Underplayed

Words by Akiko Kurematsu

As festivals and gigs return to our social schedules, the promise of excitement, connection and fun are dampened by the realisation that we still have to talk about gender inequality on the bills. Out of 49 acts on the lineup at Wireless in London, only five performers are women. Elsewhere in the UK, Creamfields features a 91% male lineup. Naked City, British Summer Time in Hyde Park, We Out Here, Maiden Voyage, Field Day, Neighbourhood and Leopallooza all feature a lineup that is over 60% male. 

In a recent Guardian article on the subject Maxie Gedge, UK project manager of Keychange, the PRS Foundation’s initiative encouraging music festivals to pledge to commit to lineups featuring 50% women and gender minorities by 2022, said, “It’s totally unacceptable that after a year of turmoil, women and minorities are being excluded from this return to live. It’s not an accident anymore; it’s a statement of exclusion.”

This exclusion isn’t new, and it isn’t a problem exclusive to live gigs and festival lineups. A study by the Annenberg Institute found that “Women make up less than 3% of production and technical roles in the music industry.” In 2019 Billboard and DJ Magazine found that “only 5 of the top 100 DJs are women.” Armed with these statistics and a desire to find out what was going on behind the numbers filmmaker, Stacey Lee created Underplayed, a film that explores the industry through the lives and careers of eight top female DJs - Alison Wonderland, Rezz, Tokimonsta, sister duo Nervo, Sherelle, Nightwave, Tygapaw, and Louisahhh; reflecting the diversity of experience, background and identity that is found within this scene.

Underplayed looks at how a lack of representation and huge inequality in electronic music isn’t going away any time soon and why the broader industry needs to reset its thinking about women in music.

Akiko Kurematsu: What was the inspiration behind wanting to make this film?

Stacey Lee: The history of this community is founded by some of the most diverse communities and perspectives, from Daphne Oram at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop to the incredible BIPOC LGBTQI+ communities who invented House and Techno. I was curious how an industry built from the very principles of diversity, community, and inclusion could wind up so far from these original ideals, and how the influences of big business and gatekeeping contributed to who gets opportunities and who doesn't.

We filmed over the busiest summer festival and club season from June to September 2019. The pandemic hit the following year after filming, so in a way, the film is a time capsule of a particular era before the world changed forever.

AK: How did you decide on the women you feature?

SL: The film has six lead characters and four secondary narratives. It was important for me to reflect on the diversity of experience, background, identity and genre found within this scene. There were so many other female and non-binary artists I wanted to feature, but in the end, due to conflicting schedules, travel or depth of access, these were the subjects that ultimately made the cut.

AK: Did you find a shared experience between all of the women featured in the film?

SL: Before I made this film, I spent three months in pre-production speaking to many women who work behind-the-scenes in music, and I heard the same things repeatedly. It didn’t matter what role they had in the industry; there was a constant struggle to be recognized for their skills, sounds, and craft instead of for their looks, as tokenism or for the sake of diversity. These themes came up repeatedly and became the fabric of everyday life in an industry already rife with explicit discrimination such as lower pay than their male counterparts and lack of women’s rights around pregnancy and maternity.

AK: There is a scene in the film that most women who are or have been in positions of leadership and power can relate to when Alison Wonderland is in rehearsal, and she is frustrated that a sound issue is not being addressed. We hear her say, “How many times did I say it today? I was asking, and asking, and asking, and asking… I can’t be more clear than I was.” And her male manager responds, “I didn’t realise this was a problem. Get me to relay the message (to the sound engineer).” Can you tell me more about that scene?

SL: It’s an important scene in the film; it’s powerful because you see her live it. There’s a fundamental human right in being listened to. If a woman says something is wrong, but she’s not listened to, the team don’t listen to her; it’s insidious, it wears you down. This happened to a lot of the women I spoke to.

AK: What was your favourite scene in the film?

SL: The scene where Tygapaw is in her studio recording with two friends was a magical scene to film. It was filmed towards the end of the schedule, and I think you can tell – there’s a beautiful sincerity and intimacy in the scene, capturing who they are at their most unguarded moments. It’s a joy to be on the inside of someone’s creative process like that. I got to be a fly on the wall, and it was magic.

AK: How do you see the music industry developing and changing?

SL: There are a lot of incredible initiatives happening in the industry from the inclusion rider clause where artists who are in a position of influence are able to enforce festival and club bookers to sign a contract stating they will only perform at X festival if Y number of diverse talent is reflected on the billing. There is also the Keychange Initiative that is pushing for a 50/50 gender balance on major festival lineups.

It’s a unique time for the artists too. I witnessed female entrepreneurship where artists would overcome roadblocks by operating outside the "system." For example, Tygapaw couldn't get booked on club nights, so she created her own night Fake Accent, elevating the black queer perspective. Or Sherelle, who has just started a new black-owned music label called Beautiful because there wasn't anything in the industry that was made from or for people like herself.  Artists are innovating outside of the mainstream system, building community and fostering a pipeline for the next generation of diverse artists to have a platform to rise up and find support and success. 

AK: Was Underplayed a film only a female filmmaker could have made?

SL: There was a level of vulnerability and intimacy that I wanted to experience and convey in the film. I wanted to get as personal as possible with the women I featured, and being a woman, I could relate to the shared female experiences they spoke about. A large part of my filmmaking process is fostering this process of connection.

AK: Who are you hoping to reach with this film?

SL: I want to find a solution to this problem (lack of representation and inequality) and to do that, I need to speak to both male and female audiences. My main focus in making the film was around who I wasn’t going to alienate. I had to make a film that reaches across the gender spectrum and pulls demographics towards one another. I had a huge sensitivity around the tone. I didn’t want it to portray the women as victims. I want the film to be a trigger, a conversation starter about the issues within the industry and how they need to be dealt with collectively.

AK: Which women inspire you?

SL: Jacinda Ardern, AOC, Cori Bush, Greta Thunberg, Megan Rapinoe. Women these days can be feminine, show their vulnerabilities, express their emotions, and not have to take the masculine approach. There’s more authenticity. I’m inspired by women who use their platform to fight for a bigger cause – not just the inequalities that they experience but intersectional issues.

Underplayed premiered at Toronto Film Festival in 2020 and is now available worldwide via Amazon Studios.

BACK TO OTHER STORIES IN OUR RELEASE & RESET EDITION