Kristy Lee Peters – better known as KLP – is a singer and DJ known for her slick yacht rock influenced EDM grooves. She has written and contributed to some huge tracks, working with What So Not, Skrillex, Slumberjack, Terace, Paces, DCUP, Set Mo and more.
For International Woman’s Day, she played for the Mixmag x Smirnoff Sound Collective livestream as a celebration of women’s contribution to music and culture. KLP wrote for us about her experience in the music industry as a female DJ and musician.
When I was first asked to write this piece I thought to myself “how the hell can I write something that not only women would want to read, but that maybe a man would connect with as well?” And the more I started to think about it, the more I realised that involving men is a really important thing to do when discussing gender equality.
My boyfriend works as a producer and DJ, and, comparing our daily experiences within the music industry, it’s very easy to recognise some huge differences. Quite often I’ll ask him “Hey – have you ever been asked your age in an interview?” or “Do you guys ever get asked what it’s like to be a male DJ?” or “Do people always assume you had heaps of help with what you created?”
They don’t.
There have been times when both of us were booked for the same gig/shoot/feature and if I am firm with what I expect I get called ‘demanding’ or ‘difficult’ – whereas he gets ‘confident’ and “Wow, he knows who he is and what he wants”.
I can usually take it and brush that stuff off because I’ve been performing and throwing myself out there since a very young age. But for other young woman around me, it’s not always that easy. It makes you question if it’s worth speaking up, or if you’ll miss out on opportunities because you voice your opinion. Some may even start thinking that they can’t thrive on their talents and merits alone – they need to show some more boob/butt/duckface to validate their worth.
As a woman, you’re constantly proving yourself just that little bit more. Justifying why you’re a female AND you DJ, sing, make music and perform.
A festival lineup was announced last year and I was incredibly frustrated at the lack of females on the bill. I think the ratio was approximately 25 male acts/DJs and 1 woman (who wasn’t even Australian). But when I first talked to my partner about it, he had never even considered it to be a problem. He’d never had anyone open up that dialogue with him, and never been made aware of how things could be changed slightly to represent a more even playing field.
If we spotlight and put focus on ladies doing great things, it’s surely only going to slowly encourage more and more young women to pick up a guitar, or a mic, or a computer and believe they can hold their own in what is a tough (but rewarding if you love it) industry.
It made me think: wouldn’t it be cool if it weren’t just women being asked about equality in the music industry? What if everyone talked about and championed it? Imagine if there were more guys like Matt Okine speaking up – like he did at the ARIA Awards last year – and making news headlines.
Ladies, keep talking, keep pushing the boundaries and making your voice heard. And guys… speak up too. Let’s help each other out – equally.
Also launched at the Mix Mag lab on International Women’s Day was The Smirnoff Sound Collective’s Tribes: Discwoman documentary – which tells the empowering story of an incredible community of women in EDM.
