FBi Radio Starts Dance Class to School More Australian Female DJs

Dance music: it's a damn boys club behind the decks. Forbes World’s Highest-Paid DJs of 2014 List? Unsurprisingly, 15/15 are dudes. When it comes to the Australian dance music industry, things aren't too different. Don't get us wrong, there's plenty of straight-up excellent lady talent out there amongst the bros — think Aussie powerhouses like Alison Wonderland, Nina Las Vegas, Anna Lunoe, Luen, Chiara Kickdrum, J'Nett, YO! MAFIA, Bad Ezzy et al. And the She Can DJ crew are doing great things. But from EDM to house, drum and bass to psy-trance, dance music is generally dominated by dudes. Just look at Zac Efron's new thingo.

But there are some who'd see things change. Sydney's beloved community radio station and general bunch of legends FBi Radio have had enough of this lad-heavy industry and have teamed up with V's MoVement to launch a brand new initiative called Dance Class, a means to get more female talent behind the decks.

"It's been well established that there is a gender imbalance when it comes to female representation in electronic music," says FBi's managing director Clare Holland. "We see an underrepresentation of women as DJs and producers and it reinforces the false idea that men are more qualified to do this. It means that a young female music lover may not even consider the option of making this a career.

"For those who do, it doesn't stop here. A number of high profile artists who have achieved major international success (Grimes, Anna Lunoe, Bjork) have publicly opened up about how their abilities have been doubted or they have received highly gendered criticism. This is not by any means limited to dance music."

Running through October and November, five bright young trainees will start workshops covering basic DJ skills, radio presenting, how to navigate the industry and more handy DJ tips. Trainees will be paired with an FBi mentor (Andy Garvey, Adi Toohey, Kali (Picnic) and more) and join them on air for a month. Then, they'll get the chance to spin at their debut live gig and put those new skills into practice.

Don't have a DJ skill in the world? No worries at all, Dance Class is open for grassroots, square one beginners — no previous skills needed to apply, just a damn fine taste in new dance music and the drive to be one heck of a DJ. "This is about breaking down barriers to entry," says Holland. "We just want people with great taste and real passion. We'll give them a solid grounding in DJ skills as well as some business know-how and radio presenting. Beyond learning skills we also think it's important to give them connections in the industry which is why we've chosen some of our favourite female DJs to mentor them."

Music industry, take note. "How we achieve more equal gender representation in the music industry is something we often discuss at FBi," says Holland. "Ultimately we feel that as programmers we have a responsibility to take positive action. This needs to happen across the board from radio stations to festivals, venues, labels and media."

Applications are now open for FBi Radio's Dance Class. For information on how to apply, head over here. Applications close September 27.

To celebrate the launch of FBi’s Dance Class, there will be a free, all-ages party at the station with Catlips on Thursday October 22 as part of MoVement Sydney. More details on how to RSVP will be announced soon.

Images: Hoops (Goodgod Small Club), Alison Wonderland, Anna Lunoe (FBi Radio), YO! MAFIA.