Aldious have been cited to me as a Japanese band some musicians do like here in the US; but like with a lot of Japanese bands with "idoru" cultural marks, people are wary of the intense marketing and otaku chatter around them.
Can't quite agree with you on the "male-dominance of metal" here in the US; it's been my experience the past few years that most of the bands who rise above the pack, regionally, in terms of popularity and sales here in the Midwest are fronted by women or have women playing other roles in the band.
To name a few:
The Lucid Furs (Detroit, MI)
Horehound and Lady Beast (Pittsburgh, PA)
OLATHIA and TRUSS
(Cleveland, OH)
Electric Citizen (Cincinnati OH or Philadelphia PA, I forget which).
There's also Sweden's fine THUNDERMOTHER; who blew through America last year in support of Scorpions (+ who I got to open for in a "breakout" show with BS in Cleveland), an all-women band who made a big impression in the time they were here, and Canada's Unleash The Archers; who has acquired a huge, yet non-toxic, worldwide fanbase over the last 7-8 years.
IME, bands of women or fronted by women have an advantage even in metal; they tend to attract better professional management (not just creepy dude wanna-bes, but real business folks, many of them women themselves)much earlier than all-male bands; it's easier for them to acquire label interest, and their social-media marketing accrues numbers a good deal faster and larger (partly bc they're more skilled/ amenable at creating content). This seems to hold across styles of metal, from the lightest to the most extreme. These bands also code as more "organic" than many of the Japanese variety; which makes them an easier "sell" to metal fans here in the US.
The debate over "organic=authentic=
good" will never be over in metal (I mean, look at GWAR, lol, "visual kei" if ever there was); but the idea of metal as a "male-dominant" space is largely a construct from a pastiche of the (decades) past and a useful strawman for non-male groups to hang marketing hooks upon.
Hey Shaggy, a lot to unpack here. So, as you know I am a fan of UTA, and I agree on their fanbase. A lot owes itself to Brittney so genuinely appreciating the fans and being so willing to engage with them. I like Thundermother, didn't realize they had toured here so recently. Of the other bands you mentioned, I have heard Olathia but not the others, which just means I need to do some catchup! I have been so focused on the European and Asian bands. But I have posted on Halestorm, The Pretty Reckless, and several individual artists like Jenn Batten. Gail-Ann Dorsey and Sara Lee, as well as a lot of legacy bands like Joan Jett, the Pretenders, Fanny etc. Not all metal but certainly carrying the torch for women. I still think that the default assumption for many fans as well as press and industry folks is that metal is a dudes' thing.
Re. commercial traction, I appreciate your more inside perspective on it. From the fan perspective, I just see that metal festivals here are headlined by legacy all-male acts like Tool, Slipknot, Pantera, Megadeth, KISS (!), etc. The only female-fronted band that got that kind of traction here was Evanescence, and I think they are sort of like NIghtwish on training-wheels--not even close to the same league.
Re. the Japanese bands, yes, the otaku chatter is annoying, but as you alluded to, musicians are impressed. The level and concentration of talent in Japan is hard to deny. I posted on Aldious because of a point I wanted to make about appearances and stereotypes, but they are far from the most technically proficient band out there. I have already written about Band-Maid and Nemophila, who are at a much higher level than Aldious, and I have more in the pipeline. Thanks for taking the time!
Festivals are a prime example of how the perception of women's rock and roll bands (to simplify it) in the business is a bit off track. There was a stir awhile ago about how not enough woman- fronted or all-women bands were present on many festival bills; what was less noted was why there was not, from a business standpoint.
Festivals, for all the bands in "small print", are poorly paying affairs; they're pushed onstage at 2pm or whatever to small, barely-attentive, sun-bleached crowds more interested in finding their friends and the headliners' merch booths than anything else going on then. Usually, small bands do this duty because their record label makes them; with varying levels of "sink-or-swim" levering. As I said, bands of women or fronted by women have better management, so they're less likely to do such chores than to, say, play a venue nearby the night *before* the festival, and walk off with 3x the money in merch sales and ticket sales than they would've got doing "afternoon background noise duty" at the fest itself. Is it "headliner money/status"? No; but i could argue that no modern band of any kind gets that these days. But that's another bowl of briars I won't test your patience with. Looking forward to reading more from you, as always.
Interesting point. I don't know if female bands have better management, but I do know many of them are independent, which may be an advantage in that sort of setting. It's a trade-off. I do think overall, between the labels, the festival promoters and the Livenation/Ticketmaster monopoly, smaller artists of all kinds are just being abused. Anyway, I'm hoping to check out at least some of the bands you mentioned above, in between all the other stuff I'm doing (I have a full time job and this writing thing was just meant to be a hobby!) But there is more on the way....much appreciate your interest!
