NOT BAD FOR A GIRL Launch Record Label: EQUAL PARTS

NOT BAD FOR A GIRL is a UK collective that provides support and opportunities for women, non-binary, and transgender people in the music industry. After launching five years ago, this electric – and completely unapologetic – Manchester-born group has made a name for itself as both a high-energy DJ act and a vital resource for up-and-coming artists. The work they have done within music has been important and impactful from day dot, as they continue to fight the good fight for marginalised people.

Fast forward to now and the launch of EQUAL PARTS! A record label set up specifically to release music from artists who have historically faced greater barriers to entry due to their gender. After a recent study found that 51% of women in music have been discriminated against due to their gender, and a third of women in music have been sexually harassed, NOT BAD FOR A GIRL aims to continue to combat these issues and address other barriers to entry, through the work of the label.

The name of the label is borrowed from a slogan they coined in the early days of the collective; ‘equal pay, equal opportunity and EQUAL PARTS SPIRIT AND MIXER’. Which is, perhaps, one of the greatest slogans of our time. Stick it on a billboard, scream it from the top of your lungs, say it louder for the people at the back.

We jumped into conversation with Martha – one of the founders – to find out more.

Martha! What’s going on in the wonderful world of NOT BAD FOR A GIRL?

It’s honestly the most exciting time I think. We’ve been running for 6 years now which is unbelievable. It’s such a long time. When we started out we were literally throwing house parties, giving out cans at the door, there were no venues or anything like that. We weren’t charging people, everything was free entry. We started out as students in Manchester and now we’re where we are now. We’ve helped so many people, given so many people their first sets, given loads of people their first opportunities to play at festivals. We’ve curated stages at Boomtown, Project 6… done all of the stuff. We’re part of the Converse All Star creative community which is really fun, and now we’re launching a record label! All of these things are happening and it’s so fun that it’s basically the same 6 people pushing this forward and really believing in it.

What’s the key factor that got you to the 6-year mark?

Friendship. 100%. We’re all best mates. We’re kind of like family, there are frustrations sometimes too. But I’m obsessed with it. I have ADHD so it’s a hyperfocus for me, so that’s definitely something. I can’t put it down. I don’t think I’ll be able to put it down until it’s finished, and I don’t know what that looks like! Another thing with having a team is that if I need to step away from it, someone can pick it up. This is what I’m always saying to women, transgender and non-binary people who are trying to step into an industry that isn’t super welcoming to them: find your friends, find your people, unionise and have someone who has your back because no one is made to be consistently creative and to output consistently, yet this is the world we live in. We live in a world where this is expected of you, so if you can form some kind of group where between you you can consistently output then that’s so much easier. It’s a community. It’s nicer. 

Let’s circle back to the big news: You’ve just launched a record label! Tell us about EQUAL PARTS.

The name, first of all, comes from a slogan that we used to use when we started out because we were very much party people… with a feminist message, of course. The slogan was ‘equal pay, equal opportunity and EQUAL PARTS SPIRIT AND MIXER’ because whenever we mixed drinks it was always equal parts spirit and mixer. 

It also represents how we want to use this as a platform to champion people who don’t normally get championed in the music industry. I think there is so much happening at the minute for DJs. There’s so many workshops and support but actually for producers, it’s much harder. There is also less access to education and platforms for people from historically marginalised demographics who are just starting out. I think, for us, we do a lot for and with DJs, it was time to take that next step and support another area of the industry. That was where the idea came from. Also, we’re all so passionate about music. We always hear tracks, people will send us stuff too and we’ll be like ‘That’s such a banger!’ and then we’d pass it on to someone else. Eventually, I was like, “Guys. We need to be releasing some of these tunes!” They were too good to let go. I’m so excited about the people we are releasing with.

Yes! Talk us through what’s incoming…

The first release is from THT GRL who is one of our members. She’s a production duo with her partner PCKRNG, who is the former owner of DOIN BITS magazine. We’ve signed their track ‘Don’t You’ which has had some really big coverage already. It’s seen a lot of success on George FM and BBC. I love that you can really tell that they’re partners through the music they make. When I listen to their tunes I get the same excited, chaotic feeling as when I hang out with them. Also, the rate that they churn out tunes is unbelievable. They make like 4 a week. It’s bonkers, but great, because they’re constantly sending music.  DaiSu is also a really exciting addition to the label, their production journey has been a joy to watch. Their track is such a banger that I just want to get it out now. I’m so excited for everyone to hear it! Another artist that we’ve got is called Urbi who’s really cool. She’s from Manchester. She actually played her first DJ set at one of our open decks a year ago, and now we’ll be releasing her first ever release next year, so it’s a really nice full-circle moment for us.

Very exciting! Any other artists you can share?

Shirley Temper who is a British/Thai producer. She’s really cool. They do stuff with Das Booty. They are so fun musically. So high energy, so intensely spirited but also with some really feminist themes that come through the vocals of her tracks. Also, just from chatting to them it was immediately like, ok, we’ve really connected here. We’ve had really similar experiences of feeling isolated in the industry. We were even talking about how hard it is to work with record labels because there is no information about how to understand those business aspects of the industry. Nobody knows how much they should be getting or if a contract is fair. So there was definitely a connection there where we said we wanted to be as transparent as possible. I’ve got loads of experience in music, I’ve worked at lots of different labels over the past 7 years and I have a really good understanding of how things should work. It’s really nice to now be able to bring that knowledge to other people and help them. 

