Amy McIntosh of VILIFY: My Introspected Adoration of Spiritbox
Women in music have never had the sweetest deal and heavy music is no exception to that.Growing up identifying as female and seeing very little representation definitely put a dampener on dreaming. I never developed a dream of a career in music, because I had never seen it for someone like me.From the classic quotes of every misogynist ever “You can’t come back here. Bands only” and “Which one is your boyfriend?” Even when I started, it was not an industry I felt safe or included in. Due to this constant feeling of rejection in relation to gender, I found myself steering away from female vocals, much to my disgrace now. It wasn't what my community was embracing and it wasn't what I was finding accessible to even get on board with.Slowly over the years, I pushed past this. My willingness to go against the grain came very fast as I matured. I deliberately pushed to be on more tours with better representation ultimately leading to my partnership with my now wife, Lizi, and the various musical endeavours we have gone on together including more currently Vilify.The idea of Vilify started in 2019 when we were unsure of how it would be taken. I wasn't confident in my vocals but I was confident in my team. I wasn't sure if our local community would want a project like Vilify yet, or if I had the spine to deal with a potential rejection again.Then came Spiritbox.I know Spirtibox has been around a lot longer than that. Iwrestledabearonce even longer. But. 'Belcarra'. Spotify showed me that track around the same time Vilify was sitting on its first demos and it changed everything for me. It was perfect. Perfect timing to hear new music by such a strong and powerful voice. There is to this day no band on the planet that I believe has the same strength and conviction as Spiritbox.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDh-Kik0KDAI would be lying if I said Spiritbox inspired me to pursue vocals and music in general as it’s not true. As I said, I've been kicking around trying to be one of the boys for longer than I would care to admit.Spiritbox did however give me the courage to be me.Gave me the courage to express my feminine side (even as small as it may be).Gave me the courage to push past genres and just create.I had the pleasure of meeting CourtneyLaPlante at Knotfest Australia and we had a chat about her amazing podcast Good For a Girl, couples in music and just music in general. She jokingly said "Where are all the Ladies at?" in reference to the performing artists. As minor and as in gest as it was, it is so warming and inspiring to know as big as the juggernaut that is Spirtbox is, they still have the idea of representation at the front of their mind.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3_FMkalPxgIn a world where women have been screaming (figuratively and literally) for recognition for years and years, there is something about Spiritbox that has screamed louder.I thank Spiritbox not for creating the platform for women in music, but for kicking the fucking lid off it. I know the industry and our heavy scene would not be where it is without them.Written by Amy McIntosh@ayemehmac
Keep up with Vilify via LinkTree
Stream the new single ‘Dread Addict‘ here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dKEX1RMyQs
