Q&A: Throwing Down with the AWMAs Women in Heavy Music Nominees
It's time to start getting hyped for the Australian Women in Music Awards (AWMAs) which is set to return to Brisbane/Meanjin in October following a widely successful outing last year - which introduced us to the inaugural Women in Heavy Music category.
Emmy Mack of Redhook took out the first-ever gong - which recognises a female, non-binary or GNC person who has made contributions of outstanding significance as an artist, musician, music practitioner, agent, artist or label manager, supporter and/or advocator of Heavy Music.
Following a presentation to remember by OzTix's resident hardcore enthusiast, Erin Nolan, 2023 winner Emmy reminded attendees - and the industry - of the importance of recognising all genres; especially those considered "niche" by industry dinosaurs with an acceptance speech that still rings out to this day:
“…what I want people to understand is that when heavy music itself is fighting for scraps of support in our industry, the women who are so disproportionately marginalised within that space are fighting for the scraps of the scraps, so we have like double the fight on our hands.”
This year, the Women in Heavy Music category returns with three more deserving entrants who have all paved their own path in the industry and scored recognition for their efforts through this year's nomination process.
First up is Mikaila Delgado, vocalist and songwriter for pop punk turned alt-rock renegades Yours Truly, who just released their second studio album Toxic, and showcased to the world another example of the quality of talent in our heavy//alternative space. Mikaila has been leaving her mark upon the music scene for the better part of the past ten years and is showing no signs of slowing down.
Next, we have Tiana Speter, Heavy Music Journalist and Founder of The Soundcheck - a music media publication and industry service platform that's owned and operated by this one woman show. Tiana also works as a publicist for Dallas Does PR and was the face of Good Things TV in 2022 - interviewing almost the entire lineup across all three East Coast dates.
Rounding out the nominees is a World Record holder who goes by the name Moni Lashes; the infamous drummer who made headlines in March 2015 when she became the first person to continuously play drums for 24 hours straight - all for a worthy cause. Moni and her bandmates in well-respected rock 'n roll outfit The Babes were also deployed to Iraq by the Defence Force, to entertain the troops in a war zone in 2019.
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We sat down with Mikakila, Moni and Tiana to chat about their nomination, experiences in the industry (and heavy music scene) and the one song they'd recommend AWMAs attendees listen to, without prejudice...
Congratulations on your OzTix Women in Heavy Music Award Nomination for the AWMAs. Fill us in, where were you when you heard the news?
Tiana: Thank you so much, and this one actually does have a story! I recently had to change website domains over, leaving the email address that I'd applied for the AWMAs unexpectedly not in action. I would've received the email the night before (to that email address) letting me know I'd been nominated, but I had no idea until the public announcement the next day. I was on the phone to my very unwell mum at the time when I got a text from Amy Simmons, also an AWMAs Heavy nominee from last year, congratulating me on my nomination. Considering how big a part my mum has been in my love of music and how much I admire Amy, it was an accidentally really lovely moment to share with both of them.
Moni: I wish I had a cooler story, but I was mid-checkout doing groceries when I saw the email, the cashier must have thought I was beyond strange because I had the most shocked and surprised face ever. She was like, “Are you okay?”… Me: “Yes thanks, don’t mind me, my mind’s just been blown”, hahaha.
Mikaila: I was on the train when I received an email - it was really cool but I just kinda read it and called my mum hahaha she was very excited about it!
What does it mean to you to be nominated?
Tiana: This sounds so clichéd, but it's a huge honour. For every nomination the heavy music scene gets, there are countless others around the country putting in blood, sweat and literal tears, day in and day out. This all feels like a nice nod to the late nights and sacrifices over the years along with full-blown excitement to see the heavy industry get some very needed national praise - and I couldn't ask to be in better company than with Mikaila and Moni as well.
Moni: As a female in a very male-dominated drum world, it’s such a great thing for these AWMA awards to be recognising all of the females contributing to the growth of the heavy scene, it’s an incredible honour for me to even be a finalist.
Mikaila: It’s really lovely because I think that being a woman in heavy music or being a woman in music in general, I think is very difficult. It’s definitely not an easy thing to be a part of and to, I guess, to be nominated for something and to be acknowledged for the work that you’ve put in and the fact that I feel like as a woman doing this and being a singer in a band, I feel like if I can inspire other women to be like, ‘I’m going to do that as well because I saw this other girl from Sydney do it as well. If she can do it, why can’t I do it?’ I think that that’s such a big part of being the front person of a band. If I didn’t have women before me who did that and weren’t acknowledged, I probably wouldn’t have felt like I could do it as well.