So there’s a mentoring aspect to the label too. Do you have plans to add a mentorship scheme into the mix alongside releasing music?

We are absolutely desperate to do a mentorship. We have it all planned out, it’s just funding it which is the issue. So if anyone is reading this article and wants to fund the mentorship – please get in touch! But yes, we’d love to do that, and in the meantime, we have our group chat which is one of the main aspects of being in the collective. It’s a sounding board for advice from a community of engaged people. People send us music which isn’t finished which is absolutely fine, we’re so happy to give feedback on it and to give advice. That’s why we’re doing what we’re doing, we want to help and we’re not looking specifically for artists who have lots of experience either. It’s never been how we’ve done things. If someone is really dedicated and has a really great sound and you can tell that you care, they are the main things we’re looking for in artists.

What’s the vibe of EQUAL PARTS? Musically, what can people expect?

We’re not limiting ourselves to genres. That’s something we’ve never done. Even our DJ sets will go from northern soul to speed garage. I think a lot of people are moving away from sticking to one genre. A lot of artists aren’t pigeonholing themselves in genres anymore, which I think is really cool. What we want to do is bring our audience on a journey with us and have them go from A to B and listen to songs that they’ve never heard. Maybe even try genres that they don’t even like. What I can say though is that it will all be dance music. The vibe is fun, silly, sometimes feminist, and always having a really good time.

Would you say we’ve made progress in terms of inclusivity in the UK music scene?

I think so! But I mean, there’s a lot of superficial progress too. There’s people doing things because they feel like they have to, which we knew was going to happen but honestly, so long as it has a positive impact, I’m ok with that. There is a lot of performative action though, I would say, and that doesn’t change anything. It doesn’t change the fact it’s so hostile, it doesn’t change the fact that everytime I speak to women, trans or non-binary people they’ve got horrible stories to tell. Everything from sexual abuse to microaggressions. All of that scale makes the industry so hostile and it is such a barrier to entry. It’s a shame. 

I know we’ve made progress, and most of the labels have a diverse roster now but at the same time, there’s so much further to go. That’s why we’re doing what we’re doing, because we’re fed up with it, to be honest. I spent the beginning of running NOT BAD FOR A GIRL with so much enthusiasm, then there was a dip, then I thought things were changing a little, and then recently I took stock. Politically, the world is burning, so I had a massive push from pure frustration. Enough is enough. 

There must be so many different emotions that you experience as a woman yourself in the industry, who is also running NBFG and constantly fighting the good fight for others. How does that take its toll on you?

It’s exhausting. It’s not just that either, I’ve been in rooms when decisions have been made about important industry things and I’ve heard how women have been spoken about and it’s been disparaging. It’s not all people, but it’s some people, and it shouldn’t be anyone. I’m there professionally and so I obviously have to challenge things, but I also have to do it in a way that is sensitive. It’s very emotional for me. You have conversations with men where they’ll play devil’s advocate. They see it as a theoretical topic but they disregard the fact that it’s more than that for the person they’re talking to. They’re ignoring my lived experience. It’s hard to toe the line between helping and being a human in the middle of it. Both of those things I have to weigh up. It’s hard to not get caught up in the frustration of how the world is. I know I need to protect myself so I know, to an extent, that I have to be emotionally distant and have my coping mechanisms. I run to my partner all the time for support, and we also have our NGFG group chat where we can share anything that’s been difficult for us. That group chat is invaluable to me. It’s such a great support network. It’s all about community and self-preservation.

We focus a lot on what people behind the scenes need to do to help with equality, but what do you think ravers and music lovers can do to help?

Something that I realised two years into running NBFG is that I had no women in my playlists! So buying and streaming music is a really great and important way to support. Buying tickets to shows where there are women, trans and non-binary DJs on the lineup. Messaging promoters and requesting these artists to play at their night, that is so helpful, never underestimate how powerful that is. Creating playlists, adding to your playlists, playing their tracks, and sharing them with friends. These are all such great ways of directly impacting the scene. Individuals often don’t realise how much of a big impact they can have. It really needs the support of everyone to equalise the playing field. 

Plans for the future of both the label and NBFG?

A lot of what we’re focusing on is the label. If anyone who has music and wants to get in touch, even if it’s not finished, or if you’ve got something and you’re not sure, I am really interested in hearing from people. Whatever you have, send it our way! In terms of other future plans, we’ll definitely have a label launch in London, which will be announced soon. We’re going through Good Night Out training currently which is training to better understand, respond to, and prevent sexual violence in nightlife. We’re being accredited for the course which is great and super useful. If anyone runs their own event, you can also book onto this training and learn how to deal with these horrible, but ultimately scarily common occurrences that happen within our nightlife, so that’s something that we’ve done recently that we’re really proud of too. Other than that, our plans, as always, are to just continue to smash it really, all the way through 2025. We’ll be doing festivals as usual and loads of club sets too. It’s going to be a good year.