Electric Lady, an all girl electric show presented by The Hopeless Utopian and triple j, the night across both cities boasts a solid lineup with electric ladies Ali Barter, Alex Lahey, Jack River, Gretta Ray, Bec Sandridge, Rackett and Bodytype.
Electric Lady is inspired by the movement of women electrifying their voices, guitars and rights across the world. Australian Musician Holly Rankin (Jack River/Director of The Hopeless Utopian) developed the idea around conversations with fellow musicians Ali Barter, Alex Lahey, Montaigne, Lisa Mitchell, Kita Alexander and Gretta Ray (to name a few) about the incredible surge of women in music and how powerful it would be to join together to amplify this. “The last year in music, politics and culture made me realise the time is now for this idea. Girls are ready to amplify their talent alongside each other, and the world is ready for diversity in female role models,” Holly said.
More than a band night, Electric Lady will be a platform to amplify the strength of women in music, politics, science, sport and beyond. (These are girls we'd want in our Cantik Coalition!)
NAME: Ali Barter
JOB & INDUSTRY: I am a singer, songwriter, musician and writer.
FAVOURITE BAND: Foo Fighters.
FAVOURITE SONG: Malibu by Hole.
WHAT DO YOU DO? "I am a singer, songwriter, musician and writer. I write songs about the way I feel and I play them in a rock band with incredible musicians. I also write about women in music and explore the ways that women have been suppressed throughout history."
DESCRIBE YOUR WORK ETHIC: "Just show up. I find that showing up is 90% of getting anything done. I heard an interview with Benny and Bjorn from ABBA talking about songwriting. They said that it was like waiting for a dragon to come out of its cave. You have to sit there and wait. If you go have a nap, it might come out, then and you will have missed it. So, whenever I have to write or practice or create, I just rock up with my pen and guitar and don't stress about the final product. Just show up."
DO YOU HAVE A GIRL GANG? WHY DO YOU LOVE THEM?
"Yes. My girl gang consists of my friends from school. I was lucky to have remained friends with the girls I went to school with. They are intelligent, creative and ambitious women. We all do different things, some have babies, some travel the world for work, some have dogs and like to camp and go fishing. They are supportive and courageous and hilarious. We laugh the same way now as we did when we were 15. They are my anchor in life. I feel incredibly lucky to have them."
WHAT MAKES YOU WANT TO GIVE UP? HOW DO YOU BOUNCE BACK?
"My head makes me want to give up. I just have to learn to ignore it. It’s crazy the amount of horrible things that we say to ourselves in a day. If I listened to it, I’d never get out of bed in the morning. Sometimes I have to trust that my friends believe in me or my mum or whoever. I am not the best judge of myself. In fact, sometimes I’m the worst!"
Interview courtesy of The Hopeless Utopian
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