FEMINIST FIREWALL How Women in the Music Industry Are Using Social Media to Confront Sexism and Misogyny

It’s easy for all of them to think of examples.

Natalie Prass remembers how her longtime friend and fellow artist Matthew E. White once asked her to drop by his Richmond, VA studio and record some backing vocals for a band whose album he was producing. Initially enjoying herself, talking with the band and brainstorming what kind of harmonies could be applied to the vocals she’d be singing alongside, Prass says once she got in the recording booth to lay down her parts the band members incessantly interrupted her, telling her how and what to sing. What made things worse for Prass—someone who prides herself on creative vocal harmonies—was the fact that what the band wanted wasn’t good. “I was like, ‘Fine, I’ll just do it. If that’s what you’re hearing and that’s what you want on your record—some bad vocal parts—sure.’ I was like, ‘Okay, I’ll do that, but I’ll also do my version after that.’ It was kind of funny because if I had just done what I do, it would have taken me maybe 30 to 40 minutes to lay down all three of these songs I was to do. But because everyone was chiming in and telling me what to do, I was there for two and half hours. Matt called me immediately after I left the studio and he was like, ‘Dude, those guys haven’t said a word this whole session. And you walk in and everyone wants to tell you what to do.’ And I was just like,