“Every time I look at a boy’s last.fm page and the only non-boy musician they listen to is St. Vincent, it makes me want to cry”
That’s what the creator of thisistheband.tumblr.com, Emma Weil, posted on her Facebook when she first announced the blog she’d pulled together herself out of sheer frustration. She goes on to reassure us she has no malice for Annie Clark but for the patronizing and victimizing patriarchy that exists not only in the larger music industry but also woefully in the DIY music scene, where we’ve already noted it still is far from smashed.
The super straight-forward aggregate blog posts news along with an ever-growing list of bands comprised of female, trans and non-binary musicians. Right now, the list mostly features artists from New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, not because Weil wants any regional specificity. She just started it up with the bands and musical styles she knows. It’s apparent that she has an earnest need to share these bands with people who don’t know them and might not know where to find them. And you gotta start somewhere.
Part of the beauty of this blog is Weil’s honesty. She admits when she can’t figure out how to describe a band. She doesn’t write flowery reviews, just conversational posts that read like they beamed straight from the “I MUST SHARE THIS” spot in her heart onto the screen.
In her effort to share, Weil admits this passion project will be a a constant work in progress and that she could use some help. Hopefully, we won’t need a space like this soon but until then, Weil is trying to help pull people out of their music listening ruts while spreading the gospel of “Non-male musicians are fucking DOPE. Duh!”
If you know of any bands that fit the non-male bill, tell her about them or write a review yourself on the Submit page.
