Diversity in music is the spark that ignites us, by Bellwether
Sydney-based pop-punk band Bellwether have just revealed their frenzied new cut Charade, Gabrielle Michael from the band wrote this piece for us:
Representation of diversity in the music scene is the spark that ignites an emerging wildfire of unique artists. It dismantles the idea that musicians must meet certain criteria to be successful. Growing up, almost all my favourite bands were consistently comprised of straight white men – this was seen, and still is to an extent, the general criteria to fill to be a musician. I was inspired early on by bands like Panic! At the Disco, Green Day, Good Charlotte, blink-182, Fall Out Boy and All Time Low to name a few. I’m sure I don’t have to point out again what they all have in common.
This is not a complaint; it is just an observation. Although, I also heavily admired people like Avril Lavigne and the notorious band that is Paramore – probably more than the others. There’s nothing quite like turning on MTV at eleven years old and stumbling across a female ripping it up on the mic with powerful, punk vocals and thinking women can be punk too? ‘Misery Business’ will always have a special place in my heart, as it does for so many of us. Paramore was just one of the few successful female fronted bands during a heavily male-dominated period. It wasn’t until the past few years that I started to realise the lack of female representation in music. As recently as last year, Ange McCormack at triple j noted that it’s twice as likely to hear solo male / all male acts on the radio than to hear a female / all-female act.
I grew up thinking that people like me were only meant to be lead singers – and if you were female and couldn’t sing, you weren’t allowed to make it as a musician in a punk band, right? Well, why on earth would I think that? Oh yeah, limited representation of females doing other things and being their top tier punk selves, which could have been due to misogyny within the scene or the lack of representation at the time or both. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t fifteen years old wishing I could be a musician in a band – I was probably too busy illegally downloading bad quality demos of pop punk music from a vague website that probably gave the family PC a virus. My journey into music was slow and random – from messing around with an acoustic off-brand kids’ guitar with a missing string to suddenly playing acoustic nights badly with friends, to where I am now. My mission wasn’t always to be in a band; maybe it’s because I didn’t know or believe I could do it.
The catalyst for me was seeing local favourites Stand Atlantic at the Metro Theatre supporting Neck Deep in December of 2018. Frontwoman Bonnie Fraser playing guitar, singing and performing like a powerhouse? Sign me up to listen forever, thanks. I spent the next week after the show motivated to learn how to play my electric guitar gathering dust because I knew it was possible. Seeing them at Rad Bar the next month in the smallest, sweatiest room I had ever been in just made the flame burn brighter. Not only was their powerful music what made me love them, but also seeing an online presence from people like Bonnie who is so relatable and honest makes you love them more. Inspiration doesn’t always come from admiring talent; it comes from seeing the real person behind it. Since then, I’d seen an abundance of local talent which continued to grow my enthusiasm and desire to learn.
Bands like The Beautiful Monument which had four women up on stage was iconic for me because it was so mind-blowing to see them tearing up the stage and proving how well we can do it. In the most recent years, we’ve seen an emergence of more women in bands, playing bass, singing, and doing a bit of everything. Acts such as The Buoys, Paperweight, and A Swift Farewell to name a few, are changing the game and setting the stage for the future of equality in music. The fact it’s difficult to to only pick a few breakout artists from the masses emerging is already a good sign that we’re evolving for the better.
With this uprising of diverse musicians, the future of music is promising. The music scene is set to embrace and encourage diversity, incorporating more diverse backgrounds such as POC and queer, trans and non-binary folks as a vivid representation of our society and proof that who we are does not limit our abilities. This range of representation will continue to spark more unique artists with incredible stories whose work will begin an endless cascade of inspiration.
BELLWETHER – UPCOMING SHOW – SAT 18 DEC | AM//PM EMO NIGHT @ THE BURDEKIN, SYDNEY NSW – Supporting Bloom.
Keep up to date with the band on Insta.
