‘How Did We Get Here?’ Filmmaker Stacey Lee Examines Shocking Gender Disparity in Electronic Music in UNDERPLAYED

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede Electronic music should be the most democratic of all musical genres. The technology is available to everyone, and women were the pioneers in the earliest days. So why is the electronic music scene so shockingly male-dominated? When a prominent magazine listed its top 100 electronic-music DJs in 2019, only five were female. How did an industry that began with inclusivity at its very core become such a standard-bearer for exclusivity? Those are the questions that award-winning filmmaker Stacey Lee tackles with her documentary UNDERPLAYED – an official selection of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and the Tribeca Film Festival in 2020 – which joins the Crave lineup on International Women’s Day, Monday, March 8. Filmed over the summer live-music season in 2019, the doc examines gender inequality in electronic dance music, through the lenses of both the original practitioners, and current groundbreaking artists, such as Canada’s own REZZ, Alison Wonderland, and Tygapaw. Ultimately, the film explores how gender disparity happens, which is a theme that transcends music, and finds relevance in many of today’s industries. Lee set up her thought-provoking film in a virtual interview from her home in New Zealand: Q: What inspired you to tell this story? STACEY LEE: “I was very tentative before starting this, because a lot of times women themselves are sick of being the ones who have to explain the issue, you know? There was a lot of hesitancy from the artists I contacted to even talk about it. But it takes two sides of the population in order to solve the problem. I think what was most fascinating to me about electronic music was that it was actually born from the ideals of diversity, and inclusivity, and creativity. The founders of electronic music predominantly were women, tinkering away in these labs, creating these very eclectic, otherworldly sounds. What is now a billion-dollar industry stands on their shoulders. So it was even more shocking to me to see where the industry is now. If you look at the representation, not just of women, but of all forms of diversity, it’s so poor. And for me, that was like, how did we get here?” Q: The music industry has changed so much over the past 10 or 15 years. Most of the old structure is gone. So if roadblocks still exist, who is putting them up?  STACEY LEE: “That’s a great question, and it’s something we were looking to solve. There’s not one place. It’s not the labels, it’s not the festival programmers, it’s not the media, it’s a combination. This industry has become commercialized, for-profit, and a lot of the freedoms of creativity have broken down. So what happens is, rather than listening and being open to whatever is most interesting at the time, things are programmed with formulas. And what that means in terms of diversity is, while people think they’re doing a good job, it becomes like ticking boxes. ‘Okay, we’ve got one woman here, tick. We’ve got one person of colour there, tick.’ And unfortunately, that creates barriers to entry.” Q: UNDERPLAYED focuses on a wide variety of female artists, from very different backgrounds. But what were the common traits that emerged? STACEY LEE: “I think the concept of female entrepreneurship is underlined throughout the documentary. Every single one of those artists, when opportunities failed to present themselves, they created their own. For example, REZZ, she did everything herself. She didn’t get taught, she didn’t get a leg up. Same with Alison Wonderland. And Tygapaw, she couldn’t get booked for club nights? Started her own. Couldn’t get on a label? Started her own. The beauty of working with all of these women is that they were blocked, they were told no, and they always reworked it. That’s not to say it’s fair – it really sucks, to be honest. But it’s incredibly inspiring.” Q: What was it like when the artists themselves saw the film?  STACEY LEE: “One of the things that really shone through for me was that because there are so few women, there’s no support system for them. There’s no female community, because you may have one artist over here, and if she’s not booked, then the other one’s booked, so there’s no crossover. And I think that lack of community is a factor in the anxiety and the mental health issues that exist for a lot of these women. They’re isolated. So one of the resounding pieces of feedback when I showed each of the artists the film individually was that every single one of them went, ‘Oh my God – she did that? She felt that? She went through that?’ There was an immediate effort to contact each other and be in touch. It’s my greatest joy, to see these artists finally getting to meet, and feeling a sense of community. It wasn’t just about, ‘Oh, that person’s my competitor,’ or, ‘I’ve seen them in a magazine.’ It touched me, to see the very human connection that was taking place.” Q: It’s funny how the filter through which we view certain things has been influenced by the pandemic. Some of the club scenes in UNDERPLAYED are jarring to watch now, because people are packed in so tightly, falling all over the DJs! STACEY LEE: “I know, 100% (laughs). We were so fortunate that this was filmed in the last festival season before things changed – we didn’t know that at the time, of course, but that also makes this a very interesting time capsule. Having this space, and the ability to reflect, will that give the music industry enough time to change in different ways? Or will it just force them back into, ‘Well, we know THIS works.’ It’s going to be fascinating to see what happens when live music comes back.” billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv