CBC Radio 3: Women That Rock

I recently applied for the Alexis Mazurin Award at CBC Radio 3. This required that I submit a project pitch (read below) for their production. I decided to pitch a music series based around Canadian bands with female lead singers/vocalists and frontmen. In addition, I produced and recorded my own sample podcast for it. Check it out and give it a listen. (Right-click to download.)

FULL VERSION (37:13)

SHORT VERSION (7:39)

Update: So yeah, I totally won the Alexis Mazurin Award, a $500 prize, and a three week internship at CBC Radio 3 this fall where I will get to work with their great crew. Awesome!

Interview with Becky Ninkovic by Music Fashion Magazine (2010)

1) “Like I Give a Care” by You Say Party! We Say Die!

2) “14th Floor” by $100

3) “Ghost Fever” by The Balconies

4) “Haiti” by Arcade Fire

Interview with Régine Chassagne at BBC Radio 2 Session (2007)

5) “Sisters in the Struggle” by Lesbians on Ecstasy

6) “Gimme Sympathy” by Metric

Interview with Emily Haines at the Virgin Music Festival (2009)

7) “Obvious” by Vancougar

8) “Undertow” by Stars

Interview with Amy Millan by Andpop (2009)

9) “The Truth About Cats and Dogs (Is That They Die)” by Pony Up

THE XX PLAYLIST

No, I am not talking about the dream pop British duo, I know CBC Radio 3 is all about 100% independent Canadian music, after all. I am referring to the XX-chromosomes that make women women. I believe the relatively basic premise of celebrating the Canadian women of rock and roll through podcasts, playlists, interviews, themed shows, and listener engagement is worth executing in interesting, creative, and innovative ways.

I know the recent accomplishments of females in the fields of art and culture are noteworthy. With the recent release of The Runaways feature film about the groundbreaking 1970s all-girl band featuring Joan Jett and Cherie Currie, my pitch is for a music series based on female-centric rock bands. That is, rock bands with female lead singers are frontmen or front women, rather.

When Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win for best director at the Academy Awards with the decidedly testosterone-filled Iraq war bomb squad, action flick, The Hurt Locker featuring an its all male cast, it snowballed in my mind to recognizing all the successful Canadian bands led by very boisterous female voices that somehow bring a soft, comfortable feeling with a edge needed for rock and roll.

Women are succeeding and thriving in cultural landscapes previously dominated by men by bringing their own feminine qualities and merging it with the loudness and hard edge needed to rock out with bands like Metric, Stars, You Say Party! We Say Die!, The Balconies, $100, Pony Up, and many more.

Many things can be spun-off from this basic idea from series, broadcasts, interviews, features, eta cetera, celebrating the women of Canadian rock and roll in creative and interesting ways. Bands and female artists can recommend other influences and bands they admire. Users and listeners can suggest their favourite female-centric songs and rock bands.

It is a really great era for Canadian rock bands that is highlighted with some incredible women at the forefront contributing as songwriters, vocalists, guitarists, band leaders, and such. I cannot describe the ineffable quality of a woman’s smooth voice laid to hard edged rock and roll beats. It is just incredible the quality and quantity with which these women are creating music that is both endless and exciting.