Not The Fishbowl

BBC Radio 3 Late Junction improvisation for International Women’s Day. With Maggie Nichols and Verity Susman.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Not the fish bowl, but the sea’

A short oral history of female collectives in music

 

As part of BBC Radio 3’s celebration of International Women’s Day, Late Junction investigates the idea of the female musical collective, in its various guises, structures, and revolutionary ideologies.

A special collaboration session was assembled at Maida Vale studios in late February, featuring members of notable performance collectives, past and present. The line-up for this one-off ensemble featured:
Maggie Nichols, co-founder of the pioneering Feminist Improvising Group (FIG) in 1977.
Verity Susman, who was in experimental-alt-rock band Electrelane between 1998 and 2007.
Amble Skuse, a current member of the multi-location Orchestra For Females And Laptops, aka OFFAL.

Meeting for the first time, this historic trio improvised and recorded music together, before sitting down for this discussion on the notions, emotions, and politics around the female collective.

 

Read the interview on the Late Junction site here