“I think we inhabit that old rock n’ roll ethos of just fucking going for it,” says Anna Bulbrook, co-founder of the music festival / talent incubator GIRLSCHOOL.
She’s talking about GIRLSCHOOL’s ethos and approach to supporting talented women in the music industry, and their desire to showcase that talent for eager audiences. This two-pronged approach serves one central aim: To highlight women involved in all aspects of making music — from sound production to A&R.
It’s an idea that feels both long overdue and incredibly urgent — considering that our current president has repeatedly behaved aggressively anti-woman, and with the women’s movement standing center stage after the largest single day of protesting the nation has ever seen. While Bullbrook, founding member of the bands Airborne Toxic Event, and The Bulls, is glad to see people talking about these issues, she makes it epically clear that they were already potent before Donald Trump took office.
“Nationally, it shone a light on what was already important to us and what we’re trying to build,” she says. “It’s encouraging that there’s so much conversation going on at the moment. But we always felt like these issues were urgent.”
Besides putting on a festival these past two years, GIRLSCHOOL operates as a sort of idea lab — hosting discussions and panels, supporting young women’s music dreams by partnering with Rock and Roll Camp for Girls, and working together to amplify the voices of women across the music industry.
As Bullbrook says, “GIRLSCHOOL is the happy highlighter of the magic that happens when women come together to show what we can do.”
It’s also loaded with awesome musicians playing awesome music — something that everyone, regardless of gender identity, ought to share in celebrating.
