International Women's Day 2018
Yesterday was International Women's Day 2018, and on Alt Cast we celebrated the female and female fronted bands from past to present. On yesterdays show, we were unable to play all the songs we wanted and talk about all the bands we wanted to, so this post is looking at all the female bands that we at Alt Cast look up to and love. In no particular order...
1) Nightwish is female fronted by Floor Jansen and she sings in the band. Their whole identity is different to any other band I have seen before. It’s almost as if they are taking a mythical approach. One of my favourite songs is from their 2015 album, 'Endless Forms Most Beautiful'. This song is called Elan.
2) 'PVRIS' actually used to look like 'Paris', but for legal reasons had to change the look of their name, which is why the 'A' is replaced with a 'V' and their name is now call in CAPITALS. This band have a very grunge vibe, which I love. This is one of my favourite songs by the band, as well as Holy, Fire, Smoke and White Noise. The band are from Massachusetts and lead vocally by Lynn Gunn, she also plays guitar and the keys. They are currently on tour in the United States so have come very far in their career, especially Lynn who is only 23 years old! They are coming to the UK in May, playing in Leeds and Birmingham, and are also performing festivals this year, including Rock Werchter in Belgium which i went to last year.
3) One of the best females in the music industry, in my opinion. Taylor Momsen, female lead in The Pretty Reckless. She has had an amazing career already with acting, so her life has been very creative and full of fame. Her voice ranges from soft to very rock 'n' roll, and it shows in all her music how ranged her voice can be. She is an incredible woman in the music industry to me, and I think when ever she releases new music, I can't help but fall in love with it. She is probably very well known for 3 reasons. Being a part of The Pretty Reckless, of course. Being an actor on TV (such as Gossip Girl) and in movies (The Grinch), but also is probably also known for her makeup which usually consists of black eye shadow and eye liner, which I believe is a great look for her.
4) The Runaways are an all girl group that formed in the 1970s. Apparently The Runaways became very popular in Japan after the song 'Cherry Bomb'. I feel like it was more of a one hit wonder for them, as I could not name another song by them from the top of my head.
5) We Are The In Crowd are a band I have only recently heard of. They are an American band that formed in 2009, so have been around for nearly 10 years. But there are bands not everyone hears for the first time until they have been together for a very long time. So personally, this is a band that's completely brand new to me, however there are probably fans out there who have known them nearly the whole time they have existed as a band. This is the first song I heard by them, and it almost feels like I have definitely heard this bands music before, but I wouldn't be able to name specific songs. The leading lady of this band is Taylor Jardine and she knows how to achieve a pop-punk style.
6) Paramores' Hayley Williams obviously makes the list of amazing females in the music industry. Although the bands music style has changed slightly since the beginning, I enjoy a lot of Paramores music from a number of years. A great memory was Reading 2014 when Paramore were performing and the sound cut out so no one could hear her. Eventually when she realised, she got her acoustic guitar and sang beautifully. It's a moment I will never forget.
7) Against The Current aren't doing to bad in their career. They are touring with Fall Out Boy on their Mania tour throughout March and April (including the 31st March at The O2). This band formed in 2011, so to be touring with Fall Out Boy only 7 years later is a great achievement. Chrissy Costanza, the female in the band rocks a great pop-punk look, which is the genre the band would be classed as.
8) Hole with Celebrity Skin is a classic example of a great song and female fronted band. The woman that makes up this band is Courtney Love who was singer and guitarist. There were a number of bassists and drummers throughout the bands career. The band split in 2002 and then Courtney Love regrouped Hole with some news members and they probably weren't as successful as before. Now she is a solo artist and has toured and released new music. She was probably most known for her relationship with Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, but we shouldn't let that get in the way of the music she was involved in, which is just as important to us!
9) Tonight Alive are a band from Australia, and Jenna McDougall is the leading lady in this band with some very strong vocals. She enjoys a range of music from pop group The Script, to rock legends such as Led Zeppelin. She has been a part of Tonight Alive since 2008, and the band are still going strong. Their song 'The Edge' was picked as one of Alt-Casts favourite songs and we look forward to what the future holds for Jenna McDougall and Tonight Alive!
10) Bring Me To Life is probably one of Evanescence's best songs to date. This band have been around since 1995 and Amy Lee is the lead vocalist in the band. Other popular songs by the band include My Immortal, My Last Breath and Going Under. It's be said that Bring Me To Life is what brought the band up in the world and made them much more popular. The lyrics can be interpreted in many different ways, we will leave it up to you which message you think this song is sending. We at Alt-Cast believe this song is one of the best by Evanescenece, and we love Amy Lee's vocals is all their songs!
11) Marmozets is most definitely in my top 5 favourite bands of all time. Major System Error is one of their newer songs from their album 'Knowing What We Know Now'. I first heard the song 'Captivate You' by Marmozets when it first came out in 2014. This wasn't even half of what the vocal range lead singer Becca Macintyre can do. I then saw the band perform at Reading festival that same year, and I was so shocked to see the huge crowd that had gathered to watch them perform. They hadn't even released an album by this point and people I had spoken to about the band hadn't heard of them in 2014. They then released their album 'Weird and Wonderful Marmozets' which is still one of my favourite albums. Their new album is slightly different sounding to the first, but I still love it.
12) Hey Violet is a band I had only heard of very recently. Their song Break My Heart is the first I heard, and I really enjoyed it, and not just because front lady Rena Lovelis has amazing pink hair. They are an American pop-punk band and when they first formed in 2008, were known as 'Cherri Bomb'. In 2015 they changed their name to Hey Violet and also drastically changed their sound as before they were a heavier band musically. Rena performs with her sister Nia who plays the drums and is also backing vocals. Rena and her sister are so quite well in their career, especially as they are older than I am! I feel like we should expect more from Hey Violet in the years to come.
13) Haim are another American band who are very different to any other bands. The band consists of 3 sisters Este, Danielle and Alana Haim. I think Haim scored the best moment of the BRIT Awards 2018 when Este Haim was making gestures behind Liam Payne and Cheryl Cole during their live interview with Jack Whitehall. This was obviously all over social media that night and I found it very odd that people were referring to Este as 'that girl' and a 'drunk woman'. I didn't understand how people didn't know who they were?! I have picked 'My Song 5' to add to our International Women's Day Alt-Cast playlist because this song is one of my favourites as it has a vert different sound to any others songs I have heard before. This song came from their album 'Days Are Gone' which was released in 2013.
14) Echosmith are a more indie band, however at Alt-Cast we like to cover all alternative bands, not just rock and metal bands. They formed in 2009 and have had some great songs such as 'Cool Kids', which is the song we have chosen for our playlist. Sydney Sierota is the lead singer in the band and has a beautiful voice. The band are very family-orientated, with their father being the manager of the band. Proof that you don't need to look far to be able to play in a band, and sometimes all you need is your family around you to be able to succeed.
They are the songs Alt-Cast have chosen to celebrate International Women's Day 2018!
They are many more bands that also inspire us such as:
Flyleaf
Epica
Halestorm
Against Me
No Doubt
Fleetwood Mac
Butcher Babies
September Mourning
Icon For Hire
In This Moment
Eyes Set To Kill
The Anchor
Dream State
Stateside
The Agonist.
There are so many bands that are female fronted or are an all female band, and this shows that females are part of a world where they can be famous, inspire people musically and have brilliant powerful vocals and instrument sounds! Keep up the good work girls!
