The City of Toronto has always been and will always be filled with amazing and diverse musicians. You can discover so many new artists at any local music venue at any given time. However – it may be hard for some artists to be showcased. Still, every now and then an event comes along that shines a light on the voices not often heard.
Returning for its second year, Our Music Festival is back with a new line up of gender-diverse and women only artists, created and hosted by Canadian musician and award-winning filmmaker, Andrea Ramolo. I had the absolute pleasure of speaking to her ahead of next week’s show, getting to understand the importance of this festival and so much more. There will be something for everyone, and attendees will be able to discover new sounds. Our Music Festival emphasizes the importance of showcasing artists in all genres confirmed by its creator:
“It’s not a folk festival; it’s a music festival. So we’re exploring all different genres of music from electronic, R&B, dance, folk, singer-songwriter, we have grunge, we have hip hop, we have my friend Chris Dirksen, an Indigenous cellist.”
When did you decide that this event needed to be put on? Like what was your big aha moment when you were planning out the first show?
“I used to be a part of this women’s music collective in Toronto. I feel like it was like back in 2009, 10, 11, 12… And it was all female-led, female band mates, female everything. We just played on each other’s songs. It was such a vibe. It was such a fun night. And from that we put on really big events at like the Lula Lounge or at Hugh’s Room and we recorded two compilations of music together… You get a little, you get a little tired of hearing (male artists), not that they all sound the same, but there’s like it’s coming from a similar place, a similar voice, and you want a shift, you want to hear other perspectives on the world, and other perspectives that you connect with, that you find beautiful. And so back then, that was years ago, so that was 15 years ago when the seed was planted. And then I think that the moment was like, because I’m an educator too and I work with youth, and I started seeing young women shine. I was teaching at an all-girls high school, and I was like, I hope that these folks, these young folks know that they could be professional performers like I want them to be able to see themselves. And then I just reached out to my group of friends, and I was like, hey, you know what? The time is now. I got offered my own gig at Hughes Room last year in March. And I said, I don’t want to play my own gig. I want to use this if you’re offering me the space -this is going to be year one of the festival.”
The Facts
Although the music scene has begun to shift, where are a lot of the most popular artists right now are women, there is still work to be done. According to femalepressure, only 30% of festival acts were women in the years 2022 and 2023, while non-binary artists made up 3% of a festival line up.
“That’s what I want to do for these (artists) and I mean being an artist myself I know how important it is. I also know how hard it is to get those main stage slots at festivals and it’s almost like we shouldn’t be competing against each other but it almost feels like it, there’s like how many non-binary (artists) like let’s be honest that’s the smallest percentage of represented artists on any festival bill… Women and non-binary artists make up in the music industry more than half of the musician population. Why are we not, you know, making up more than half of the festival and the concert series lineup?”
Looking Forward for the Future
“Selfishly, I want to hear the voices that I want to hear that I haven’t been hearing enough of… As an artist, I want at this stage of my career – I want to be able to, if I can, if I am able, to open doors and create new pathways.”
Ramolo has strong visions for the future of the festival, evolving so it can one be a full weekend filled with unique sounds, youth mentorship and songwriting circles. Allison Russell, Tegan & Sara, Ani DiFranco and Jully Black are a few artists she’d like to see headline the festival someday.
While the music scene has changed over the last year or so, there’s still so much that can be done to make it more of an equal playing field for all types of musicians. Supporting an event such as this, just helps push that notion forward. So come celebrate a night of music and diversity on March 7th at The Great Hall in Toronto! And stay tuned for Musik Mirage’s exclusive coverage.
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/ourmusicfestival/1517151
Our Music Festival line up includes:
CJ Wiley, Kinnie Starr, Cris Derksen, R. Flex, Sarah MacDougall, Lala Noel, Semiah, and Irene Torres. Special appearances by Honey Jam alumni Kiza and Earth 2 Tiffany. Full flyer for the event is just below:
Interview by San Veliz (@spacemanmediaproductions) Photos by Jen Squires