People like Jenna [McDougall] from Tonight Alive. I think that if I didn’t know that she was also from Sydney and that she was this girl running this band… I don’t know, I think that it’s cool to be acknowledged. I’ve been touring for 10 years now, even before Yours Truly. So it feels nice to have something like that.
Tell us a fun fact about somewhere your career in the heavy music scene has taken you.
Tiana: My career in heavy music has taken me to weird, occasionally mundane, and sometimes very fun places. From receiving a last minute call up to drive Limp Bizkit to their stage in a golf buggy and trying not to jolt Wes off the back over very bumpy terrain through to interviewing 17 artists on camera in one day, I also was able to sync some heavy music on national TV back in the day - Opeth, Dead Letter Circus and a bunch of other bands got a run as background music on a national lifestyle show, and I'm very proud of that subtle but fun representation!
Moni: My band, The Babes, and I have had some great adventures, but the most surreal experience would be when we were deployed to Iraq to perform for the Aussie and US troops in Baghdad. We had to wear bullet proof vests the entire time, it was beyond an eye-opening experience, and gave us such an appreciation for the men and women over there.
Mikaila: The first time I got to perform overseas was when my band got to play Download in the UK. I remember getting off the plane in disbelief that my band that I started in high school allowed me to travel overseas! I would also say when I sung on the Bayonetta 3 Soundtrack - I’ve always loved games so being able to be apart of one because of what I do with my band was really cool.
Our scene is growing exponentially yearly, but it's still considered "niche" by the industry dinosaurs. What would you say is one thing heavy music has done that left a big, positive impact on you?
Tiana: Heavy music still seems to have this underlying sense of being "underground" or an underdog of sorts (heaps of under words?!), which is baffling to anyone who sees and knows the calibre of Aussie artists and the successes of the genre in general. But for me, the biggest positive impact has been that heavy music is where I found an extended family, particularly the women who have become sisters, colleagues and friends. Seeing women collab on music with one another, seeing women onstage and rocking the fuck out of a crowd, seeing women rise together in the heavy scene, and having the opportunity to work with so many insanely talented women (most regularly the absolute powerhouse that is Janine Morcos)…that wasn't a visible thing when I was growing up. It seriously excites me personally, and it also makes me excited for how this will positively impact up and coming generations.
Moni: The most impactful moment for me was when I set a world record becoming the first human to drum non-stop for 24 hours. I did it to raise funds for my Dad’s life-saving medical treatment. During that record event, I was blown away by how heavy metal musicians from all over the world came together to support me, it was so special to see heavy music uniting and for a cause so dear to me, and goes to prove heavy metal and rock is so much more than “just noise”.
Mikaila: I think the biggest positive impact heavy music has had on me is the community it has brought me! I struggled to find people who I could connect with as a kid because I loved heavy music and going to all ages shows. I always talk to my friends I’ve made through playing in my band about how much I wish we met each other when we were younger. Being in a community like this is so great because your interests and morals are supported and celebrated!
What is one song you'd love for all AWMA attendees to listen to, without prejudice?
Tiana: This is going to be a question that I'll be haunted by and want to change 50 times after I send it through because I change my mind every day. But here we go: 'Bring The Noise' by Anthrax and Public Enemy. I dare you not to get hyped by that song, and it is truly a pivotal moment in heavy music hurling its doors open to some good old-fashioned genre-smashing.
Moni: I mean where would us female rockers be without a pioneer like Suzi Quatro, giving women in rock a front-and-centre platform? A pivotal moment for me starting my band was hearing Suzi Quatro '48 Crash'.
Mikaila: We have a song called 'Circles' - I wrote it about how I felt about the music industry being so heavily male dominated and being in it as a young woman in her late teens/early twenties. It’s definitely a better place than it was when I wrote it. But it’s all about my frustrations with it and how I felt we women were seen and the things that were said to me to make me feel like I didn’t belong like my male peers.
Congratulations again to these wonderful women from the heavy scene.
Words by Paul 'Browny' Brown @brownypaul
The AWMAs kick off with the Conference Program and First Nations Women’s Music Program on October 1st in Brisbane/Meanjin, followed by the Ceremony and Concert at the Fortitude Music Hall on October 2nd.
Tickets and tables on sale now via AWMAs Website
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