Feature Article - Selextorhood: Challenging the 'Boys Club' of Underground Music

Selextorhood is a community that promotes and empowers femxle identifying and non-binary women in music, which meets monthly in Birmingham for DJ workshops and industry conversations. Holly Hollister, Selextorhood founder and Brum-based DJ powerhouse, started the sessions in January 2019 and has been making serious waves in the Birmingham music scene with the collective from that moment on. It can often feel near-on impossible to forge a successful career in music, simply based on one’s gender, but the Selextorhood community is part of a growing number of initiatives across the UK out to change that. I chatted with some fellow Selextorhood attendees, fondly known as ‘selextors’, to explore the notoriously male-dominated world of DJing. Hosted in the beautiful Cafe Artum, an artisan coffee shop, art space and vinyl store, the Selextorhood atmosphere feels safe and breeds confidence amongst the crowd. One side of the space is lined with stands of records dedicated to electronic dance music: techno, electro and house, while the adjacent wall features more global sounds, jazz, hip-hop, r’n’b and some rock too. People flick through the records, mingle and discuss their experiences of music over a beer, and there is a distinct buzz in the air. Each session is split into two mixing workshops and a discussion with an inspiring DJ in-between, who often have a connection to the city. During the mixing sections the selextors can try controllers, CDJs or spinning some vinyls, no matter how much previous experience they have. The encouraging atmosphere means that practicing is not intimidating, instead people seem genuinely supportive and happy to help others if they can. Holly explains how she wanted to provide a safe space for people to express themselves, meet like-minded people and practice. “I’ve always enjoyed music but never had the money to get my own decks, and I didn’t have a clue what would be the best thing for me to buy. It’s so good to be able to give it a go here and get advice on the stuff no one seems to tell you” Rosie, selextor This ethos of inclusivity and helping those around you at Selextorhood means no-one is flexing their talents and hogging the decks, or worse, too nervous to play - the balance feels perfect; lighthearted and inspiring, allowing everyone to get something from the workshops. “It’s sick to have something like this is Birmingham, I’ve met lots of new people who I wouldn’t have before. I think it’s easy to get stuck in a bit of a rut with bedroom DJing but this has given me the confidence to step out” Monica, selextor One of Selextorhood’s unique aspects is the in-depth discussions with some of the UK’s finest DJs and the chance to mix alongside them. Holly leads a Q&A to delve into the careers of femxle DJs: how did they get into music? what do they think of the state of the industry? who inspires them? how does being a womxn affect their experience? what advice do they have for us, the selextors trying to make it in the industry? The honest accounts allow us to see the individuality of personal experience, which sometimes gets lost when womxn are not given the platform to be anything other than the femxle on a line-up. Guests grace from a range of backgrounds and musical genres, such as jungle, house, disco, soul and breakbeat. The varied styles of Jossy Mitsu, Roman Candles, Erica Mckoy and re:ni, DJs who have joined the Selextorhood community so far, has allowed for individual flare to shine through and for workshop attendees to explore the plethora of music femxle DJs can work with. Despite the differences in style, technique and personal background however, an overarching message seems to reverberate; to start putting yourself out there and as Jossy Mitsu preached, to “be yourself”, laughing about the age-old cliché. Unfortunately, these non-egotistical, inspiring messages of inclusivity and femxle power stop at Cafe Artum’s doors. I run a club-night in Birmingham with three male friends and continue to be shocked at how differently I am treated by people in the industry. DJs, fellow promoters and owners seem surprised that a young woman organises the event and almost too awkward to talk to me once they know. There is an undeniable ‘boy’s club’ attitude. Male DJs give the impression of an inherent laddish relatability that femxle’s have to work to get in on. Once a relationship is established it is easy to say ‘let’s get him down again, his mates are jokes’, and dismiss any newcomers or those who do not meet the social standard. At almost any Birmingham club-night the line-up is predominantly male, and when the DJs bring mates behind the decks it can get intimidating and look exclusive. It send the message that the DJ booth is not a space for femxle performers. “The whole scene feels like a man’s game; most club owners, promoters and DJs are guys and it’s pretty rare to see any people like me up there... it just gets boring seeing the same faces again and again” Natasha, selextor Instead, womxn are used as money-making pawns; tokenized and disrespected by those who run the scene. Beyond the somewhat juvenility of the DJ booth, club owners and promoters are just as bad, if not worse. At a meeting with the head of events for a club we host our disco, house and techno showcase in, I was told to think of our night like a business; have themed nights and best dressed competitions because “that’s what the girls like” and to “get the girls in and the guys will follow”. I was shocked at the objectifying of womxn. I questioned what he thought my role must be. These gendered presumptions from people at the top devalue the music scene in Birmingham and brand womxn as clothes-obsessed objects who do not appreciate the music, with seemingly no worth other than to draw men in. I realised this at a personal level in a meeting with a Birmingham club owner last year. He sent out a blatant message of male superiority when he did not shake my hand as I arrived, despite shaking my male colleagues’. The move was minor but demoralising and extremely disappointing. I’m sure wasn’t a planned act of exclusion but it highlighted an ingrained feeling of supremacy. I was clearly perceived as less important than my peers and it knocked me. It makes to concerned to think how many people in my position have changed industry after such glaring dismissals of anyone that does not fit the expectation of characters working in the underground music scene. Thankfully, Selextorhood is there to remind me that there are more people like me and that I belong in a creative community actively working to combat such misogynist attitudes. Steadily, the collective are carving a space for womxn in the industry. International Women’s Day saw Café Artum host a Selextorhood open decks, the community have played for Digbeth Dining Club; the mecca of Birmingham street food, and they are increasingly being asked to support the city’s line-ups. Tell your sisters, mums and girlfriends, as Holly would say, because Selextorhood’s waves are soon going to become a tsunami. Watch this space. Published in print for Redbrick Newspaper Photos courtesy of Ellie Koepke and Alison Baskerville