If women are pushing the human race forward, Jaguar doesn't want the music industry to be left behind

Words and interview by Dalia Al-Dujaili.

“The human race is evolving through women,” once claimed Audre Lorde in conversation with Adrienne Rich. “It's not by accident that there are more and more women. That sounds crazy, doesn't it? Women being born, women surviving… We've got to take that promise of new power seriously, or we’ll make the same mistakes all over again.” Jaguar quotes Audre to me as she explains the need for minorities to be the changemakers if the male, pale and stale status-quo is ever going to be dismantled. “People with the upper hand have gotten us to this point. It's not going to change anymore. It's gonna have to take a different perspective,” she tells me. And for someone like the DJ and BBC1 presenter, this sentiment is more than just a hopeful idea with empty words. With the help of a wide-ranging team of industry experts, journalists, researchers, artists, producers and more, Jaguar’s foundation (aptly named the Jaguar Foundation, which admittedly also produces results for endangered exotic animal charities on search engines) has recently published the Progressing Gender Representation in UK Dance Music. 

The report, a damning expose on the nightlife industry, shows the many ways covert and overt discrimination manifests across the live music and festival industry, radio airplay, record labels and more. For example, the report found that just five per cent of dance music in the UK charts has a female as the lead artist, and it points to the deep-running gender equality issues at festivals, as well as revealing how many female DJs feel unsafe in nightclubs and other live spaces – describing the live ecosystem as still very much a “boys club”.

We sat down with Jaguar ahead of her playing Peggy Gou’s all-day event Pleasure Gardens which aims to recreate classic elements of a Victorian Pleasure Garden, now in it’s third round, curated by Peggy herself and hosted at Finsbury Park. We were keen to learn more about Jaguar’s motivations behind the report, the experiences which led her to wanting to draw attention to the shocking lack of women in the nightlife and live music industries, and how men will have to bring women up alongside them if these statistics are ever going to change. 

AZEEMA: This report is practically the first of its kind – it’s far more thorough and extensive than any other report like it. What was the process like for you and what has the feedback been like?

Jaguar: The reason that the report came about was because during lockdown, when I had time to reflect and kind of figure out what I really wanted to do in my career, and obviously we weren't DJing I was thinking “what can I actually do?” I think also off the back of Black Lives Matter, I had a period to stop and reflect and I just came to the conclusion that I wanted to make it my mission to help with inclusivity and equality. And that kind of manifested as my initiative. 

Last year, I launched the Future 1000 which is a DJ course for girls, trans and non-binary people aged between 12 and 18 where they can learn to DJ and make the dance scene a bit more of a welcoming place for people who might not feel welcome in a very male dominated industry. And we are working on relaunching that next year, which is exciting. We're gonna open it out to all ages and so that more people can learn to DJ.

But when we were [planning the relaunch], we were looking for statistics and resources about inequality regarding gender and dance music, and there wasn't anything there really efficient. So I thought, “Why don't we just do our own?” So that led to me setting up the Jaguar Foundation, which is the home of the report and will be the home for more projects and initiatives leading into this mission. And with the help of Sony Music’s UK social justice fund, who helped fund the report and brought in an amazing team as well. It's been a real collaboration. And honestly, I'm so proud of it. 

Can you tell me about some personal experiences which led you to undertake such a huge research project and why you feel so passionately about a more gender-inclusive nightlife industry?

As a woman in dance music, there are many times where you are the only girl in the room or anytime at a club or festival and there's just not another woman or non-male band. It can feel very intimidating, especially early on when you're travelling around on your own and you don't know anyone and you are quite vulnerable. 

I remember at my first Boiler Room a few months ago, I was feeling pretty pleased with myself. I was feeling great. And then this guy said, “Oh, so are you the social media girl?” That just pissed me off. I've heard stories of female DJs having their drink spiked at gigs in the greenroom. I've had friends who haven't been allowed into the club and just left out in the street because the bouncer doesn't believe that they're playing on the lineup. I've heard of trans friends who've not been allowed access into the female toilets. There's just so many instances where it can't all be a coincidence, that all these people telling stories are not men, you know? 

I think it's just part of our society. The most interesting thing has been trying to send it to as many men as possible. Yesterday I was just firing it to male DJs, promoters, and radio producers. Because I think they need to see it the most. We're just showing you the issue; will you help us? 

What have you learnt from this process? What was the most illuminating part of the journey?

What I've just learned in my 20s in general has been about unlearning and dismantling. I wrote this week that the bonds that society tethers to you at birth – white, patriarchal society – is the way you're going to go through life, because you've been told ‘that's how it is. That's how you should act because of who you are.’ But actually, it's not like that at all. You can make whatever you want out yourself in this world. My daily motivation is to wake up and smash the patriarchy. It doesn't upset me. It fuels me to do stuff. I don't just want to be a DJ. Doing this stuff, doing it in a purposeful way, is what I've learned and that's what really brings me satisfaction. 

Has doing this project illustrated anything about your role in music going forward? Has it sparked any inspiration for future projects?

As I said, we're going to relaunch Feature 1000 in order to open it to all ages. So I think that will really make a difference. Since we launched it last year, so many people want to learn to DJ but think they’re too old for the course, so that'll be a really cool thing to do.

Also, we've got the foundation now; I didn't ever think I'd be launching a foundation. Especially at 27 when I thought I'd be focusing on other things. But I'd love to be able to offer internships to marginalised people and music grants to artists to help fund their projects or DJ workshops around the world and mentoring. More initiatives like Future 1000. I'm excited for what we're going to do at the Jaguar Foundation. 

With the report, this is an ongoing thing. We intend to redo it every few years and hope that the statistics and the experiences get more positive, and it was showing that even in the last four years, things are vastly improving. Festival lineups in 2018 were 14% female and non binary, and now it's jumped to 28% in 2022. Obviously things are better than they were in the 90s, but there's still a long way to go. So I want to be at the forefront of documenting that. 

Honestly, I feel so charged. With the women's football on Sunday, which I was involved with DJing as well, I watched the final and it's been a really empowering week. And it's interesting, on women's hour when we were the guests, before us were two football players and they were talking about their experiences, and then the presenter segued to us and there were so many parallels between their experiences and what we're talking about.

Can you tell us about any other initiatives or resources you would recommend for people who want to engage in a more inclusive live-music future?

There's so many! Just off the top of my head, Foundation FM obviously, an amazing radio station. There's EQ 50 which is a drum and bass collective – drum and bass, a huge genre and an area that I think is the least diverse and needs a lot of work. And there's a lot of great artists who've come through that who I've spoken to and they've said they found their voice and confidence through that collective. He/She/They; a wonderful, inclusive club and I love that they say their club night is for everyone, they kind of just make it inclusive to all but their lineups are always really on point. Femme Culture, Elkka’s label. She Said So, doing great things always. Women in Control. Big Dyke Energy, doing great parties in London. Daytimers. Pxssy Palace. There’s a great night I want to go to in Glasgow called Lezza Quest and it's a queer and it's just got the best name.

Oh, one more. The Black Artists Database, I have to shout out what they're doing. It's basically a whole website and movement to celebrate Black artists in electronic music. And you can go on that site and just buy loads of music from Black artists.

Thanks Jaguar! Anything else you want to add?

One thing I've been hammering home, because in the report we offer resources and solutions, is the inclusion rider. So it's a clause in your booking contract where you just say that if I get booked for an event, there has to be another woman or a non-binary or trans person, or a person of colour or LGBTQ+ person. I think the big male DJs are the ones who need to have this more than anyone. They're getting booked anyway so if they can bring through different type of artists alongside them, that will really accelerate things.