The "all-girl" band, Heiress, shows that women can rock

"I'm not going to lie that being an all-girl band is a pretty easy gimmick, but I don't want to be looked at as a novelty by everyone simply because we're girls. We're girls that can play. But we're musicians, regardless of our gender," said bassist Chelsea Carlson.

By Kate Andrews
12/08/10

In their black, sparkly outfits and sneakers, the women of Heiress looked every bit the part of a successful modern-day rock band.

The four young women arrived at All Asia, a small venue near Central Square in Cambridge, and immediately got to work setting up and tuning their instruments. Several of their male classmates from Berklee School of Music, where the quartet are in their first year of study, surrounded them.

"I got these custom made," said drummer Hannah Sinn proudly gesturing to her set.

One guy asked guitarist Maddie Rice if he could take a look at her guitar.

"It's so thin!" he exclaimed as he slung it around his neck while Rice smiled appreciatively.

Christine Moad, who plays bass, guitar and piano was busy speaking with the doorman about the band's free guests and bass player Chelsea Carlson was talking to another male peer about her instrument.

They looked like pros, totally at ease and ready to rock out. No one would have been able to guess that this was their first gig.

What stood out the most was that in a jammed bar, there were about 15 women and four of them were about to hop on stage to entertain the crowd.

The women of Heiress are a minority. A 2008 study done by the National Endowment for the Arts found two-thirds of all musicians in the U.S. are men. Of all the successful rock bands, only a handful have been all-female line-ups.

And the members of this "all-girl" band is well-aware of their novelty.

"When I've told people about Heiress and showed them our recordings, they seemed very surprised that an all-girl band could sound that good," said Moad, who had set out at the beginning of this school year to create an all-female group.

Rice said that one of the reasons it's rare to find an all-female lineup is because of the restrictions placed on women by society.

"I think girls are kind of put into the "vocalist" box by society," she said. "I think a lot of girls don't even consider being an instrumentalist instead, let alone putting a band together. It has absolutely nothing to do with a difference in ability or talent, just closed minds and lack of confidence."

Sinn agreed. "I think it's because maybe girls label themselves and say, 'I need to do this or that' rather than try to break the laws and do out-of-the-ordinary things. Either that or most girls just don't find being in an all-girl band appealing, and would rather be a solo act."

Sinn admitted that she feels her gender has gotten her more notice as a drummer. She said it "is something that bothers me."

Carlson said that so far she has yet to encounter any negative prejudice in regards to gender. When she attended School of Rock in Long Valley, N.J. there were many young women there and it was a supportive atmosphere.

"Everyone was on an equal playing field," she said of the performance-based chain of music schools.

"My old band chose me as their front person, not because I was a girl but because they thought I could sing," Carlson said, "Since I've come to Berklee, I have gotten the typical 'you're a girl bassist, that's cool,' which is nice, but why should it be any different than a guy playing bass?"

Carlson said she didn't see a reason for her not to be equal to her male classmates. She also predicted that as the band progresses, they will begin to feel the pressure and prejudice against an all-girl line-up.

From left: Maddie Rice, Christine Moad, Hannah Sinn on drums and Chelsea Carlson
Picture: Sarah Pendleton

Carolyn Wilkins, jazz pianist, vocalist, composer and a Moad's ensembles professor  at Berklee said she has seen this discrimination against women musicians since the 1970s when she was first entering the business. "The prejudice was blatant and obvious. Band leaders would flat out tell you 'girls can't play,'" she said.

Thirt years later, she said female musicians still need to watch out for that kind of prejudice.
"Nowadays people know they should not be biased, but they are, so the prejudice is more subtle, and if you are not on the lookout for it, more likely to damage your self-esteem," Wilkins said.

"There is definitely inequality in the music industry. Despite all the advances that women have made, women in music, particularly in pop music are, still expected to be 'hot,' as part of their marketing package," she added.  "There is far more emphasis placed on superficial, non-musical aspects of a woman's performance than there is on a man's."

Wilkins also said that just because Berklee is a music school, it is not free of the prejudice in the music industry.  "When I first began teaching at Berklee in 1989, there were very few women either on the faculty or among the students."  But Wilkins pointed out some progress. "For the past several years, the college has been making an effort to change this. I think things have definitely improved from the way they were."

And the members of Heiress are part of that effort. Rice recalled a response to a YouTube video she had posted of herself playing a rather complicated piece, "The Cliffs of Dover." To date, the video has garnered 3,855 views and 55 comments. But there is one comment that stands out to Rice.

A viewer named "Dan" said that he had what he called, "this terribly non-PC mentality that girls just couldn't play guitar as well as guys." Dan went on to explain that he had nothing against female musicians; he had yet to hear a girl play as well as a guy. 

"Well....you have taught me a valuable lesson," the message reads, "Cliffs of Dover is not exactly an easy piece to play and I applaud your version. Not condescendingly as I might have before, but from one guitarist to another, I think you accomplished something really spectacular."

Rice said, "At first it made me angry that some people are so close-minded, but then I realized how much of an accomplishment it is to have been able to change someone's mind."

But it is doubtful that the lineup of Heiress will change and even more unlikely that a male will someday join them on stage.  "I gladly accept a guy's input and I would jam with him outside of Heiress," said Carlson, "But Heiress needs to stay all-girl. I feel like a lot of guys say they want to jam with Heiress simply because we're girls and they want to do it for the novelty of it."

Rice said she wasn't specifically looking for an "all-girl" band to join, but she just clicked with Sinn, Moad and Carlson and she loves it. "I've worked with boy musicians my whole guitar career, and playing with girls is kind of a relief."

She agreed with Carlson and says the band is complete with the four of them. "I honestly can't imagine having any other lineup or any additional members. Having said that though, I think being girls will really give us an edge, because it's so unique," she said.

"Being in an all-girl band is such a unique experience and a guy would completely ruin the image. I don't think our band would get the same attention if a guy was in the group," Moad noted.

But in the end it is not about being an "all-girl" band. It's all about the music.

"I'm not going to lie that being an all-girl band is a pretty easy gimmick, but I don't want to be looked at as a novelty by everyone simply because we're girls. We're girls that can play. But we're musicians, regardless of our gender," said Carlson.

"Male or female," said Moad, "it shouldn't matter as long as you can rock hard, you're talented, and you can play well."

"I don't think it matters if you're a guy or a girl," Sinn said, "if you look past that and just look at the rocking element, then you'll know who really rocks and whether they're a guy or a girl will be irrelevant."