“Tell me again how there just aren’t that many girls in the music scene…”
Camp Cope are tired. They’re tired of waiting for the music industry to change, tired of the buck-passing excuses, and they’re tired of waiting for those in power to step up and do the heavy lifting, so they’re doing it themselves.
The lyrics of ‘The Opener’, the first foray into their new album ‘How To Socialise & Make Friends’ takes aim at an industry that reaps no consequence for certain people’s actions, makes invalid excuses that stifles change, but causes backlash to women or minorities pointing out imbalances. Georgia McDonald, Kelly-Dawn ‘Kelso’ Hellmrich and Sarah ‘Thomo’ Thompson are telling it like it is. ‘The Opener’ is a knowing listen to some, an uncomfortable eye-opener for others.
Take the band’s performance Falls Festival earlier this year in Australia: pointing out the gender disparity on the line-up caused a divisive reaction, with the latest in an ongoing rush of people telling complainant to ‘stop whinging’. The conversation occurs countless times each year; the conversation remains the same.
“It’s another all-male tour preaching equality. It’s another man telling us we can’t fill up the room. Yeah, just get a female opener, that’ll fill the quota.”
On and on the song goes with its list, but these excuses haven’t shifted for years either.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done,” says Thomo. The reaction to songs like ‘The Opener’ causes as many eyes to open as it has its detractors. It’s a big question, but what will it take to get people to look at line-ups with clear disparities and acknowledge the issue rather than keep fighting it?
“I think when men speak, they need to get behind women,” continues Thomo. “That’s where it’s got to change. As sad as it is, we can scream all we want, but the same people who already agree with us are going to listen. It’s got to take men standing up and stop being cowards – they think that they can’t jeopardise their fanbase in any way like we have to do every single day by speaking up. They don’t want to do it. When they do, things are going to be different.”
“People view it as women complaining for no reason or that we haven’t worked as hard,” says Kelso. “Whereas if people in positions where they are being booked all the time and getting really good slots and being paid really well were speaking out, that’s where the difference would be.
“The music industry needs to own up to what it’s done for so long and make positive change. There was a movement that happened here about a month ago, a huge investigation into the music industry in Australia and all these men jump on board like, ‘We’re here to change this, blah blah’, but so far literally nothing has happened. It’s getting very tiring, so we have to just do it ourselves because no one else is going to do it.
“I think music has always reflected the generation that it’s in, and right now we’re moving away from a generation that’s been too scared to speak up, too scared to be open more and honest and a generation that tries to put everyone into categories of gender or by roles that people need to do, ways to live. Now we’re in this generation and, I guess because of the internet, everything is so open, diverse, different and so much change is happening so quickly that music needs to reflect that.”
“Women need to be supported by the men that own the industry,” adds Thomo, with Kelso noting: “It’s not us that need to change, it’s them.”
“It’s the same as in every facet of life. The victims having to speak out and do all the emotional labour. Women will do the labour; no one will listen. Men do one minute of work, and they’re praised from here to eternity.” They laugh, but it feels particularly true at the moment.
“You worked so hard, but we were ‘just lucky’. To ride those coattails into infinity. And all my success has got nothing to do with me.”
At the end of the day, music should, everyone agrees, be about musicians, and not power plays behind the scenes, and Camp Cope are putting in the work to instil the change they want to see. Their second album ‘How To Socialise & Make Friends’, follow-up to 2016’s self-titled debut, is a wonder of defiance and female bonds.
“I find it very cathartic,” says Georgia, on how fully they put themselves in their songs. “Sometimes I feel like I’m more supported in what I say if I say it with a band behind me. It’s less scary.”
‘Anna’ and ‘Sagan-Indiana’ are a duo that stand out on a first listen and seep further in with each whirl. They also happen to be personal favourites of the band too.
“They’re both about incredible women,” continues Georgia. “Like, complex relationships and what you can learn from other women if you listen to them. They’re my favourite songs on the album because they’re not like romantic love songs, they’re not tragic, they’re stories about how amazing women are. A celebration of strong women!”
In the music or in the real world, Camp Cope are a celebration of strong and kickass women who are fighting for what’s right, and fighting for better. Join them, share the workload, listen to their new album, and shout with them.
Camp Cope’s album ‘How To Socialise & Make Friends’ is out 2nd March. Taken from the March issue of Upset – order your copy below.