Aldious have been cited to me as a Japanese band some musicians do like here in the US; but like with a lot of Japanese bands with "idoru" cultural marks, people are wary of the intense marketing and otaku chatter around them.
Can't quite agree with you on the "male-dominance of metal" here in the US; it's been my experience the past few years that most of the bands who rise above the pack, regionally, in terms of popularity and sales here in the Midwest are fronted by women or have women playing other roles in the band.
To name a few:
The Lucid Furs (Detroit, MI)
Horehound and Lady Beast (Pittsburgh, PA)
OLATHIA and TRUSS
(Cleveland, OH)
Electric Citizen (Cincinnati OH or Philadelphia PA, I forget which).
There's also Sweden's fine THUNDERMOTHER; who blew through America last year in support of Scorpions (+ who I got to open for in a "breakout" show with BS in Cleveland), an all-women band who made a big impression in the time they were here, and Canada's Unleash The Archers; who has acquired a huge, yet non-toxic, worldwide fanbase over the last 7-8 years.
IME, bands of women or fronted by women have an advantage even in metal; they tend to attract better professional management (not just creepy dude wanna-bes, but real business folks, many of them women themselves)much earlier than all-male bands; it's easier for them to acquire label interest, and their social-media marketing accrues numbers a good deal faster and larger (partly bc they're more skilled/ amenable at creating content). This seems to hold across styles of metal, from the lightest to the most extreme. These bands also code as more "organic" than many of the Japanese variety; which makes them an easier "sell" to metal fans here in the US.
The debate over "organic=authentic=
good" will never be over in metal (I mean, look at GWAR, lol, "visual kei" if ever there was); but the idea of metal as a "male-dominant" space is largely a construct from a pastiche of the (decades) past and a useful strawman for non-male groups to hang marketing hooks upon.
Hey Shaggy, a lot to unpack here. So, as you know I am a fan of UTA, and I agree on their fanbase. A lot owes itself to Brittney so genuinely appreciating the fans and being so willing to engage with them. I like Thundermother, didn't realize they had toured here so recently. Of the other bands you mentioned, I have heard Olathia but not the others, which just means I need to do some catchup! I have been so focused on the European and Asian bands. But I have posted on Halestorm, The Pretty Reckless, and several individual artists like Jenn Batten. Gail-Ann Dorsey and Sara Lee, as well as a lot of legacy bands like Joan Jett, the Pretenders, Fanny etc. Not all metal but certainly carrying the torch for women. I still think that the default assumption for many fans as well as press and industry folks is that metal is a dudes' thing.
Re. commercial traction, I appreciate your more inside perspective on it. From the fan perspective, I just see that metal festivals here are headlined by legacy all-male acts like Tool, Slipknot, Pantera, Megadeth, KISS (!), etc. The only female-fronted band that got that kind of traction here was Evanescence, and I think they are sort of like NIghtwish on training-wheels--not even close to the same league.
Re. the Japanese bands, yes, the otaku chatter is annoying, but as you alluded to, musicians are impressed. The level and concentration of talent in Japan is hard to deny. I posted on Aldious because of a point I wanted to make about appearances and stereotypes, but they are far from the most technically proficient band out there. I have already written about Band-Maid and Nemophila, who are at a much higher level than Aldious, and I have more in the pipeline. Thanks for taking the time!
Festivals are a prime example of how the perception of women's rock and roll bands (to simplify it) in the business is a bit off track. There was a stir awhile ago about how not enough woman- fronted or all-women bands were present on many festival bills; what was less noted was why there was not, from a business standpoint.
Festivals, for all the bands in "small print", are poorly paying affairs; they're pushed onstage at 2pm or whatever to small, barely-attentive, sun-bleached crowds more interested in finding their friends and the headliners' merch booths than anything else going on then. Usually, small bands do this duty because their record label makes them; with varying levels of "sink-or-swim" levering. As I said, bands of women or fronted by women have better management, so they're less likely to do such chores than to, say, play a venue nearby the night *before* the festival, and walk off with 3x the money in merch sales and ticket sales than they would've got doing "afternoon background noise duty" at the fest itself. Is it "headliner money/status"? No; but i could argue that no modern band of any kind gets that these days. But that's another bowl of briars I won't test your patience with. Looking forward to reading more from you, as always.
Interesting point. I don't know if female bands have better management, but I do know many of them are independent, which may be an advantage in that sort of setting. It's a trade-off. I do think overall, between the labels, the festival promoters and the Livenation/Ticketmaster monopoly, smaller artists of all kinds are just being abused. Anyway, I'm hoping to check out at least some of the bands you mentioned above, in between all the other stuff I'm doing (I have a full time job and this writing thing was just meant to be a hobby!) But there is more on the way....much appreciate your interest!