverend Sister Mary Nelson is my most favorite song by a woman, but also just by anyone.
What does International Women's Day mean to you?
When I think about International Women's Day, something that comes to the forefront of my mind is inclusivity. Women who are of color, women who are transgender, and people who are nonbinary – we're often silenced by patriarchy and cis white feminism within a day that's supposed to be for us. There is a local growth of opportunities to find welcoming communities and I was really happy to be included on the bill for Fierce as F*ck by Indigenized Productions which features this eclectic range of comedy, music, burlesque and more by artists who are all women, fems, or nonbinary people of color.
I use nonbinary and all pronouns to help express myself as I move about the world, but unless we're close you'd probably get a better sense of me through my music. Tres Leches is really important for us as individuals because that created a space that Ulises, Zander and I share is one of the only places I actually do feel represented.
Moni Saldaña, director of NRMAL Music Festival in Mexico City, shares an exclusive playlist for International Women's Day.
In honor of International Women's Day, Jessica Dobson of Deep Sea Diver shares some of her favorite songs by women.
