You may know Jane Elizabeth Hanley as Kids at Midnight, but the indie electronic artist’s passion for female empowerment in the music industry drives her to work far beyond her own music. With gender inequality remaining one of the most pressing issues on the Australian music landscape, Hanley says that female focussed events have never been so important.
“The more we see each other succeeding because we’ve worked hard, the more younger artists will see that hard work gets you somewhere, and the wave of quality will wash over the industry like a tidal wave. And if you don’t support female artists/DJs (by support I mean going to gigs, buying the music, sharing the mixes) you absolutely cannot complain there are not enough of them. The end.”
Taking this attitude on board, iconic Melbourne venue The Carlton Club is opening itself up for its first live music events, with a firm focus on female driven events and lineups, approaching Hanley specifically to curate an event.
The resulting event is Love Safari, an all day event on the Hasti Bala & Deck, featuring a mammoth indie-electronica lineup featuring some of the most exciting female artists, DJs and producers in Melbourne, including Rosaline Yuen, Aurelia, The Girl Fridas, Ruby Slippers Adriana and Whiskey Housten.
“We want Love Safari to be an explosion of passion, creativity and live music artistry. There’s nothing quite like watching a live gig, especially in a venue you wouldn’t normally associate with that. We want to connect worlds and create a really inspiring day inside and outside on the tropical deck. We want to show off the inspiring females really leading in the electronic, indie and dance realms here in Melbourne,” Hanley says.
“I wanted to showcase artists and DJs that were taking their music into their own hands, taking chances, but also have a radical sound. Not every artist has to be a producer but as a producer myself I really respect artists that go, ‘You know what? I’m a bit sick of having to rely on someone else to do this,’ I guess I have an affinity with people who see a problem and just get on with it.
“The days of a label pouring money into artists are over. It’s on you now to get your art out there. And you can do it. It takes work and knowledge and passion and networking and then more work.”
That self reliance and motivation is an invaluable tool in the current music scene, Hanley says. Kids at Midnight originally began as a duo, before the producing half left her without the ability to produce. Completely reliant on the industry dominated by men, she took things into her own hands, obtaining Ableton, and learning to produce her own tracks.
“It took five years and a lot of swearing before anything sounded like a radio quality single. People don’t want to hear that but it does not take a few weeks. I just worked and worked,” Hanley says.
“Before I learned to produce I was completely reliant on other people, and most of the other people were male. It’s harder when you need to rely on someone else, you’re at the mercy of what they can do for you. It’s hard to carve a career constantly relying on other people.”
She’s quick to note, however, “No one exists in a vacuum, no one can get anywhere without one helping hand.”
In the past year, Hanley has mentored female producers through Operator, an initiative run by The Arts Centre which sees her teach participants how to use Ableton, a software program used for music production. It was through that program that she met many of the artists on the Love Safari lineup.
“I can’t see how I’m not going to be dying from eargasms all day. I want people to come to Love Safari and leave feeling totally inspired. There are so many amazing artists in Melbourne and my list was so long I couldn’t have everyone I wanted, but we’re hoping the event hits.
“We’d like to make it a regular thing so hopefully you’ll get to see some of the rest of these talented female artists, producers and DJs in future Love Safaris.”
By Claire Morley
