fuck your quota

rock history from your new favorite rock historian

During the three and a half hour drive from NYC to Providence from a quick trip to see the Lunachick's documentary premiere, Pretty Ugly, I couldn't get one of the scenes out of my head. As shocking as the all-women band from the 90's might be to someone unfamiliar to the band, I was not so much fazed by their fuck you attitude as I was with how mistreated they—along with many other women-led bands—were. The scene that has not left me is a common scene that I'm sure most or at least many marginalized people have experienced. We've hit our quota. Sorry, we already have a  girl-band featured this month. We're all set on girl-bands this month. We have our quota. It's obviously sexism, and it's obviously bullshit.

This page will not be exclusive to women in music, or genre, but it will prioritize women in rock. It is important to me to include other bands as well, mainly because as many of the bands I'm writing about worked hard to ensure their music would not fall under a subgenre of women in music. Because their music rocks harder than most men, why should their talent and hardwork be subcategorized to a pacifying women in rock? So men get zero qualifiers for their music, while women are separated and put into a specialized group of their own? I'm all set. 

You can walk into a guitar shop and find hundreds of band paraphernalia. The Clash, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rolling Stones, The Beatles, David Bowie etc etc. If you didn't know any better it almost feels like women don't make music, never did, and exist exclusively as an audience member, a groupie.  

Sure, many of the bands I've mentioned are formative to what we now call "classic rock." However, women were there too, also making music, so why tf don't we care the same way we care about men in rock? I know, I know, it's sexism! But what I really can't understand is how assbackwards it is for punk magazines to cover everything but women. Or have a quota of featuring only one girl-band a month? That is not punk, that's lame as hell. 

The more I delve into the decades of music that preceded my existence, it’s strange to become so aware of the missteps not artists, but managers, record labels, and music publications have taken to lead us to a desolate scene of industry plants and contrived personas thanks to monopoly producers.

So this publication will be my current project for those interested in learning about bands, albums, songs, and hearing anecdotes from the shows I’ve attended and the experiences I’ve had with musicians, writers, and fellow fans. There’s great music being made today, which will also be highlighted! Let’s rock 🤘🏼🎸🔥